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*Official* Ivy Bridge for HTPCs Thread - Page 4

post #91 of 261
4/29/12 at 4:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfusick View Post

They would match Newegg price on a motherboard?

Sometime... in the past I tried and it worked and other time they will say no with no reason.

In my case here, Newegg is selling the MB I want, Z77-Pro for $225. MC is selling the same MB for only $220, so I am happy with that!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131819
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0386887
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post #92 of 261
4/30/12 at 6:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffkro View Post

Didn't someone say that eventually ivy core i3 would get HD4000? Thats probably going to be the ivy bridge of choice.

i3-3225 3.3GHz 55W HD4000
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i...20i3-3225.html

Specs as a very nice HTPC CPU.
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post #93 of 261
4/30/12 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by StardogChampion View Post

i3-3225 3.3GHz 55W HD4000
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i...20i3-3225.html

Specs as a very nice HTPC CPU.

That or the 65W i5-3475S are the ones I'm waiting for.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i...0i5-3475S.html
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post #94 of 261
4/30/12 at 7:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyLR View Post

That or the 65W i5-3475S are the ones I'm waiting for.

The problem with the "S" models is that, if Sandy Bridge is any indication, they will be very hard to find, and even harder to find at a decent price. I doubt it's worth buying a 3475S if you can buy a 3750K for a lower price.
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post #95 of 261
4/30/12 at 7:35am
Does anyone know if a G530 will work with an Intel DH77EB motherboard? Intel's website obviously needs updated because it shows nothing compatible with this motherboard.
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post #96 of 261
4/30/12 at 9:14am
If it's available, can someone post a link to Ivy's CPU lineup, with comparison chart, power consumption and release dates?

Like here (for SNB):
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=158553

Thanks.
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post #97 of 261
4/30/12 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfusick View Post

Agree. I just want it to work. The viewing is not that critical to me most of the time.

Similar situation here. The main goal in building my budget HTPC was maximum access to varied content and flexibility. My HTPC has fulfilled both of those remarkably well. For some folks, lots of tweaking and eeking out every last bit of performance (whether or not a human can perceive the perf differences) is also part of the reason for building an HTPC. That's cool - just not my cup of tea. Lots of my content is not the greatest tech quality anyway, and so not worth a lot of time monkeying around. I am much more interested in content quality than technical quality. (Meaning I will take a good but harder to find lower technical quality film over a glorious hi-def but dreadful Transformers movie any day of the week, lol.) And like some folks around here with family who regularly use the HTPC - I also "just want it to work". A measure of that success - is that my wife loves the HTPC and wonders how did we get along without it.

Fortunately I live near two Microcenters and a Frys. I built my first HTPC using an i3 2100/MB combo for $100. It worked so well, I built an HTPC for my tech phobic parents using an AMD 840 Phenom II/MB combo for $60. Since both are working nicely for the intended purpose, I guess the AMD build is the greater success, since it cost $40 less. I am now thinking about building another HTPC, but hard to get all that excited about the new IB CPUs, given what I have previously spent on successful CPU/MB combos that get the job done. Seems like I would be looking at more than double the cost for an IB CPU/MB combo? Not ruling out IB, just not feeling the love yet given the lower cost options.
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post #98 of 261
4/30/12 at 11:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by indio22 View Post

Similar situation here. The main goal in building my budget HTPC was maximum access to varied content and flexibility. My HTPC has fulfilled both of those remarkably well. For some folks, lots of tweaking and eeking out every last bit of performance (whether or not a human can perceive the perf differences) is also part of the reason for building an HTPC. That's cool - just not my cup of tea. Lots of my content is not the greatest tech quality anyway, and so not worth a lot of time monkeying around. I am much more interested in content quality than technical quality. (Meaning I will take a good but harder to find lower technical quality film over a glorious hi-def but dreadful Transformers movie any day of the week, lol.) And like some folks around here with family who regularly use the HTPC - I also "just want it to work". A measure of that success - is that my wife loves the HTPC and wonders how did we get along without it.

