Posts: 682
Joined: Feb 2007
Reputation:
0
My E5200 in conjuction with a cheap 8500 does ok... I can watch just about any video I've tried without stuttering, but the E5200 is moving to a new home in an Unraid server, and I want something a bit faster in here...
Something to make the menus snappier, make it feel a bit more, you know, nice...
Haven't decided whether to stay with windows or switch to linux...
Maybe an E6600?
Kodi: Kodi 17.4, with Transparency!
50 TB Unraid Server: Docker Apps: SABnzbd, Sickrage, mariaDB
HTPC: Win10 (cause Steam), i7, GTX 1080
Watching on: Panasonic TC65-PS64 with lowend Sony 5.1 HTIB
Other devices: rMBP 15", MBA 13", nvidia shield
Posts: 3,212
Joined: Apr 2010
Reputation:
62
You want snappier menus? Get a SSD. My Atom HTPC with a SSD has slicker menus than my Quad with a regular HD.
Heck, with a SSD a E5200 would feel like a speed demon.
Posts: 68
Joined: Jan 2010
Reputation:
0
The E6600 is a step backwards from the E5200 by the way. The E6xxx series are three revisions and three generations old now. The E5200 is of the latest 775 socket fabrication type. Not the most powerful true but more than is needed for XBMC.
There where three revisions of the first true dual core of which the E6600 was part of before moving to a different die fabrication process.
The revisions were
E6xxx
E6x30
E6x50
That was followed by the E8xxx series of processors which included the E5x00, E7x00 and the Q9xxx processor within the rubric of the improved fabrication process.
The next major evolutionary step was the introduction of the 1366 socket and the 1166. Or if you prefer the i7, i5 and i3 Processors all requireing a new motherboard (socet type) and DDR3 ram.
If you need to have a Intel 775 socket CPU as an upgrade then a second hand E8400 will be more than enough. Bare in mind that with the new XBMC releases the graphic card does 99% of the work (if compatible.)
I do agree that a SSD will certainly provide the zap you are looking for.
Posts: 3,212
Joined: Apr 2010
Reputation:
62
I have one of the new E6600s and I wish I didn't. It was overkill for my bedroom htpc so it sits on the shelf. Basically with GPU decoding if you need more than a single core, you are doing it wrong (except of course for Silverlight or Flash).
The SSD I put in mine was a OCZ Vertex 32gb. Honestly any SSD that supports trim would work great. I am an OCZ Vertex nut because they are the best for OSX (and in the future the SSD might end up in my hackintosh netbook.
Anandtech hot deal forum had A posting for mine for $60 AR the other day. Just hunt deals and buy when the timing is right.
Posts: 26,215
Joined: Oct 2003
Reputation:
187
Note that a dual core processor has one significant advantage: Background processing (which XBMC uses a great deal now) has a separate core to use. I'd definitely get a dual core over a single core (even if it's a slower clock) all else being equal for XBMC usage.
If it comes down to a choice between SSD and single core versus HD and dual core, I'd definitely opt for the SSD though - load time is a significant day to day time waster, whereas the background processing stuff doesn't happen all the time - particularly once everything is completely configured and scanned etc.
Cheers,
Jonathan