Comparison between 2 HDPC systems (Core i3 / built in geforce 9300)
#1
Hey guys,

I am from Malaysia. The below motherboards of my choosing is based on what is available locally. ION boards are not popular here, and i have had a hard time looking for them.

I wanted to build my self a carputer (Computer in the car). The system would be used in the car (music / occasional movies) , and perhaps inside my home as well, for movie viewing.

For this build, i would require something that is not power hungry. And so i am stuck between the only 2 mini-itx boards that i can find.

The ZOTAC GF9300-D-E Mini-ITX Mainboard or GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 Mini-ITX Mainboard

The gigabyte one, being the recent one, is slightly cheaper, and has DDR3 (DDR3 are cheaper than DDR2) , while the zotac comes with a geforce 9300 in-built gpu which from my reading, plays nice with XBMC.

The gigabyte of course comes with more features, being a recent release, with USB 3.0 and what not, but my main question would be the processor.

If i were to go with the zotac, i was planning to get an E6500 processor. I believe XBMC and 1080p files should run flawlessly.

However, it would be better for me , in the long run to go with the gigabyte configuration. Would the core i3 540 paired with the mobo, be sufficient enough to run XBMC and play 1080p files? Would skins work without any visual lags? I do not want to get an additional graphic card for the gigabyte board as that would add to the costs and the power consumption. I tried searching for core i3 and xbmc online, but i have not found anything that would help answer my query hence this post.

Guys, please help?
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#2
well,
i3-540 + GA-H55N-USB3 is supposed to work without needing an additional graphics card...

But google'ing around,
you'll see some mix results with using the video thats onboard that i3-540 cpu...
just beware of that....

But also note that, i dont know in Malaysia but,
you can buy a GeForce GT210 card for like ~$30 USD these days..
as of today, 30.00 USD = 91.5300 MYR

so that being said, you could start with these:
-- CELERON E3400 cpu RM 143.00
-- GeForce GT210 gpu RM 145.00
-- SDD as OS drive RM 295.00
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#3
Nice post eskro and totally agree.
Please read the online manual (wiki) & FAQ (wiki) before posting.

Skins: Estuary | Xperience1080
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#4
intel's built in graphics i3/i5 + sandy bridge won't do 24fps (properly). So if that's a concern you'll be needing a separate gpu.
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Comparison between 2 HDPC systems (Core i3 / built in geforce 9300)1