Fortunately I live near two Microcenters and a Frys. I built my first HTPC using an i3 2100/MB combo for $100. It worked so well, I built an HTPC for my tech phobic parents using an AMD 840 Phenom II/MB combo for $60. Since both are working nicely for the intended purpose, I guess the AMD build is the greater success, since it cost $40 less. I am now thinking about building another HTPC, but hard to get all that excited about the new IB CPUs, given what I have previously spent on successful CPU/MB combos that get the job done. Seems like I would be looking at more than double the cost for an IB CPU/MB combo? Not ruling out IB, just not feeling the love yet given the lower cost options.

Go with a G620 for $50 from microcenter.

It's a great deal !!!


You can always upgrade the CPU later if you wanted.
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post #99 of 261
4/30/12 at 11:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by indio22 View Post

Similar situation here. The main goal in building my budget HTPC was maximum access to varied content and flexibility. My HTPC has fulfilled both of those remarkably well. For some folks, lots of tweaking and eeking out every last bit of performance (whether or not a human can perceive the perf differences) is also part of the reason for building an HTPC. That's cool - just not my cup of tea. Lots of my content is not the greatest tech quality anyway, and so not worth a lot of time monkeying around. I am much more interested in content quality than technical quality. (Meaning I will take a good but harder to find lower technical quality film over a glorious hi-def but dreadful Transformers movie any day of the week, lol.) And like some folks around here with family who regularly use the HTPC - I also "just want it to work". A measure of that success - is that my wife loves the HTPC and wonders how did we get along without it.

Fortunately I live near two Microcenters and a Frys. I built my first HTPC using an i3 2100/MB combo for $100. It worked so well, I built an HTPC for my tech phobic parents using an AMD 840 Phenom II/MB combo for $60. Since both are working nicely for the intended purpose, I guess the AMD build is the greater success, since it cost $40 less. I am now thinking about building another HTPC, but hard to get all that excited about the new IB CPUs, given what I have previously spent on successful CPU/MB combos that get the job done. Seems like I would be looking at more than double the cost for an IB CPU/MB combo? Not ruling out IB, just not feeling the love yet given the lower cost options.

That's just because the i3 and Pentium versions haven't been released yet. Look for the i3s possibly in June. Everything released so far is more than you need for an htpc.

The SB Pentium wasn't released for many months after release of the first Sandy Bridge either.

Right now it looks like Micro Center is charging $10 more for an Ivy over the same tier of Sandy.
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post #100 of 261
5/2/12 at 3:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zon2020 View Post

That's just because the i3 and Pentium versions haven't been released yet. Look for the i3s possibly in June. Everything released so far is more than you need for an htpc.

The SB Pentium wasn't released for many months after release of the first Sandy Bridge either.

Right now it looks like Micro Center is charging $10 more for an Ivy over the same tier of Sandy.

$10 might be worth it.

But for HTPC the total budget of a IVY build is a bit much with the current crop of chips available.

For a real PC- it's a solid option.

Although they run hot and Sandy seems to be a better overclocker- so enthusiasts might not do it for that.
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post #101 of 261
5/4/12 at 9:28pm
Well, since my Core2 HTPC has spent the last couple of days editing and rendering in Premiere, i say it is high time for at least an i5 ivy for me. I may not spring for the i7.
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post #102 of 261
5/24/12 at 8:36pm
Would the i3 3225 play the current crop of games "decently"? I have a main desktop that I game on, but it would be fun to play the occasional game on the big screen in the theater. I'm building a new HTPC. Can't decide whether to build now with Sandy and a discrete card or wait for the 3225 and see if the 4000 integrated graphics would be enough. Supposedly the 3225 is getting released in June. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.
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post #103 of 261
5/24/12 at 8:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by I. M. Fletcher View Post

Would the i3 3225 play the current crop of games "decently"? I have a main desktop that I game on, but it would be fun to play the occasional game on the big screen in the theater. I'm building a new HTPC. Can't decide whether to build now with Sandy and a discrete card or wait for the 3225 and see if the 4000 integrated graphics would be enough. Supposedly the 3225 is getting released in June. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

I've been doing a decent amount of research on the subject you just described, and I'm left believing that HD4000, while enough to load up games at low/medium settings, probably won't be quite enough (for me) to make the game enjoyable on a large TV. I still plan to use one for occasional co-op or dual-boxing, but I expect I won't be 100% pleased with it as a primary or regular gaming machine.
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post #104 of 261
5/24/12 at 11:26pm
The iGPUs might be enough to play games on low resolutions and low to medium settings.
That means, on a huge TV it won't look good, because you are playing with a low resolution.

