HTPC CPU which one should I buy

[kyotousa]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103199

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103198

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103775

1. HD movies and music only...no gaming
2. I am going to use it on Gigabyte 780g microatx board and Corsair 2gb XMS2 memory. No graphic card.
3. OC to 2.4-2.8ghz.
4. Price is the key lower the better.

Correct me if I am wrong, I will not benefit anything from using dual core and 2.8ghz single core CPU would kick 2.2 dual core CPU's ass. If that's correct scratch off the dual core CPU

Also, single is probably easier to oc and has lower wattage. So is 1620 worth that 10 dollars against 1600?

 

[QuixoticOne]

Gee did you check any benchmarks on HD video decoding performance on that
780g motherboard vs. CPU load? That is key.

Because unless the GPU on the motherboard is handing A LOT of the HD video decoding aspects then none of those CPUs is going to do a good job if the CPU has to do like 70% of the decode work or more.

Something like the dual core X2 4000 one might just barely have enough processing capability to do HD video decoding for 1080p resolution in H.264 compression, but I sort of doubt it's really quite enough without a lot of GPU assist.

I'd be looking at something like an Intel E2160 OC'ed to around 3GHz minimum if I was thinking I'd have to do a lot of CPU decode work..

It all depends on how good your GPU is at playback decoding for HS, the drivers, and the codecs/media player software you use as to whether it supports all the GPU decode processing possible to get good quality HD video back with any necessary filtering / de-interlacing or whatever.

Originally posted by: kyotousa
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103199

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103198

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103775

1. HD movies and music only...no gaming
2. I am going to use it on Gigabyte 780g microatx board and Corsair 2gb XMS2 memory. No graphic card.
3. OC to 2.4-2.8ghz.
4. Price is the key lower the better.

single is probably easier to oc and has lower wattage, so is 1620 worth that 10 dollars?
Correct me if I am wrong, I will not benefit anything from using dual core. If that's correct scratch off the dual core CPU

 

[kyotousa]

Originally posted by: QuixoticOne
Gee did you check any benchmarks on HD video decoding performance on that
780g motherboard vs. CPU load? That is key.

Because unless the GPU on the motherboard is handing A LOT of the HD video decoding aspects then none of those CPUs is going to do a good job if the CPU has to do like 70% of the decode work or more.

Something like the dual core X2 4000 one might just barely have enough processing capability to do HD video decoding for 1080p resolution in H.264 compression, but I sort of doubt it's really quite enough without a lot of GPU assist.

I'd be looking at something like an Intel E2160 OC'ed to around 3GHz minimum if I was thinking I'd have to do a lot of CPU decode work..

According to Tom's hardware's benchmark even Sempron 3200 can do the job
Besides, I am using 939 single core OC to 2.6ghz with X800 it plays 1080i sample video just fine

I am just looking for good buy out of these 3 CPU

 

[heyheybooboo]

If I remember correctly, Tech Report (or maybe Tom's) went as low as 1.8GHz on a Sempron (3800+ ??) on the 780g.

+1 for the AMD Athlon 64 LE-1600 2.2GHz 1MB L2 Cache

What kind of ""HD content"" are we talking about ??

edit: do you have a link for Tom's article ??

 

[kyotousa]

just some HD H264 TV shows that you can download online...which is actually 720p lol

 

[byronm]

I agree with the post above +1 for the LE-16000 - will be quiet and the 780g is already specced for bluray playback so graphics wise you're alright. ATI has always had serious Mpeg/VC1 hardware support ever since the X days.

Me, i chose to go headless and use xbox 360's for the front ends so video card/chipset wasn't an issue - spent the money on storage space. 360 plays back every resolution superbly i can throw at it.

 

[kyotousa]

I see...so 1620 isn't really worth it then...thx for all the replies.

This is actually more of jukebox...I am putting in EMU 1212m

 

[hnzw rui]

Originally posted by: kyotousa
just some HD H264 TV shows that you can download online...which is actually 720p lol

For those, then you don't really get hardware decoding. They're kinda picky. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is easy, files downloaded from the internet, not so much. 720p isn't as bad as 1080p so the X2 4000+ should do w/o oc'ing. For higher, then you'd have to oc to 2.40GHz minimum.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: kyotousa
just some HD H264 TV shows that you can download online...which is actually 720p lol

by recomendation, you need to match the cpu power of a C2D @ 2.0ghz to play shutter free @ 1080p full playback.

That would = an AMD at around 2.2-2.4ghz


Or you can just cut the cpu, and buy an HD3800 series which has onboard playback.

Or a 9500GT isnt that bad of a solution either when they come out.

 

[MarcVenice]

Why a HD3800 series ? Most of the lower-end series are also fully HDCP ready and will offloud the cpu for 99%. Think about the 2400/2600 series, HD3450/HD3650 etc... And like mentioned the IGP on the mobo should actually allready suffice, so no need even for a external videocard.

 

[hnzw rui]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
by recomendation, you need to match the cpu power of a C2D @ 2.0ghz to play shutter free @ 1080p full playback.

That would = an AMD at around 2.2-2.4ghz


Or you can just cut the cpu, and buy an HD3800 series which has onboard playback.

Or a 9500GT isnt that bad of a solution either when they come out.

The AMD 780G has an HD 3200 onboard video which already provides full hardware decoding so there's no need to get a separate video card. Unfortunately, hardware decoding isn't guaranteed to work with every file you throw at it. There are very specific encoding options necessary for the video to be able to use hardware decoding. This is something you have no control over if you're just downloading the file off of the internet.

The video cards were designed to work with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD streams so obviously, those are already supported.

