Integrated graphics typically make it harder to overclock. Otherwise, in general, the lower-end Intel CPUs are very good overclockers.
Ozy
Ozy
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Integrated Graphics HTPC
Im ready to pull the trigger on a full HTPC HDTV pc.
As i want to wait for more graphics cards to appear in the future i want to stick with integrated graphics.
Which components would you all suggest i get?
AMD and INTEl
Basically i want software encoding without any frame loss, with the heaviest .h264.
I realise integrated graphics can not do this using hardware exceleration.
THe components i need suggestions for are:
Nice easy overclocked CPU
Motherboard w/ integrated graphics, needs to achieve atleast 3ghz with dual core cpu.
Memory, pref 2gb
Hard drive, fast and quiet preferable, size not an issue, value more important.
Quiet DVD rom player drive.
My budget is around 500 euro , thats 600-700 dollars!
Thanks!
ps-if you can suggest a smooth system including vista and a 8500 gt for just over the price range, i may be interested.
Although i want to keep to integrated graphics as in the future i will want to get a more powerfull card than the current 8800 series(With support for h264 and vc1 hardware decoding(hopefully)
Shall i wait til ati release the new HD series?
As i want to wait for more graphics cards to appear in the future i want to stick with integrated graphics.
Which components would you all suggest i get?
AMD and INTEl
Basically i want software encoding without any frame loss, with the heaviest .h264.
I realise integrated graphics can not do this using hardware exceleration.
THe components i need suggestions for are:
Nice easy overclocked CPU
Motherboard w/ integrated graphics, needs to achieve atleast 3ghz with dual core cpu.
Memory, pref 2gb
Hard drive, fast and quiet preferable, size not an issue, value more important.
Quiet DVD rom player drive.
My budget is around 500 euro , thats 600-700 dollars!
Thanks!
ps-if you can suggest a smooth system including vista and a 8500 gt for just over the price range, i may be interested.
Although i want to keep to integrated graphics as in the future i will want to get a more powerfull card than the current 8800 series(With support for h264 and vc1 hardware decoding(hopefully)
Shall i wait til ati release the new HD series?
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
E4300 Core2Duo $114 overclocks to 3GHz on air at stock voltage
Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2 $106 will get you there
Corsair ValueSelect 2GB 667 $90
Hitachi Deskstar 80GB $40
ASUS DRW-1814BLT DVD burner $37
Total: $387
System will crank on everything except H.264 1080i deinterlacing. If that's critical:
Throw in a fanless 8500GT for $100 from ASUS or Gigabyte and you're still under $500. Vista home premium will run you $150 or $220 depending on whether you do with retail or upgrade version, so you're at $600-700.
Plus shipping, plus a case and a power supply, of course, but you might already have those laying around.
Edit: overclocking sometimes hoses S-ATA, and both drives I gave you were S-ATA. You can probably get IDE equivalents for a similar price.
Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2 $106 will get you there
Corsair ValueSelect 2GB 667 $90
Hitachi Deskstar 80GB $40
ASUS DRW-1814BLT DVD burner $37
Total: $387
System will crank on everything except H.264 1080i deinterlacing. If that's critical:
Throw in a fanless 8500GT for $100 from ASUS or Gigabyte and you're still under $500. Vista home premium will run you $150 or $220 depending on whether you do with retail or upgrade version, so you're at $600-700.
Plus shipping, plus a case and a power supply, of course, but you might already have those laying around.
Edit: overclocking sometimes hoses S-ATA, and both drives I gave you were S-ATA. You can probably get IDE equivalents for a similar price.
My system is pretty much exactly what you're asking for: Gigabyte 965pDS3, 2GB, e4300, WD 500GB (really quiet), 8500GT. Does 3ghz, works perfectly with Vista, costs about 500 euros. Bluray h264 plays back at 2-3% CPU, MPEG2/VC1 at 20%.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodgexander /forum/post/0
My budget is around 500 euro , thats 600-700 dollars!
My system is pretty much exactly what you're asking for: Gigabyte 965pDS3, 2GB, e4300, WD 500GB (really quiet), 8500GT. Does 3ghz, works perfectly with Vista, costs about 500 euros. Bluray h264 plays back at 2-3% CPU, MPEG2/VC1 at 20%.
Here are some interesting specs to chew on.
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2...copynr9cb9.jpg
They're talking about a BIOS update, but are not saying which motherboard maker:
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,6240.html
Anyway, that looks about the best for AMD at the moment.
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2...copynr9cb9.jpg
They're talking about a BIOS update, but are not saying which motherboard maker:
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,6240.html
Anyway, that looks about the best for AMD at the moment.
Thanks for that link though it still does not address 1080p for AVC blu-ray yet......I have a 690g board and thats the only material I cannot play yet without frames being dropped (1080i component out).
Quote:
Originally Posted by scottnews /forum/post/0
Here are some interesting specs to chew on.
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2...copynr9cb9.jpg
They're talking about a BIOS update, but are not saying which motherboard maker:
http://www.nordichardware.com/news,6240.html
Anyway, that looks about the best for AMD at the moment.
Thanks for that link though it still does not address 1080p for AVC blu-ray yet......I have a 690g board and thats the only material I cannot play yet without frames being dropped (1080i component out).