I don't think they are good for playing in PCs. Might be good enough on laptops to accomodate the occasional gaming itch, but not for full-time gaming.
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post #105 of 261
5/25/12 at 1:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by I. M. Fletcher View Post

Would the i3 3225 play the current crop of games "decently"? I have a main desktop that I game on, but it would be fun to play the occasional game on the big screen in the theater. I'm building a new HTPC. Can't decide whether to build now with Sandy and a discrete card or wait for the 3225 and see if the 4000 integrated graphics would be enough. Supposedly the 3225 is getting released in June. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

You should go with AMD trinity for what you want.
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post #106 of 261
5/25/12 at 5:21pm
I'm on the fence about building with Ivy Bridge, here's my little story. Any feedback is most welcome.

I'll soon be doing my 3rd computer build, but 1st HTPC. I had thought I'd wait and use an IB i3, but we just can't wait that long now that it's listed as Q3. The real question I need to answer for myself is if I want "just" an HTPC, or something that will game as well.

So if I went Ivy Bridge, that pretty much means I'm looking at the i5-3470 releasing soon. I'd be willing to pair that with a GPU (maybe a 560?) and build that out respectably. Since I haven't dealt with the HTPC form factor before, my only real "concern" is if building that way will cause too much noise or heat in the micro-atx case. I would like being on the newest chipset for a little bit of future-proofing, and while I don't have an unlimited budget the $300 or so extra I'd be spending wouldn't be completely unjustified. I just don't want to paint myself in a corner because there's something I didn't take into consideration.

If not Ivy Bridge, then I'd probably be looking at the Sandy Bridge i3 and integrated graphics, and have a much more traditional HTPC setup. I know this will perform admirably, and a bit cheaper... yet it feels strange going with a platform that's in the process of being replaced. To be honest I'd rather go with IB & gaming unless there's a roadblock I haven't considered.

Thanks for any comments anyone may have,
-todd
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post #107 of 261
5/25/12 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnt118 View Post

So if I went Ivy Bridge, that pretty much means I'm looking at the i5-3470 releasing soon. I'd be willing to pair that with a GPU (maybe a 560?) and build that out respectably. Since I haven't dealt with the HTPC form factor before, my only real "concern" is if building that way will cause too much noise or heat in the micro-atx case. I would like being on the newest chipset for a little bit of future-proofing, and while I don't have an unlimited budget the $300 or so extra I'd be spending wouldn't be completely unjustified. I just don't want to paint myself in a corner because there's something I didn't take into consideration.

First, why not a 3570K that's available today? It's $189 at Micro Center (plus $50 off a Z77 motherboard). If you can get to a Micro Center, I doubt the 3470 will be any cheaper. It's as much processor as you could want.

Second, if you get a HTPC with reasonable airflow, you can do this, but your heat problem will be the video card, not the cpu. Those cpus just aren't that hot running. It's certainly doable in something like a Silverstone GD04.
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post #108 of 261
5/25/12 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zon2020 View Post

First, why not a 3570K that's available today

Tell me if this is way off base, but I was factoring in the lower power consumption of Ivy Bridge as well as the better quick sync. Not exactly groundbreaking, but I figured waiting 2-3 weeks for that wouldn't hurt anything.
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post #109 of 261
5/25/12 at 9:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnt118 View Post

Tell me if this is way off base, but I was factoring in the lower power consumption of Ivy Bridge as well as the better quick sync. Not exactly groundbreaking, but I figured waiting 2-3 weeks for that wouldn't hurt anything.

Not sure I understand your post. The i5-3570k is an Ivy Bridge. The first batch of Ivy cpus have been out for a month. The 3570K is the top of the line i5 and is basically the successor to the i5-2500K - it's the unlocked one with the HD4000 graphics. For what you said you were wanting to do, I didn't really see any advantage in waiting. Anything numbered iY-3XXX is an Ivy; iY-2XXX is a Sandy.

