[intendedaccel]

Hey guys,


I'm really having trouble deciding between the two options in the subject. Ignoring cost differences, which option is as close to 100% working as possible. It seems that both seem to have issues.


What I care about:

• Bluray playback including lossless audio over HDMI
• Media center usage with new Ceton 4 tuner card
• Quality DVD playback (upscaling/post processing)

Most of all I care about having an issue free HTPC as this will be replacing our TivoHD, PS3, and AppleTV in the living room so it must pass the WAF test. What is my best option here?

 

[hirent]



Quote:
Originally Posted by intendedaccel /forum/post/18248324


Bluray playback including lossless audio over HDMI

Media center usage with new Ceton 4 tuner card

Quality DVD playback (upscaling/post processing)

Types of files: BD ISO, mkv etc?

Which software player?

HD Receiver?


I have a 5750 on a Asus M3A78-EM, Win7x32, MPC-HC w/ffdshow & PDVD 9.

Chain is HTPC to Onkyo TX-SR876 w/2 HDMI outs; one to 720p/60 TV and the other to 1080p/24 PJ.

CCC recognizes the connection and switches the resolution/refresh rate accordingly.


Plays and Bitstreams flawlessly.


Have no idea about Intel H55, so can't pass judgment on it.

Good Luck!

 

[intendedaccel]



Quote:
Originally Posted by hirent /forum/post/18248554


Types of files: BD ISO, mkv etc?

Which software player?

HD Receiver?


I have a 5750 on a Asus M3A78-EM, Win7x32, MPC-HC w/ffdshow & PDVD 9.

Chain is HTPC to Onkyo TX-SR876 w/2 HDMI outs; one to 720p/60 TV and the other to 1080p/24 PJ.

CCC recognizes the connection and switches the resolution/refresh rate accordingly.


Have no idea about Intel H55, so can't pass judgment on it.

Good Luck!

Types of files: BD ISO, mkv etc?

Pressed retail disks

Which software player?

TBD....none selected yet

HD Receiver?

Currently have a non-HD receiver (Denon AVR-1609) but will be upgrading soon to probably a Harman Kardon 2600.


Tv is currently a Samsung 56" 720P DLP.....probably going to be upgraded soon as well.


Thanks for the info!

 

[jreese831]



Quote:
Originally Posted by intendedaccel /forum/post/18248324


Most of all I care about having an issue free HTPC...

IMO, no such thing exists. Otherwise, we would have no need for this forum!

 

[sriramc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jreese831 /forum/post/18249891


IMO, no such thing exists. Otherwise, we would have no need for this forum!

LMAO!!! Ha ha pretty much sums up htpc as a hobby

 

[trooper11]

i had a related question i might as well ask here.


im not worried about ease of setup, i know anything involving this takes tweaking, but which combination gives you the complete feature set/performance in order to:


-Play back bluray discs with all the proper audio and video support

-Play back ripped mkvs (still 1080p, just stripped of extras, etc)

-Play back recorded tv content (via cable card once i get the centon card)

-Play back DVD content and older videos


My thinking has been going back and forth between two setups:


i5 750 (quad) + ati 5570

or

i3 530 (dual)


price isnt as important to me as meeting my minimum needs, and thats being able to support all the 1080p content and play it back smoothly. i know the i3 setup would be cheaper, etc, but is it going to give me the performance and feature support? Do both offer the same level of video processing?

 

[kemist1117]

From what i have read the intel solution is great for video, however, if you are using 7MC the shader core may lead to slow guide usage etc if aero is on. Don't know if this has been tested or not.


I know that a hand me down htpc i gave to my gf with an HD2400 pro really struggles with aero on and guide overlain on video etc.

 

[trooper11]

well thats a good point. i havent seen any good reviews covering that aspect of it, and thats not something to ignore.


i just dont want to under buy when the options are available

 

[gorthocar]

There's always the option of going H55 + Clarkdale, and if you don't like that, add an Ati card in it.


So far I'm pretty happy with my H55 + Core i5 system. Right now my only issue is that it is outputting 24fps instead of 23.976. The latest video drivers do have a "23" Hz refresh rate option, but it still has a very small bit of stutter as if it is not outputting 23.976, and I'm hopeful we're just one driver release away from getting everything perfect.

 

[hogues]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gorthocar /forum/post/18251984


There's always the option of going H55 + Clarkdale, and if you don't like that, add an Ati card in it.

.

Wow, such a simple solution and I never even thought of it!

In fact, I went so far as to price out two separate HTPC's on Newegg in anticipation of the Ceton card, but I think that I'll follow your advice. I am hoping that Intel to cleans up the 24fps issue before then, though, because I want as few cards in there as possible.

 

[pkscout]

I've got a Core i3 with the H55 board, and I've been happy with it. Blu-ray has been fine, DVD as well. I have a ATSC/QAM tuner that has been working with no problems as well. I'm not doing bit streaming (yet), because I have an older flat panel with only VGA and component inputs. I added a 5.1 audio card to get that out to my receiver. I'd echo the suggestion to try the H55 and add a video card later if you really have to.

