Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
What about going AMD, you could get a 780G mobo like this abit
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=845045
and this 2.3Ghz X2 45w
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=807039
(the 2.5 is in stock but £48)
That motherboard has essentially the same HD3450 as it's IGP providing massive IGP power (most powerful of any board yet) and can also (if the drivers are out) run a standard HD3450/3470 in hybrid crossfire meaning you can add one in later for a bit more gfx power if need be.
But the point is, £5 extra on the motherboard and you save another £20 forgetting the graphics card :)
The CPU is more than powerful enough, SPCR underclock these AMD's on these boards and still runs high def no problem, a testiment to the IGP.
Also if you go for the scythe ninja mini, you could run it passive or if it does struggle (which I doubt) with a very slow spinning 80/92mm fan and it will provide ample cooling.
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
I had thought about going down the AMD route but as my main PC is Intel (e6600) I thought this one should be as well so that if I ever had a problem I could swap bits out easily which would help with troubleshooting.
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
This may be a worthy compromise. Granted, it's not as powerful as the 780G, but it'll do for a HTPC.
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
I am using a £25 945 chipset board for my htpc... does everything perfectly... but I did have a hdmi graphics card already for it... I would get teh cheapest one that has onboard hdmi :)
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
Except Intel IGPs have no codec helpers worth speaking of. That's why I meantioned the above.
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
yeah I'd be tempted with the ATi if you are relying on the IGP otherwise SIM's choice would obviously be very cost effective.
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
I don't think hardware acceleration is needed anymore... my E2200 can do all forms of HD decoding with software only... its nice to have - but it can be skipped for budget builds imo
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
decrypting, demuxing, decoding, and post-processing 1080p video streams works on an E2200 purely in software at full framerate while recording 2x720p streams in the background from FreeSat?.. Hardware acceleration is still important IMHO.
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
If you are doing all of that at the same time, then you need a quad core (or maybe two!) as well as hardware acceleration :p
But for the standard user, for a HTPC that just plays back HD, its not needed afaik... of course there will be hardcore users that need something more
I managed to cope with playing 1080p at full frame rate/resolution with deblocking using CoreAVC with my single core A64 :D
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
Quote:
Originally Posted by
aidanjt
This may be a worthy compromise. Granted, it's not as powerful as the 780G, but it'll do for a HTPC.
The problem with this mobo (Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD) is that it is not HDCP. Therefore if I ever install a blu-ray player it will not play properly.
With a discrete ATI 3450 this shouldn't be a problem.
However, does the HDMI output on this mobo carry the sound? if so is there an internal connection from the sound card to the gfx card?
Re: Yawn! Another HTPC spec
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CK1
The problem with this mobo (Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD) is that it is not HDCP. Therefore if I ever install a blu-ray player it will not play properly.
Who told you that load of nonsense?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CK1
However, does the HDMI output on this mobo carry the sound? if so is there an internal connection from the sound card to the gfx card?
Yes, there's an internal interconnect between the northbridge and the audio chip.
