[charlie0440]

I agree that i3 + Nvidia card solves the horsepower problems. Because I want fanless, I'm trying to avoid a separate video card. Really, the only reason I'm considering the ION is the nvidia integrated graphics combines with low power.

If that is the case and it's within your budget an I3-3225. Good igpu -hd4000, good power -55 tpd, no need for discrete card. Intel works great with linux. It is overkill for a htpc but it's not bad value for money when you compare it to buying another processor plus a discrete gpu.

[discmeister]

Why an i3-3225? He doesn't want gaming, just wants HD video playback. Surely the G530 or G620 would do the job for that perfectly fine on linux, by all accounts? That's the decision I'm now at - and yet I read conflicting reports where people say, 'G530 is plenty' to 'It's overkill but go for i3...'

?

Discy

[charlie0440]

@discmeister very true a G... processor would be fine for playback (I have a G850 again its overkill and it has no problems with uncompressed BD rips).

But there has been a lot of chat in this thread about i3s with a discrete gpu, which in my opinion is not needed. So I interpret that as people thinking the igpu of the i3s is not good enough (it is). I only single out the 3225 as it has the latest HD4000 which is an improved GPU, but the older HD2000/2500 whould be fine too. If I was to upgrade that is what I would choose. But its all personal preference.

Edit: there is nothing wrong with overkill

[discmeister]

@discmeister very true a G... processor would be fine for playback (I have a G850 again its overkill and it has no problems with uncompressed BD rips).

But there has been a lot of chat in this thread about i3s with a discrete gpu, which in my opinion is not needed. So I interpret that as people thinking the igpu of the i3s is not good enough (it is). I only single out the 3225 as it has the latest HD4000 which is an improved GPU, but the older HD2000/2500 whould be fine too. If I was to upgrade that is what I would choose. But its all personal preference.

Edit: there is nothing wrong with overkill

Oh I'm all for a bit of overkill. ;-)

I think I'm going to just bite the bullet and go for a G530 or a G620. There are some new Gs out and about - G465 and G555 - but I don't know enough about them and their driver support may be a bit slow to follow on Linux.

Anyway, just wanted to flag up that if you're purely looking for 2D playback - right up to 1080p - then a Gxxx should be good enough without resorting to an i3.

Discy

[thethirdnut]

@charlie0440

I thought there were still 24p issues and other such nuisances still remaining on the Linux + Intel iGPU front?

[discmeister]

@charlie0440

I thought there were still 24p issues and other such nuisances still remaining on the Linux + Intel iGPU front?

There are some, yes. But the corruption glitch is reasonably easy to solve, particularly when even the G620 has enough grunt to cope with 1080p on its own, no?

[thethirdnut]

@discmeister

To be honest - I'd need a little more background on that personally before pulling the trigger on no discrete GPU...how about bitstreaming as well?

A complete mini-ITX solution in something like an Antec ISK 110 is very appealing to me, however, I'd have to be 100% confident I wouldn't be giving up on anything that Nvidia offers. Meaning that I don't want to completely invest in an all-Intel solution and then find out after the fact that it doesn't do everything I want it to...

[charlie0440]

@discmeister

To be honest - I'd need a little more background on that personally before pulling the trigger on no discrete GPU...how about bitstreaming as well?

A complete mini-ITX solution in something like an Antec ISK 110 is very appealing to me, however, I'd have to be 100% confident I wouldn't be giving up on anything that Nvidia offers. Meaning that I don't want to completely invest in an all-Intel solution and then find out after the fact that it doesn't do everything I want it to...

Bitstreaming now works on Linux. A patch has been made. This has not made it into the Linux kernel yet, I make openelec nightlies which incorporate the patches or alternatively you can compile your own xbmc/openelec. Details start here and go on for a few pages. It is early days with bitstreaming. It seems to be pretty solid, my setup now uses the onboard iGPU but I still have the gt430 installed (but not in use). If your considering a build I would say go iGPU and test. If your not happy then get a discrete GPU.


24p well can you notice it? This is worth a read (although its 24p on Windows). Im not a expert on the 24p thing, so it is worth researching yourself

[thethirdnut]

Thanks for both for the info - I have a looksee before making decision on next build as well...server replacement consuming all my time a the moment.

[sirkingchase]

Get AMD Sempron 145 and unlock it. Get Geforce 430 legacy PCI.

Video card is fan less CPU can be fan less when under bolted. CPU is $40, GPU is $50, Motherboard is $50. It'll play anything you through at it. Honestly I laugh at these topics because people spend $500+ on an HTPC.

[discmeister]

Get AMD Sempron 145 and unlock it. Get Geforce 430 legacy PCI.

Video card is fan less CPU can be fan less when under bolted. CPU is $40, GPU is $50, Motherboard is $50. It'll play anything you through at it. Honestly I laugh at these topics because people spend $500+ on an HTPC.

It may play anything you throw at it, but will it cope with any skin you can throw at it? Slick menu transitions etc are the main reason I abandoned ATV2; great for movie playback, but not a smooth enough experience between the flicks.

Discy

[kirby]

Just following up...

I ended up with an i7 version of one of these. It's a fanless i7 build with on a mobile chipset.
http://www.fit-pc.com/web/fit-pc/intensepc

I decided I wanted enough horsepower not just for XBMC, but also for transcoding and some other household tasks that are currently being done by an older full size server. I'm hoping I can get rid of all the jobs the server currently does.