 

[intendedaccel]

Thanks for the advice guys. I ended up picking up an i5 650 + Asus H55 board. Still getting everything up and going but so far looks pretty decent. The biggest issue for me so far is that my TV takes a LONG (3 minutes roughly) time to pickup a signal from the HDMI output off the motherboard. Once it does pick it up though, no further issues. Like other posters have mentioned, if I can't get things working well off the i5 GPU, I can always throw a ATI or other card in the case later, although I'm trying to avoid that.

 

[intendedaccel]

I decided to come back and update this thread, in case others end up asking themselves the same question.


In retrospect, I would encourage others to go with either a P55 with a video card, or go with an AMD based solution.


I've had nothing but problems with the Clarksdale based system. I've had to RMA one CPU due to temperature issues. On top of that, the onboard graphics has continued issues with HDMI handshakes, and keeping my set resolution. I ended up putting in a Nvidia 9800GT that I had just to get reliable HDMI with my TV. I would encourage folks to read in the Clarksdale owners thread to see the latest list of issues before buying a Clarksdale based system. YMMV.

 

[Scirus Arcnus]

Well, the H series has numerous features and advantages over the P series and yet can still run the same CPU and seperate GPU if desired. I cannot think of a single advantage the P series has -it just limits options.

 

[ArtosDracon]

All I can say for sure is that my HD5750 + old Pentium D +4GB ram runs everything I can throw at it flawlessly, including HD 1080 .mkv so I'm happy.

 

[gcoupe]

I voted "other" because I've ended up with Clarkdale + H57 + Radeon 5670. The Clarkdale + H57 option had too many issues for me.

 

[Tong Chia]



Quote:
Originally Posted by intendedaccel /forum/post/18798439


I decided to come back and update this thread, in case others end up asking themselves the same question.


In retrospect, I would encourage others to go with either a P55 with a video card, or go with an AMD based solution.


I've had nothing but problems with the Clarksdale based system. I've had to RMA one CPU due to temperature issues. On top of that, the onboard graphics has continued issues with HDMI handshakes, and keeping my set resolution.

Your experience mirrors mine, I am building a media player sized

HTPC using an Antec ISK-310.


The HDMI handshake with Intel video is slower that the Popcornhour A110 media player

that it was supposed to replace. The PC is actually talking to my DVDO

Edge, connected directly my TV (Panasonic -6UY) it takes even longer.


Clarkdale running with video runs too hot for me.

I have core i3-530. I ended up using a DFI P55-T36 ITX board

with a passive 5550. (It is a lower powered cousin of the 5570, 320 vs 400 shaders and about 15% lower clocks).

The passive 5570s are just hitting the market and I have my eye on one.


The total heat load is slightly higher but the heat sources are spread

out with the video card contributing about 60%. This is important in

a cramped mini-itx case in avoiding hot spots.


The P55 on the DFI runs slightly cooler (about 5deg c) than the

H55 on the Zotac board that I returned. (Used a thermocouple)


The extra flexibility of the H55 was of no use to me, the P55 ran

cooler which was important to me.


Overall the P55 was slightly cheaper and less complex than the H55.

($120 for the DFI vs 145 for the H55 Zotac.)

 

[T-Bone]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tong Chia /forum/post/18803423


Clarkdale running with video runs too hot for me. I have core i3-530.

Hot hot is too hot? I am running a core i3 530 with stock CPU cooler, and using onboard graphics (VGA). Mobo is Intel DH55HC (not that it matters). Idle heat is usually 48 C. With BD playback I hit no higher than 54 C. And if I run handbrake to compress a BD rip to 720p, CPU is essentially pegged, temp is about 68 C. Naturally, fan speed increases to keep temp within limits.


-T

 

[ymarker]



Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Bone /forum/post/18803558


Hot hot is too hot? I am running a core i3 530 with stock CPU cooler, and using onboard graphics (VGA). Mobo is Intel DH55HC (not that it matters). Idle heat is usually 48 C. With BD playback I hit no higher than 54 C. And if I run handbrake to compress a BD rip to 720p, CPU is essentially pegged, temp is about 68 C. Naturally, fan speed increases to keep temp within limits.


-T

Agreed. The poster above you probably had a bad zotac board. Just look at the newegg reviews. I find it exceedingly unlikely that a proper h55 mini-itx solution with core i3/i5 will consume more than 25w and thus generate more heat than any other solution with a video card.


Power consumed (w/losses) is directly proportional to heat generated.

 

[renethx]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tong Chia /forum/post/18803423


I ended up using a DFI P55-T36 ITX board with a passive 5550.

This model ? How hot is it at load (e.g. FurMark stress test) inside the Antec ISK 310-150? You can check the GPU temperature with CCC > Overdrive. If it does not run too hot, I want it.