2011-07-23, 14:33
hey guys i built a htpc using the
Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3
and it works well i have tested with a 1080p blu-ray rip and it worked fine however i have been noticing that the navigation of the menu and startup and exit of xbmc is a bit sluggish more than i would like i can notice the difference when tried on my other computers
so as i was intending to build a second htpc for my bedroom i instead will put the gigabyte htpc in my bedroom as i won't have as much stuff on there it won't be my main htpc
and i will build another one but this time make it with more cpu power as the gigabyte one even though i put 4gb of ddr3 ram and OC from 1066mhz (which the board supports by default) to 1333mhz i think the cpu power the fact it is only a 1.6ghz dual core is the possible cause of the sluggishness
so i think i am safe in assuming i do not need a quad-core for htpc and a dual-core will do just fine now when i build pc's i usually use AMD as it is cheaper but that is just when i build regular desktops where playing high quality video is not much of a concern however with htpc i am unsure if AMD is recommended or if i should buy an Intel cpu and Motherboard
so i am looking for suggestions on what would a powerful yet not over the top cpu and mobo combo i plan to run windows 7 x64 and install 4gb of ram and run of course xbmc
also should i get mini-itx board or perhaps a micro-atx board as if needed i could install a video card if the onboard graphics are not that great
so basically i need recommendations on
CPU (Model Number and Whether Intel or AMD)
MOBO (Compatible with the CPU you recommend)
Mini-Itx or Micro-ATX (would like to keep the case as small and flat as possible as it has to fit into a entertainment cabinet)
Graphics card (should i use onboard graphics or buy a seperate 1gb card and if so Radeon, Nvidia, etc... which one is best for blu-ray as well as SDTV and HDTV)
EDIT:
Found These Parts what do you guys think
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 1155pin = $119
MOBO: ASRock H61M/U3S3 Motherboard B3 = $79
If these parts are good i would then need a recommendation of a graphics card i know this board has onboard graphics but not sure if
Intel HD 2000/3000 Graphics
here is the links for the website i plan to buy my parts from if someone can look at the specs of the board and cpu and also find a good graphics card if the onboard would not be a good idea for blu-ray
CPU: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main...s_id=16725
Mobo: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main...s_id=16897
i was thinking of an Asrock board as they are Cheaper and they have a utility in the bios to turn down the speed of a stock cpu fan which by doing this makes it quiter when running by default the speed it is at is 7 but if you turn it down to about 5 you don't even heard the fan spinning i don't think asus and gigabyte have this option on their boards
Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3
and it works well i have tested with a 1080p blu-ray rip and it worked fine however i have been noticing that the navigation of the menu and startup and exit of xbmc is a bit sluggish more than i would like i can notice the difference when tried on my other computers
so as i was intending to build a second htpc for my bedroom i instead will put the gigabyte htpc in my bedroom as i won't have as much stuff on there it won't be my main htpc
and i will build another one but this time make it with more cpu power as the gigabyte one even though i put 4gb of ddr3 ram and OC from 1066mhz (which the board supports by default) to 1333mhz i think the cpu power the fact it is only a 1.6ghz dual core is the possible cause of the sluggishness
so i think i am safe in assuming i do not need a quad-core for htpc and a dual-core will do just fine now when i build pc's i usually use AMD as it is cheaper but that is just when i build regular desktops where playing high quality video is not much of a concern however with htpc i am unsure if AMD is recommended or if i should buy an Intel cpu and Motherboard
so i am looking for suggestions on what would a powerful yet not over the top cpu and mobo combo i plan to run windows 7 x64 and install 4gb of ram and run of course xbmc
also should i get mini-itx board or perhaps a micro-atx board as if needed i could install a video card if the onboard graphics are not that great
so basically i need recommendations on
CPU (Model Number and Whether Intel or AMD)
MOBO (Compatible with the CPU you recommend)
Mini-Itx or Micro-ATX (would like to keep the case as small and flat as possible as it has to fit into a entertainment cabinet)
Graphics card (should i use onboard graphics or buy a seperate 1gb card and if so Radeon, Nvidia, etc... which one is best for blu-ray as well as SDTV and HDTV)
EDIT:
Found These Parts what do you guys think
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 1155pin = $119
MOBO: ASRock H61M/U3S3 Motherboard B3 = $79
If these parts are good i would then need a recommendation of a graphics card i know this board has onboard graphics but not sure if
Intel HD 2000/3000 Graphics
here is the links for the website i plan to buy my parts from if someone can look at the specs of the board and cpu and also find a good graphics card if the onboard would not be a good idea for blu-ray
CPU: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main...s_id=16725
Mobo: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main...s_id=16897
i was thinking of an Asrock board as they are Cheaper and they have a utility in the bios to turn down the speed of a stock cpu fan which by doing this makes it quiter when running by default the speed it is at is 7 but if you turn it down to about 5 you don't even heard the fan spinning i don't think asus and gigabyte have this option on their boards