By the way, if you're interested in a small format gaming rig, Google and search YouTube for "SG05 gaming". Apparently the nice little ITX Silverstone Sugo SG05 case is a cult favorite among people building compact gaming rigs. They cram in big cpus, coolers and graphics cards into an attractive small package. Here's an example. http://www.overclockers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=672962 It's actually quite a nice little HTPC case. But it certainly confirms that what you want to do is doable.
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post #110 of 261
5/26/12 at 5:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zon2020 View Post

Not sure I understand your post. The i5-3570k is an Ivy Bridge. The first batch of Ivy cpus have been out for a month. The 3570K is the top of the line i5 and is basically the successor to the i5-2500K - it's the unlocked one with the HD4000 graphics. For what you said you were wanting to do, I didn't really see any advantage in waiting. Anything numbered iY-3XXX is an Ivy; iY-2XXX is a Sandy.

By the way, if you're interested in a small format gaming rig, Google and search YouTube for "SG05 gaming". Apparently the nice little ITX Silverstone Sugo SG05 case is a cult favorite among people building compact gaming rigs. They cram in big cpus, coolers and graphics cards into an attractive small package. Here's an example. http://www.overclockers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=672962 It's actually quite a nice little HTPC case. But it certainly confirms that what you want to do is doable.

You are right of course, I misread your post. Thanks for the good info.
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post #111 of 261
6/18/12 at 8:35am

Something new is always coming and the next big step up is Haswell (LGA 1150). The maximum number of EUs is rumored to be 20 or even 40. 16 EUs of Ivy Bridge is bare minimum to perform madVR's upsampling. More EUs is always welcome.

 

Haswell to have a faster start in 1H 2013

 

In H1 2013

 

- Haswell: 10%

- Ivy Bridge: 50%

- Sandy Bridge: 40%

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post #112 of 261
6/27/12 at 11:51am
So, I thought the IB i3 chips were supposed to be released on the 24th. Any word on that? Only thing I could find on this is that is that the mobile versions are available.
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post #113 of 261
6/27/12 at 12:36pm

I thought nobody believed desktop i3 to be released in June. smile.gif

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post #114 of 261
6/27/12 at 12:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

I thought nobody believed desktop i3 to be released in June. smile.gif

My understanding is that we won't see i3 IVBs until Q3 at the earliest, even then they could be OEM only similar to how the 2nd round of i5s were.
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post #115 of 261
6/27/12 at 12:52pm

"June release" is based on the announcement of Intel's Taiwan branch. But it doesn't say if they are desktop or notebook or both. So far only notebook i3 have been released as expected.

 

Quote:
Intel reiterates shipment date for new processors
2012/06/14 18:34:38
 
Taipei, June 14 (CNA) The Taiwan branch of U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp. reiterated Thursday that the entry-level model of its new Ivy Bridge processors will begin shipping as soon as this month, following media reports that the products are scheduled for delivery in August.

"The Intel 3rd-generation Core i3 processor will be available after June 24," Intel's Taiwan branch said in a statement.

The company also reiterated its earlier announcement made a year ago at Computex 2011 that it planned to shift 40 percent of the consumer notebook market to Ultrabooks by the end of 2012, saying that this goal has not changed.

The clarification came a day after local media reports said that the shipping date of the faster Intel Core i5 and i7 processors had been delayed from May to June 3, while the entry-level Core i3 processors are scheduled for delivery in August.

Taiwan's Acer Inc. said it has revised its forecast for the penetration rate of the company's Ultrabooks because of the one-month delay in the Core i5 and i7 processors, while the global economic prospects remain gloomy, according to the reports.

As a result, Acer expects Ultrabooks to account for 12 to 15 percent of its total notebook shipments in 2012, lower than its previous forecast of 12 to 20 percent, the reports said.

(By Jeffrey Wu)
ENDITEM/J

Edited by renethx - 6/28/12 at 4:11am
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post #116 of 261
6/28/12 at 6:35am
So as of now IB doesn't seem usable for HTPCs.
I have a desktop based on ASUS P8Z77-V and a i7-3770-DDR3-1600, which I use to test media playback before deciding to build a 'pure' IB HTPC

What I see is
-a minute long corruption when starting/stopping/skipping HD content. That's not usable with live TV, when you switch channels with different type of content.
-Resuming from sleep breaks audio (HDMI)
-full range RGB setting still broken for HDMI (DVI is supoosed to work, but then bitstreamming only with workarounds)

Given that rumors are about Haswell being released early next year, and the IB-i3 not being available yet, Intel only has about 6months to make IB useable in a HTPC scenario, before they drop it and go after Haswell.

