CPU and Graphic card vs APU...Thoughts? (3 Viewers)

[Lehmden]

Hi.
ATM a bit in a hurry..
Celeron G540 (or 530) and Nvidia GT 430 or ATI HD6450...

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.
Now a bit more en detail...
Mainboard: MSI H61M-P25 (35€)
CPU: Intel Celeron Dual-Core G540, 2x 2.50GHz (40€)
GPU: Captiva GeForce GT 430 passive, 1GB DDR3, VGA, DVI, HDMI (45€)
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro (Socket 775/1155/1156) (10€)

makes something around 130€ (German prizes, didn't know if they are different elsewhere) + PP

This will make a really powerful system for MP which will be really silent. This CPU cooler I'm using myself. it's really impossible to hear. Not even if you put your ear direct onto the case...
Add 4 GB of RAM (or 8GB if you want to use this as SingleSeat system to get a Ram Disk for Timeshifting) a BeQuiet 300 Watts Power Supply (it's quiet, I can proof) and a case after your taste (from 20€ to 5000€ ) an nice Remote and a SSD for windows (and if you want to use it as SingleSeat an extra HDD for recordings) and if needed some TV Tuners fitting your antenna signal... Voila a System that fits all your needs for a not really big amount of money.

 

[loadme]

I am german as well, so thanks for the effort looking into the prices.

Glad you wrote a more detailled answer, as I was about to order something more expensive, because I was scared to get enough CPU/GPU power.

Thats why one more thing:
Are you using exactly those components with media portal?
is this setup really able to play fullHD (not only some mkv files while others are stutter?)
and isnt there a 24p bug with the intel CPUs?


My solution for now was:

ASRock A75M-ITX - 67,87 €
picuPSU + power adapter ~ 60 €
AMD A6-3500 (65W) - 59€
Kingston 2x2GB Kit, 1.866 Mhz - 32 €
SSD - TorgX 32GB - 48 €

sadly the case is also a little expensive

Streacom FC8 - 139 €​

​

this would be a completly fanless solution, since the CPU is cooled by some heatpipes coming with the case​

and the PSU is external with no fan at all
it should work on low power and wont bother about the 24p bug
and the CPU comes with an integrated GPU unit (Radeon HD 6530D, dx11, UVD)

all in all it seems quiet expensive, but i couldnt find any other speccs that fit my needs:

• NO NOISE
• low power consumption when idle or playing movies
• capable of playing full hd blu ray or any sort of MKV, since i have some older onces that i encoded with a really high profile
• small form factor
• digital audio out (spdif or optical, since i dont like to go through my TV )
• and again: no noise!

maybe you know the feeling when there is simply to many input when it comes to buying hardware?
I read that you should go for the H77 or Z77 chipset when buying sandy/ivy CPUs in order to get the best GPU support and USB 3.0


I would love to hear your thoughts. Maybe i switch back to the intel system you suggested.
Should be around 100 Euro less

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

Are you using exactly those components with media portal?

Not really. I'm using the same GPU Board (other brand, same specs) but apart of that I have an older and slower system

is this setup really able to play fullHD (not only some mkv files while others are stutter?)

Absolutely. 1080i Live TV (needs the most power of all actions during playback, much more than BluRay watching) is playing absolutely smooth on my system as the encoding is done by GPU. And the NVidia GT 430 is a really strong solution. Some called the GT430 the "holy grail" of HTPC graphic cards.

and isnt there a 24p bug with the intel CPUs?

It is. and with lots of TV, AVR, HDMI Splitter, other GFX cards,... But this did not matter at all as you don't use the inbuild GPU of the Celeron. It's too weak for our purposes. And the GT 430 did NOT have this bug. But are you sure your TV/AVR did not have it?

BTW a case without any fan is really dangerous... I wouldn't recommend this. Without a single fan there is no airflow inside the case. I don't believe the Heatpipes will cool down the whole system (Chipset, HDD, SSD, GFX Card, Tuners...) so I believe you will run in trouble if you build a system without any airflow...

I can proof my system is without any hearable noise excerpt of the HDD (for Tv Recordings) as this HDD did not spin if it's not used (used only during recording or playback of recordings). I can stand this easily... The CPU cooler has 0,3 sone and is the most silent fan thinkable. And the Power Supply has an slowly turning 120mm Fan. This makes lot of airflow but no noise at all...

USB3.0 I did not look after (so maybe if you need we have to look after a mainboard with USB 3... ).
H77 or Z77 Chipset gives no advantage if you use Sandy Bridge Celeron without internal GPU, so no need to buy such expensive chipset at all...
And I did not choose ITX board as I think internal tuner cards are better than USB cards. On ITX Boards you did not have the possibility to use internal tuners.

 

[kiwijunglist]

yeah id avoid those laptop style cpu's unless it's necessary because a regular cpu wont fit in the case. the arguement that the laptop style all in one cpu/mobo/gpu combo is cheaper is false if you compare a similar spec'd cpu/mobo/gpu it is cheaper and faster to go with regular sized components.

 

[xetic]

Yesterday i have test the A6-3500 with 4GB DDR-1866 Ram on a ASRock A75M-HVS and PicoPSU...
1080i is no problem. i have use the LAV Filter with DXVA2 (nativ) Hardware Decoder!

I think this weekend I can deliver results for power consumption, Systempower in 1080i/3D BluRay etc.

 

[loadme]

@kiwijunglist:

maybe its not cheaper, but its:

• smaller
• needs less cooling
• and consumes less power

@xetic
i would love to get some results from you.
what picu do you use? 90W?


@Lehmden
what case do you use? i would be interessted in the form factor/size
and the last thing: how many watts to you need when in standby / idling or watching 1080p / 1080i?

@all:
the components that i listed above were nearly all from a tested built:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=128009

the only difference is the passive cooled CPU / case combo
here is some more information on that one:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=134254
this guy tested the "big brother" of the F8 case, which works the same way and suits all your needs (although i wont spend 250 euro on an empty case )


nice to see some conversation and thoughts here.
happy to get more input, as you never can have enough

 

[xetic]

it is 120W

 

[Lehmden]

Hi.

what case do you use? i would be interessted in the form factor/size

Silverstone LaScala LC 03. It's an older (2004, using the same case since first attempt of building a HTPC), full ATX, full height HTPC case. So no problems in getting cards into it. Looks like an High- End Audio Amplifier and fits well on every standard HiFi Rack. Prize was around 100 - 120€, did not remember any more. It's paid long ago and fulfils all my needs up to now...

BTW, my Sys Specs are up to date

and the last thing: how many watts to you need when in standby / idling or watching 1080p / 1080i?

Could not tell you exactly as I never metered this. But on Standby it's something around 1 Watt if it's running something between 25 and 80 Watt...

 

[loadme]

Hey Xetic, any chance to see your power consumption test results this weekend?
I would be happy to check up on them.

Cheers!