Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Originally posted by: yh125d
Talk of AII, PHII, unlocking cores, totally not what OP is talking about. He's referring to extra low power requirement HTPC/DVR type stuff. For that type, the Celeron E1xxx line is fine for intel side at $50-60, And X2 XXXXe and Athlon LE line for AMD.
Stay away from shitty processors. I was previously using a 1.8ghz Celeron (conroe) and it had some major issues. Even though task manager says the video playback is nowhere near 100% CPU, it still manages to have upwards of 10 seconds between the sound and the video. By that I mean I would hear what's going on but it wouldn't be on the screen until 10 seconds later. It doesn't do that on any of my good computers even though every computer in my house has the exact same software configuration.
It's not even worth building an HTPC if it's just going to suck. That PS3 fanboy friend that everybody has will make fun of you when your computer can't play blu-ray movies properly but his penis 3 can.
Celerons are a bad choice for an HTPC. No power management features, and their cut-down cache makes their performance stuttery and often quite poor. (same with the 256KB semprons)
The pentiums are better, but I think still lose to the dual core 45nm AMD chips in terms of price, even with overclocking taken into account.
However, I've got an old school phenom x3 in my HTPC because I picked it up for a steal. Before that I had a energy efficient X2 (2.3Ghz model I think) that's just sitting in its box now. The triple core phenom runs very cool under idle or even media playback, yet performs way better (can handle hd video, boots faster, etc) and can also run games adequately well now that I have it equipped with a GTS250. Granted my HTPC isn't ultra-tiny, but it's matx sized with decent power at a decent cost.
It is almost dead silent until I added in the video card (heatsink on the video card doesn't have a variable fan, I need to mod that somehow...or should have gone with a 4850). I have an Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 PWM (rated for up to 90 watts, but the triple core phenom can go a bit above that, and I have a feeling the included thermal paste on it has greatly worn down in efficiency) on the cpu, that is wholly inadequate for full load (like playing GTA4). However, I've got two Panasonic Panaflo fans on the rear of the case that are basically silent at full load and exhaust enough heat to keep it from overheating.
Anyhow, my HTPC is:
Phenom X3 8450 overclocked to 2.5Ghz
(I would have undervolted it instead, but my motherboard doesn't support that, so I figured the minimal heat increase from overclocking without raising voltage is worth it)
GTS 250
4GB DDR2 800
Slow 200GB old IDE hard drive I had laying around
My primary PC is:
Pentium E5200 overclocked to 3.33Ghz
Geforce 9800GTX+ (same card as the GTS 250)
8GB DDR2 800
1TB Seagate Barracuda
My primary PC feels faster (though I suspect the faster hard drive plays a big part in that), but the HTPC is more fun to use. It runs smoother, less stuttering both in general use and media playback (though adding the gts 250 over the integrated 8200 helped a big part in that) and is just a less frustrating experience. The two systems are similar in performance though, I'd consider swapping them if not for the full-sized ATX case my main PC uses, along with the gigantic 10.5" 9800GTX+.