What CPU?

nielsi · 2006-01-09, 18:34

I have no idea where to begin looking for a CPU for my HTPC. I want to use the HTPC mainly for watching and recording TV and playback of DVD and music. It would be nice to be able to play some 3D games on it but it has no real priority.
There are huge price differences between available CPU's and I don't want to buy an expensive one and never use all it's capacity.
I would like to make my system as quiet as possible and really don't know what CPU's will work cooler than others.

Can anyone give me some directions where and how to look?

wortelsoft · 2006-01-09, 20:05

The athlon 64 on socket 939 have cool and quiet. With a proper cooler and maiboard these cpu lower the speed of processor and fan when the system is on a low load. So you save energy and have less noice. With the right graphics these make great game systems

With some motherboards it is possible to use laptop processors which use a lot less power and hence need a less noisy cooling system. But the performance might be a litle bit to low for games.

I would have a look at my first suggestion

nielsi · 2006-01-09, 22:56

Smart thinking on the power saving notebook CPU's 8) On the 939 AMD CPU; I found the cheapest one to be â‚¬ 180,- (the AMD Athlon64 3200+ (2.0 GHz)) while for a socket 754 I can find a CPU for â‚¬ 70,- (the AMD Sempron 2500+ (1.6 GHz))
Will the last one for example be sufficient for the basic MP needs? (recording, watching; tv, DVD etc.), considering I would sacrifice the ability to play games on the HTPC. Or is this really just suitable for office applications?

I now know what to get if I want to be able to play games on the HTPC, but what would be the most basic CPU for a HTPC?

wortelsoft · 2006-01-09, 23:38

Well at the moment I'm running on an amd duron 1200 and MP runs almost fine. But I'm going to upgrade to athlon XP2200+ wich should be able to run MP fine all the time.
The sempron should be fine for MP and for playing games if you have a good graphics card. But just don't expect to run the latest games on high resolution.

trailboy · 2006-02-06, 17:30

tv signal is very bad in my area. i am not a big tv fan anyway, so it doesn't really bother me.

i haven't tried recording tv, but all the rest runs smoothly on my computer (i have though some issues with mptray...) despite of having a very modest computer. have a look at my signature.

any recent cpu would be more than enough to run MP.

Tech Geek · 2006-02-06, 21:13

Well, I'm running a Tul socket 754 board with a Sempron 2600+ CPU, 64 bit support and high def audio. It works just fine. Cost for both was about $110 US with shipping. These semprons overclock really well too.
What I saved on the board and CPU I used to buy an X1300 card for graphics. I bought it refurbished for $66 with shipping.

About $175 for all three.

The Cheapest 939 CPU is what? Around $150? Then you need a board and graphics card.

I picked up a Jetway 939 board with ATi 200 chipset and on board graphics with side port video RAM. (about $90 new)
With a 3500+ CPU and overclocking... 1700 03 3D marks.

The 2600+ system gets over 3500 03 3D marks with no overclocking and has Avivo so video playback is better as well.

Don't throw money at the CPU if you don't need it.

2006-01-09, 18:34	#1 (permalink)
nielsi Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 18 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	What CPU? I have no idea where to begin looking for a CPU for my HTPC. I want to use the HTPC mainly for watching and recording TV and playback of DVD and music. It would be nice to be able to play some 3D games on it but it has no real priority. There are huge price differences between available CPU's and I don't want to buy an expensive one and never use all it's capacity. I would like to make my system as quiet as possible and really don't know what CPU's will work cooler than others. Can anyone give me some directions where and how to look?

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2006-01-09, 20:05	#2 (permalink)
wortelsoft Portal Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Age: 32 Posts: 374 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	The athlon 64 on socket 939 have cool and quiet. With a proper cooler and maiboard these cpu lower the speed of processor and fan when the system is on a low load. So you save energy and have less noice. With the right graphics these make great game systems With some motherboards it is possible to use laptop processors which use a lot less power and hence need a less noisy cooling system. But the performance might be a litle bit to low for games. I would have a look at my first suggestion

2006-01-09, 22:56	#3 (permalink)
nielsi Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 18 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Smart thinking on the power saving notebook CPU's 8) On the 939 AMD CPU; I found the cheapest one to be â‚¬ 180,- (the AMD Athlon64 3200+ (2.0 GHz)) while for a socket 754 I can find a CPU for â‚¬ 70,- (the AMD Sempron 2500+ (1.6 GHz)) Will the last one for example be sufficient for the basic MP needs? (recording, watching; tv, DVD etc.), considering I would sacrifice the ability to play games on the HTPC. Or is this really just suitable for office applications? I now know what to get if I want to be able to play games on the HTPC, but what would be the most basic CPU for a HTPC?

2006-01-09, 23:38	#4 (permalink)
wortelsoft Portal Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Age: 32 Posts: 374 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Well at the moment I'm running on an amd duron 1200 and MP runs almost fine. But I'm going to upgrade to athlon XP2200+ wich should be able to run MP fine all the time. The sempron should be fine for MP and for playing games if you have a good graphics card. But just don't expect to run the latest games on high resolution.

2006-02-06, 17:30	#5 (permalink)
trailboy Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London, United Kingdom Age: 28 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	tv signal is very bad in my area. i am not a big tv fan anyway, so it doesn't really bother me. i haven't tried recording tv, but all the rest runs smoothly on my computer (i have though some issues with mptray...) despite of having a very modest computer. have a look at my signature. any recent cpu would be more than enough to run MP.

2006-02-06, 21:13	#6 (permalink)
Tech Geek Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Denver, CO USA Posts: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Well, I'm running a Tul socket 754 board with a Sempron 2600+ CPU, 64 bit support and high def audio. It works just fine. Cost for both was about $110 US with shipping. These semprons overclock really well too. What I saved on the board and CPU I used to buy an X1300 card for graphics. I bought it refurbished for $66 with shipping. About $175 for all three. The Cheapest 939 CPU is what? Around $150? Then you need a board and graphics card. I picked up a Jetway 939 board with ATi 200 chipset and on board graphics with side port video RAM. (about $90 new) With a 3500+ CPU and overclocking... 1700 03 3D marks. The 2600+ system gets over 3500 03 3D marks with no overclocking and has Avivo so video playback is better as well. Don't throw money at the CPU if you don't need it.