An ASUS M2A-VM HDMI coupled with and AMD 64 x2 6000+ is worth looking into. Mine easily handles 1080i HD DVD playback. It has integrated ATI X1250 video and 5.1 audio via SPDIF. I'm currently working out some driver issues with Catalyst. It's a small form factor board, not much room for expansion, but with everything on a $85.00 motherboard, who needs expansion?
This really is a good thread HTPC Motherboards
If I dare summarize... the consensus is there are many good options. The Core2's are faster and cooler, however because some of the motherboards cost more it may drive the total cost up over a workable AMD solution.
If you are really set on overclocking then definately read up on the differences between the "overclockability" of the various chips. I experimented with my e6600 and it clocked up great, however I run it at stock speed to minimize heat output. I even considered underclocking, except it already runs very cool even with the stock fan and the BIOS set to quiet mode.
Regarding integrated graphics. Be prepared to add a card later if it doesn'twork out. I read up on the g965 clear video and it sounded OK. However in the end I spent a few extra $ and went with an nvidia card.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodgexander /forum/post/0
Nice easy overclocked CPU
Motherboard w/ integrated graphics, needs to achieve atleast 3ghz with dual core cpu.
[edit]
Although i want to keep to integrated graphics as in the future
This really is a good thread HTPC Motherboards
If I dare summarize... the consensus is there are many good options. The Core2's are faster and cooler, however because some of the motherboards cost more it may drive the total cost up over a workable AMD solution.
If you are really set on overclocking then definately read up on the differences between the "overclockability" of the various chips. I experimented with my e6600 and it clocked up great, however I run it at stock speed to minimize heat output. I even considered underclocking, except it already runs very cool even with the stock fan and the BIOS set to quiet mode.
Regarding integrated graphics. Be prepared to add a card later if it doesn'twork out. I read up on the g965 clear video and it sounded OK. However in the end I spent a few extra $ and went with an nvidia card.
I have the same board with an AMD 4800+ at 1080i. Only files that it cannot handle atm are the Blu-Ray AVC files. I've yet to find any 690g user using the onboard 1250x video able to play these files. It can play Vc1 and Mpeg2 Blu-Ray fine but the high bitrate AVC's just kill it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Qoquaq /forum/post/0
An ASUS M2A-VM HDMI coupled with and AMD 64 x2 6000+ is worth looking into. Mine easily handles 1080i HD DVD playback. It has integrated ATI X1250 video and 5.1 audio via SPDIF. I'm currently working out some driver issues with Catalyst. It's a small form factor board, not much room for expansion, but with everything on a $85.00 motherboard, who needs expansion?
I have the same board with an AMD 4800+ at 1080i. Only files that it cannot handle atm are the Blu-Ray AVC files. I've yet to find any 690g user using the onboard 1250x video able to play these files. It can play Vc1 and Mpeg2 Blu-Ray fine but the high bitrate AVC's just kill it.
If you can spend 600 USD, then buy:
and you will have a perfect HTPC machine that can handle every kind of HD contents easily!
Waiting for the ATI Radeon HD 2600/2400 card may be a waste of time. Its HDMI audio does not offer more than the S/PDIF quality audio. Complete VC-1 decode assist may be helpful for older single-core processors, but practically useless for dual-core processors. Even if the ATI card turned out to be better in other respects, spending $100 on GeForce 8500 GT would not be a huge loss.
No IGP can compete with the above system. If you still want a mATX board (with limited expandability / no IEEE 1394) and don't mind overclocking the CPU, I recommend one of:
Athlon 64 X2 3600+ can be overclocked to 3.0GHz and Core 2 Duo E4300 can be overlcocked to 3.3GHz. But I have yet to confirm that these processors combined with Radeon X1250/Xpress 1250 can handle the heaviest H.264 without any frame loss (perhaps they can't).
- Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ ADO3600DDBOX 1.9GHz Socket AM2. $69
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 GeForce 6100/nForce 430 ATX. $78
- Video Card: GIGABYTE GeForce 8500 GT GV-NX85T256H. $98
- Memory: Corsair Value Select PC2-5300 2GB VS2GBKIT667D2. $80
- Hard Drive: Samsung SpinPoint P120 250GB SATA SP2504C. $57
- Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA 380. $42
- Total Cost: $424
and you will have a perfect HTPC machine that can handle every kind of HD contents easily!
Waiting for the ATI Radeon HD 2600/2400 card may be a waste of time. Its HDMI audio does not offer more than the S/PDIF quality audio. Complete VC-1 decode assist may be helpful for older single-core processors, but practically useless for dual-core processors. Even if the ATI card turned out to be better in other respects, spending $100 on GeForce 8500 GT would not be a huge loss.
No IGP can compete with the above system. If you still want a mATX board (with limited expandability / no IEEE 1394) and don't mind overclocking the CPU, I recommend one of:
- Athlon 64 X2 3600+ with BIOSTAR TA690G AM2 or Sapphire PURE Innovation PI-AM2RS690MHD (avoid ASUS M2A-VM HDMI that cannot overclock well)
- Core 2 Duo E4300 with abit F-I90HD
Athlon 64 X2 3600+ can be overclocked to 3.0GHz and Core 2 Duo E4300 can be overlcocked to 3.3GHz. But I have yet to confirm that these processors combined with Radeon X1250/Xpress 1250 can handle the heaviest H.264 without any frame loss (perhaps they can't).
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
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