Again, recommend getting dual-core (X2 4000+ instead of cheaper single-core offerings).

 

[heyheybooboo]

YMWV with downloaded content as you don't really know how it was transcoded - there's a wide range of video bit rates ...

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: hnzw rui


The AMD 780G has an HD 3200 onboard video which already provides full hardware decoding so there's no need to get a separate video card. Unfortunately, hardware decoding isn't guaranteed to work with every file you throw at it. There are very specific encoding options necessary for the video to be able to use hardware decoding. This is something you have no control over if you're just downloading the file off of the internet.

This is something many people forget -- the hardware will offload decoding, but ONLY if you're using the vendor's codecs, with player software capable of using those codecs.

Just go the dual core CPU route. Just about every player on every OS I cared to use was able to make use of multiple cores. 2.4 ghz single core AMD is not *quite* enough to decode 1080p at full bit rates without dropping frames or getting audio out of sync. But 2x 2.4ghz will be, with or without your video card lending a helping hand.

Plus the spare core will be nice to let the OS do its own thing in the background, which is just as important.

BTW, I can state for a *FACT* that an E2180 downclocked to 1.8 ghz was able to decode a full bit rate 1080p file with only rudimentary GPU aid. I don't remember the name of the file, but it's the brutal Quicktime trailer which gave my old 2.4 ghz Venice CPU heartburn.

Linux + 8800GT + VLC media player, so this was all CPU.

You don't need a 3 ghz E2xxx chip ( equivalent to an amd 7500x2? so not necessary ) just to play back a video clip on pure CPU. My test shows even a 5000x2 should be able to hack it.

 

[kyotousa]

Originally posted by: v8envy

Originally posted by: hnzw rui


The AMD 780G has an HD 3200 onboard video which already provides full hardware decoding so there's no need to get a separate video card. Unfortunately, hardware decoding isn't guaranteed to work with every file you throw at it. There are very specific encoding options necessary for the video to be able to use hardware decoding. This is something you have no control over if you're just downloading the file off of the internet.

This is something many people forget -- the hardware will offload decoding, but ONLY if you're using the vendor's codecs, with player software capable of using those codecs.

KMplayer can pretty much take any stripped off codec you want....and since I have PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra that isn't a problem
so you think I could get a better performance http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103732
rather than OCed 2.8ghz LE-1600??

LE-1600 has a 1mb L2 cache tho... Basically a OCed 939 opteron 2.8ghz VS OCed 2.4 ghz X2....

If it's not much of a difference.....I'd rather go with LE-1600
lower wattage and save money on CPU fan....(another 30 bucks)

 

[hnzw rui]

Again, what v8envy mentioned. You don't know if you'll be able to use GPU offloading. MPC HC has built-in DXVA, but even then, not all files are supported. Besides, if you were already planning on oc'ing that LE-1600, weren't you gonna get a cooler anyway?

Edit:
Noticed that I didn't answer the question. Yes, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ would be better than the Athlon LE-1600.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Why a HD3800 series ? Most of the lower-end series are also fully HDCP ready and will offloud the cpu for 99%. Think about the 2400/2600 series, HD3450/HD3650 etc... And like mentioned the IGP on the mobo should actually allready suffice, so no need even for a external videocard.

oops. i ment a hd with hardware playback.

Thanks for catching that.

 

[kyotousa]

Originally posted by: hnzw rui
Again, what v8envy mentioned. You don't know if you'll be able to use GPU offloading. MPC HC has built-in DXVA, but even then, not all files are supported. Besides, if you were already planning on oc'ing that LE-1600, weren't you gonna get a cooler anyway?

Edit:
Noticed that I didn't answer the question. Yes, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ would be better than the Athlon LE-1600.

that sounds good.....can someone recommend a regular size CPU heatsink

I am gonna use Antec Fusion case...so I don't think I could fit thermalright in there.

 

[obeseotron]

To playback high bitrate h.264 at 1080p you need to look in the high 2ghz range with a core 2 to be sure you can playback any file. If you're just decoding discs, the cpu is less important because it can be offloaded to the gpu. If you're just playing back low bitrate downloaded files you don't need nearly as fast a cpu, just because two files are both 1080p one may be much more demanding than the other.

 

[hnzw rui]

Originally posted by: kyotousa
that sounds good.....can someone recommend a regular size CPU heatsink

I am gonna use Antec Fusion case...so I don't think I could fit thermalright in there.

For that case, a lot of people use and swear by the Scythe Ninja Mini. Some even use it for passive cooling.

 

[windsor]

Does anyone know how well an LE-1640 (2.6 GHz) would fare by itself? I can't find any reviews on this CPU.

I was about to head out to pick one up with the Gigabyte board before I thought to check here.

 

[kyotousa]

Originally posted by: windsor
Does anyone know how well an LE-1640 (2.6 GHz) would fare by itself? I can't find any reviews on this CPU.

I was about to head out to pick one up with the Gigabyte board before I thought to check here.

should be the same as 1600 oced to 2.6ghz ....which is pretty much a guarantee oc

 

[piesquared]

For those that have been convinced that simply slapping in a C2D in a PC, no matter what the intended use, will be all you ever need, you need to remember who's telling you that. Here's some pretty clear evidence that Spider is the platform of choice for HTPC and Video content creation, among many others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V741rSx3-5U

 

[windsor]

Originally posted by: kyotousa
should be the same as 1600 oced to 2.6ghz ....which is pretty much a guarantee oc

Okay, I guess I'll go with the LE-1640. For the moment, I only need 720p. It seems the trend is toward more DXVA support in HTPC software... so if 1080p is needed, there's at least more chance that I'll not have to upgrade the CPU. Thanks.