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CPU suggestion for budget HTPC (lowpower!?)

Tags:
  • Gaming
  • A10
  • Powerconsumption
  • CPUs
  • APU
  • Build
  • budget
  • HTPC
Last response: in CPUs
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December 15, 2013 12:34:51 PM

I am looking do build a HTPC (24/7) for streaming from Plex, being my fileserver and taking care of my updates as well as playing a game on my 55 inch TV every once in a while. I do not need a gaming machine, but want it to be capable to play most new games on a medium level.
Now the second thing since this will be "always on" is power.

This will be a budget build, and therefore want to use a AMD APU

The thing what I am not sure about it is the Wattage. the way i see trinity there are 45W 65W and 100W options

now if i look at amazon the only ones with lots of reviews seem to be the 100W models (some 65W) and barly any for 45W.
Does it not make sense to buy a low Wattt APU?

Please give me some suggestions on APU on budget I am looking into the A10 models currently. (price between $100 - 150$)

latest one i looked at was the:
AMD Quad Core A10-Series APU for Desktops A10-6800K with Radeon HD 8670D

More about : cpu suggestion budget htpc lowpower

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a b 4 Gaming
a b à CPUs
December 15, 2013 12:44:47 PM

the wattage on APU's are generally peak wattages, so when they are on full load, its the amount of wattage that it will likely consume. A low wattage APU is fine for basic HTPC use. Upper end watts are for more laborous tasks like computation and having the ability to overclock as hardware spec needs to be faster in those situations. the benefit of higher wattage apus also more likely have a better IGPU for gaming purposes.
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December 15, 2013 12:53:15 PM

exactly... so most likley it will only use the 100W when gaming...? not for streaming moveis or backups, websurfing etc....
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a c 284 4 Gaming
a c 492 à CPUs
December 15, 2013 12:56:17 PM

Yes they use 100w under full load. An HTPC will never be under full load. Something like an A8-5500 or A8 6500 would be perfect for you.
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December 15, 2013 1:16:49 PM

@cturbo
so if I would not consider gaming at all then I would go for that... But since I am not quite sure if I will get an itch for BS3 or something like that... (now i am aware, that this wont run great without a dedicated GPU, but still hoping for medium settings)
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a c 284 4 Gaming
a c 492 à CPUs
December 15, 2013 1:18:35 PM

If you want to game, get an A10 with fast RAM. The A10-6700 is the perfect choice.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b à CPUs
December 15, 2013 1:34:33 PM

the difference between the 6700 and the 6800K is the K moniker generally means its designed to be overclocked. If you arent going to overclock,m theres no real point in getting the 6800k unless you can find someone who wants to buy it. the 6800k has a higher clock speed, but that clockspeed will be negligible for the most part
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a c 284 4 Gaming
a c 492 à CPUs
December 15, 2013 1:43:30 PM

No. I would(and did) get the 6800k over the lower power 6700 for the same price or less. But I was never really worried about power consumption.
It depends on just how much you are worried about power consumption.
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December 15, 2013 1:44:39 PM

well it is 15$ cheaper... would be one good reason or?
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a c 284 4 Gaming
a c 492 à CPUs
December 15, 2013 1:51:45 PM

I think it's hard to justify paying extra for the lower power 6700. It would take 2 years for it to pay for itself.
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a b 4 Gaming
a b à CPUs
December 15, 2013 2:07:55 PM

id just get the 6800k, its cheaper, you can manually downclock it if power consumption was really an issue
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a c 284 4 Gaming
a c 492 à CPUs
December 15, 2013 2:27:14 PM

This^
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a c 284 4 Gaming
a c 492 à CPUs
December 15, 2013 3:33:14 PM

It would be great. Just be sure to get two 1866mhz or 2133mhz RAM sticks to run in dual channel for best performance.
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a c 284 4 Gaming
a c 492 à CPUs
December 15, 2013 4:20:08 PM

They'll be alright. You can overclock them. RAM speeds make all the difference when using integrated graphics.
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