• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Which CPU for HTPC?

hibeesmad

hibeesmad

hibeesmad

Associate
Joined
7 Sep 2007
Posts
400
Location
Edinburgh
Will an E5200 CPU be ok for playing 1080p movies in an HTPC?

I have a budget of around £65, but will go higher or lower.

Thanks.
 
For sure - and it's fantastically low power. However you really want to get a decent video card like the inexpensive ATI Radeon HD 4350 or 4550.
 
Modern video cards do acceleration of the popular HD formats so the CPU becomes a non-issue. I use a 35W dual core CPU in mine and it's fantastic. Go for as low wattage as you can get.

Hmm, makes me want to build an Atom-based HTPC... :D
 
I was thinking of using on board sound and graphics, as I have a budget of £450 max with an operating system needed.

Will 1080p videos still play smoothly? It will be used with Windows Vista Media Centre.

I have not decided on a motherboard yet, but although this is a CPU forum, could you please recommend one with a budget of around £75. I will be using a a Lian-Li V350B.

Thanks,

Johnny.
 
AMD AM2 Athlon X2 3800+ "Energy Efficient". It's not very common, but is the lowest wattage dual core proc I could find. I didn't even know it existed until somebody on this forum pointed it out as an option.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
AMD AM2 Athlon X2 3800+ "Energy Efficient". It's not very common, but is the lowest wattage dual core proc I could find. I didn't even know it existed until somebody on this forum pointed it out as an option.
Click to expand...

its not the lowest but for the price is certainly is. the Pxxx range of c2d's are probably the lowest id imagine (excluding atoms and the via nano's if they are up to the job) if my findings are anything to go by....

power30gh5.jpg


the laptop drew 45w playing a bluray (30 days of night for those interested), cpu chipset, display...the lot :) it dropped down to 37w with the lid shut using the hdmi output to a tv. according to itel the p8400 in my laptop is rated at 25w, but we know its not directly comparable to AMD as they measure differently. All i do know is that its very low lol
 
Last edited:
Thats a nice chip.
I have my HTPC/fileserver pc running on a intel E2200 chip. It burns 65watts so 30 more then your self.

I have it folding also as i have 4 8800GS in it. But dont use the CPU for folding... your CPU would have been better for me as i have it on 24/7.

Oh well im not going to change now.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
Can you stretch to get a Asus P5E-VM? It's an excellent mobo as far as I've heard. It's got HDMI out and its onboard audio and video should play everything nicely.
Click to expand...

Will that motherboard be better than the Asus P5QL-CM, which is the G43 chipset that uses X4500 on board graphics compared to the X3500 which is used on the P5E-VM?
 
hibeesmad said:
Will that motherboard be better than the Asus P5QL-CM, which is the G43 chipset that uses X4500 on board graphics compared to the X3500 which is used on the P5E-VM?
Click to expand...

I have the P5E-VM HDMI version. It's a good board but there is a problem that has remained unresolved since its release. If you switch from it to another HDMI source and back again, it will change resolution to 800x600. It's a right pain in the arse and is the main reason I bought a 4670 to go in there!
 
I have a E2140 with a mild overclock, running in a Nvidia 9300 motherboard. It does 1080p just fine, with the board doing most of the work
 
I just built mine with a E5200. With onboard HDMI is swallows up 720p with about 30% CPU usage. I was looking at a E7400 but I was told that was an overkill and they were right.

Not tested it with 1080p as I've not got anything full HD to display it on.
 
PistolPete said:
I just built mine with a E5200. With onboard HDMI is swallows up 720p with about 30% CPU usage. I was looking at a E7400 but I was told that was an overkill and they were right.

Not tested it with 1080p as I've not got anything full HD to display it on.
Click to expand...

What motherboard are you using?

Johnny.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom