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Thoughts on today's Shell Shocker for an HTPC

2K views 69 replies 10 participants last post by  Sammy2 
#1 ·
Linky

This will be used to power 4 or 5 WMC extenders as well as a few Rokus. I'll probably put it in my existing case.

Thoughts?
 
#10 ·
I am highly skeptical on the J1900 able to drive 5 extenders without hampering end user experience.
 
#3 ·
Currently I have an i3-550 Clarkdale that'll do 2 extenders but I'm getting ready to expand my setup because the new lady in my life wants a TV in every room and I figured what the heck I want one in the outdoor kitchen too in the new to us home we're buying. I think I need dome power to do that and still use the HTPC in the Family Room HT.

Next up: installing ethernet network infrastructure. That's going to be fun!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Roku requires transcoding if the video codec is not AVC. FX-6300 should be able to handle multiple instances of transcoding. Power consumption is high (150-200W) under load. You will want to add a good CPU cooler. Single channel memory (1 x 8GB) does not seem good. If you want to use it as a video playback system too, you will need to add a good graphics card, of course.
 
#8 ·
OK, the deal ends in an hour but the egg usually extends them all day.

That said, it seems that the single channel memory might be something to avoid.

I suppose I should start a new thread, but what's being used these days for HTPC's? I can continue to do the transcoding for MB3 Server on my desktop which is an i5-650 but if I'm upgrading the HTPC I might as well get it to do it all for me and leave the desktop for other purposes.
 
#11 ·
The motherboard, from the specs, supports dual channel. You'd just have to add another stick of RAM if you really felt that you needed dual channel for what you plan on doing with it.
 
#9 ·
We have an older sibling to this processor, AMD Phenom II X6, and it was a much needed upgrade from the X4 when we expanded to 6 TV's.

Ours is on AMD 765 chip, I believe. The one with on-board Radeon 4250. You will need a discreet GPU if you plan on connecting using HDMI, or have copyright protected content.
 
#19 ·
When I saw you had posted in here, I hoped you had something to say about CPU/MoBo hardware for me to look at! LOL! Any recommendations? I'm out of the loop
since admin sent me to solitary for a couple months when I upset someone
I haven't really considered a new build in a long time.
 
#22 ·
You might start doing the piece by piece upgrade thing as deals come up. That's what I did. New SSD here when the really nice big one is super cheap. Then perhaps a MOBO+CPU combo when the deal is right, then perhaps grab an amazing deal on faster ram when it happens. Reuse your PSU and case for now, grab an upgrade if you want it when you find a deal.
 
#23 ·
My biggest concern is pushing 4 or 5 extenders in addition to the HTPC being connected to the main AVR/TV. I'm also concerned maybe about transcoding for the Rokus BUT I currently use my i5-650 for that and can continue to do that.
 
#28 ·
Well if you can do the i5 or i7 combo you effectively get better chip and board for same cost. The i5 k chip is $199 but you also get $40 off a Z97 motherboard and the total cost is as cheap or cheaper than a lower i5 and H board from newegg.

The i7 is $80 more. The new i7 is called "devils canyon" and it features improved thermal material inside the chip and come stock clocked at 4.0ghz x 4 cores, plus hyper threading. The little bastard runs like 11,500 passmark scores stock.

Either is a great choice. Plenty of horsepower for today and tomorrow, and super efficient. They will cruise around at 800mhz and use a lot less power than your current set up. They draw so little power at idle that they don't work with some power supplies because of it.

4690k or 4790k. Perfect frame rates with Haswell and no 24p bug either. IGPU with an overclock and fast ram should even run MadVR on film. There's a hack now to get 0-255 with them as well.
 
#29 ·
For mobo I like the Asrock and Asus stuff. Z97. The Z series boards give you a lot of value besides overclocking (prob not use that). They have Intel LAN, extra sata ports. Next generation sata express. More PCI lanes. HDMI in and pass through. Better fan speed controller to control temps and noise. Extra fan headers for case fans, two fan CPU coolers etc... Some have wireless AC and Bluetooth, come with cloud storage, free remote access and control via splashtop. For the same cost the Z chip like an extreme 3 or 4 or 6 is the way to go IMO. They restart in like a second too. Really quick.
 
#30 ·
Cool! Drop some links or post the exact model numbers of the parts your talking about. I think that the i5 should be able to do everything I need here. Mayby I'll upgrade my desktop with the i7..
 
#35 ·
http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

There you go!

The Asrock Extreme 4 mobo bundle with either the i7 (4790k) or i5(4690k) are winners IMO. $384 with the i7. (newegg sells the CPU alone for $320) [or the i5 for $305]

You can change motherboards in the store and get the same level discount. So take a look at the Extreme3 if you want to save a couple bucks, or perhaps the Extreme6 if you want to step up even more.

You could go all the way and get the extreme11. That little fawcker isn't fooling around. Probably overkill though, even for me. :D
 
#45 ·
Yeah that is what I was talking about! $290 you get something that's better than what an i3+H series mobo from newegg would cost you.

That 4690 is no joke. It's got huge balls. Compare it to the i5-650 you have now (which is faster than the i3-550)



vs.




That is a noticeable upgrade and worthy IMO ^

But then again the amount of ASS that the Devil's Canyon kicks actually probably makes it a better "value" for the $80:



http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-4790K+@+4.00GHz&id=2275

That's a lot of ass it's kicking for the price. But overkill is overkill and that CPU is overkill. Tempting though. It would likely last you many years with competitive viability though, which is a value unto itself. $80 more is attractive considering it doesn't use more power, and includes hyperthreading.
 

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#50 ·
You can use the same DDR3 ram if you have some. DDR3 1066/1333/1600/1866/2133/2400/2800 all works great in these motherboards. The faster the better, but if you have some use it for now, and upgrade when you find a great deal.

2400mhz is a great choice if you are buying today. I like to try to snag a deal on RAM when I get it. It just makes me feel good.
 
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