An alternative might be a series 7 board with a i3-2105/2125. Anyone used that ? Any experiences?
Or go Llano altogether.

Any thoughts?
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post #117 of 261
6/28/12 at 6:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin Mitra View Post

-a minute long corruption when starting/stopping/skipping HD content. That's not usable with live TV, when you switch channels with different type of content.
-Resuming from sleep breaks audio (HDMI)

Make sure you have the latest GPU/HDMI Audio drivers on your system. I've been running an IVB system for quite some time now and haven't seen either of these issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin Mitra View Post

-full range RGB setting still broken for HDMI (DVI is supoosed to work, but then bitstreamming only with workarounds)

Full range RGB is an issue on IVB (and other Intel GPUs) when connected to displays that prefer limited. Obviously it is a gap that should be addressed, but I'm not sure that this is a general "con"; if your primary use case is video it's largely a non-issue.
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post #118 of 261
6/28/12 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by babgvant View Post

Make sure you have the latest GPU/HDMI Audio drivers on your system. I've been running an IVB system for quite some time now and haven't seen either of these issues.
Full range RGB is an issue on IVB (and other Intel GPUs) when connected to displays that prefer limited. Obviously it is a gap that should be addressed, but I'm not sure that this is a general "con"; if your primary use case is video it's largely a non-issue.

I have tried all the drivers starting from the one from ASUS (2596 or so) to the now latest 'generic' from Intel, 2761.

The corruption I'm seeing happens whenever I switch from a SD channel to a HD one, or from 720p to 1080i, or when I resize the playback window. It's not just the first few frames that are corrupted, the corruption lasts for anything between 20s to 2 mins. There's a thread over at the Intel support forum: http://communities.intel.com/message/160113#160113

If you don't have this, what are you using in terms of drivers and players for live-tv?

My system is: win7sp1 all updates , x64 with WMC as player. no codecs, no other players (that will come later)
The bios is also up to date (ME is 8.xxx)
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post #119 of 261
6/28/12 at 9:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin Mitra View Post

I have tried all the drivers starting from the one from ASUS (2596 or so) to the now latest 'generic' from Intel, 2761.

I'm on 2761 right now, but I haven't see those issues with previous drivers either. What VBIOS version is installed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin Mitra View Post

If you don't have this, what are you using in terms of drivers and players for live-tv?

Does it only happen with LiveTV?

I use 7MC (live & rec TV), SageTV (live & rev TV), MPC-HC + madVR (video files) and TMT5 (video files) all the time on the system, tested a few others too.
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post #120 of 261
6/28/12 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by babgvant View Post

I'm on 2761 right now, but I haven't see those issues with previous drivers either. What VBIOS version is installed?
Does it only happen with LiveTV?
I use 7MC (live & rec TV), SageTV (live & rev TV), MPC-HC + madVR (video files) and TMT5 (video files) all the time on the system, tested a few others too.

VBIOS, I'll check when I get home, not that I have any chance to change it, since I have to take what I get from Asus, and I tried the last two BIOS versions.

The issue also persists with wtv playback (again, when you somehow choose different resolutions). Obviously wtv is more or less the same if played live or not (it comes from the disk anyway).
For example, where I live (in PAL land) I have various recordings ranging from 'normal' SD MPEG2 to HD 720p50 and HD 1080i50. The SD content is no problem, but when selecting a 720p file after an SD file, I have corruption, likewise when selecting a 1080i after having just played a SD or 720p file, again corruption. Going back to 720p from 1080i also corruption. Going back to SD is OK. Again, doing the same procedure with channel switching between channels with the appropriate kind of content yields the same results.

I still have to check with other content, but I'm avoiding that right now in order to keep the system clean of codecs before installing the usual other stuff (LAV, mpc-hc, etc). I'll probably omit madvr finally, but will test it at least on the desktop system.

Just to clarify, I do have a similar system based on a DZ68DB and a i7-2600k. That doesn't have these problems, also the older intel boards don't show this. I hope that this gets resolved either by someone helping me find out what stupid configuration error I did, or it's a 'solvable' issue in the driver and/or Bios before too long.


EDIT:
What content does SAGE TV offer?
Edited by Robin Mitra - 6/28/12 at 10:03am
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