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AMD Quad System for HTPC and Lightroom

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superfuzzy   06-10-2008 at 06:27:58 PM

I'm about to pull the trigger within a few days but am open to suggestions! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a system for Lightroom and HTPC, hence the 780g chipset. It will not be used for much gaming.

# GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H amd 780g chipset micro ATX form factor 1xPCI-E(x16)/1xPCI-E(x1)/2xpci/4xddr2 w/integrated vga,sata2 raid,lan(gb),esata,hdmi,1394,usb 2.0 & audio
#PHENOM X4 9550 2.2G - AGENA
# CRUCIAL 4GB DDR2 800 (2GB x 2)

I chose the Phenom 9550 because it seems to have the best combination of decent CPU power and low wattage consumption (95W).
Lightroom 2.0 will exploit the quadcore, so I need that now.

The total cost from MWAVE is $367.49. Newegg charges tax where I live...

Not sure about the PSU - but considering an Antec Earth Watts 430 or re-using an old PSU.
I'll be re-using an ATX case, keyboard and mouse and IDE drives.

For OS - XP Home.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by superfuzzy on 06-10-2008 at 06:48:03 PM
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Groo   06-10-2008 at 07:00:59 PM
- 1 +

I wasn't real impressed witht the bios options on that board. I also read it doesn't suport the higher power 9850, but your 95 watt version should have no problems.


you might want to consider holding out for a 780gx with a 750 southbridge

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to Groo
superfuzzy   06-10-2008 at 09:02:28 PM
- 0 +

Groo wrote :

you might want to consider holding out for a 780gx with a 750 southbridge



I've read that the 780gx has better graphics than the 780g chipset, but are there other differences, such as imporved HDMI support? I can wait if there is a significant improvement for my needs, but I've been searching for release dates and it seems it still may be a few months away, and then there'll be more waiting for test results to come in and for the drivers to mature a bit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_7 [...] ries#790GX


Message edited by superfuzzy on 06-10-2008 at 09:15:04 PM
Reply to superfuzzy
doomturkey   06-10-2008 at 09:12:09 PM
- 0 +

I think you will be fine with this setup, shouldn't be any need for the 790GX. Doesn't look like you do a lot of overclocking, and since its an HTPC, what you've got is great.

Reply to doomturkey
sisley_111   06-10-2008 at 09:21:06 PM
- 0 +

It's not the 780GX, it's the 790GX, with the HD3300 video graphics. Better than 780G, but by how ? Gigabyte show the board with a 790GX at Computex, so it should not take too many times it hit the stores.

By the way the 790GX will do crossfire, not sure if you really need it. the 750 southbridge bring raid 5 support, do you need it also ?

the 780G support HDMI, DVI-D and VGA, on the gigabyte board, all output are on the back panel.

For the processor, the 9100e is a 65W quad core, dunno when it will be released on market. And FYI groo, the GA-MA78GM-S2H is the one of the few 780G who supports the 9850. Go to anandtech and make a search with 780G.

Reply to sisley_111
Groo   06-10-2008 at 09:29:09 PM
- 0 +

last I looked the gigabyte board did not supot the 9850 per gigabyte.
MSI is the only that would confirm suport whe I was looking

nvidia 8200 is suposed to have better HDMI.

790GX mainly has an optionfor a better sbridge. graphics improment probably isnt worth the waite w/o sideband memory

Reply to Groo
joelg88   06-10-2008 at 09:54:44 PM
- 0 +

superfuzzy wrote :

I'm about to pull the trigger within a few days but am open to suggestions! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a system for Lightroom and HTPC, hence the 780g chipset. It will not be used for much gaming.

# GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H amd 780g chipset micro ATX form factor 1xPCI-E(x16)/1xPCI-E(x1)/2xpci/4xddr2 w/integrated vga,sata2 raid,lan(gb),esata,hdmi,1394,usb 2.0 & audio
#PHENOM X4 9550 2.2G - AGENA
# CRUCIAL 4GB DDR2 800 (2GB x 2)

I chose the Phenom 9550 because it seems to have the best combination of decent CPU power and low wattage consumption (95W).
Lightroom 2.0 will exploit the quadcore, so I need that now.

The total cost from MWAVE is $367.49. Newegg charges tax where I live...

Not sure about the PSU - but considering an Antec Earth Watts 430 or re-using an old PSU.
I'll be re-using an ATX case, keyboard and mouse and IDE drives.

For OS - XP Home.


About those IDE drives. Hope you don't mean a IDE Hard Drive too. And if it does don't get it. Get a Sata 3gb/s drive

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to joelg88
superfuzzy   06-10-2008 at 10:40:14 PM
- 0 +

joelg88 wrote :

About those IDE drives. Hope you don't mean a IDE Hard Drive too. And if it does don't get it. Get a Sata 3gb/s drive



I have a a few Seagate 200GB PATA drives in the old PC. Seems like a shame to waste them. Too small to put in a USB enclosure for backup, but 200GB is enough space for the system drive.
I can't see how this will slow down Lightroom or watching movies on an LCD TV via the HDMI.


Reply to superfuzzy
sisley_111   06-10-2008 at 11:08:32 PM
- 0 +

Ok you're right. officialy the GA-MA78GM-S2H does not suport the 9850 but some tests show that it can handle it.

8200 better hdmi ? How ? picture quality ? 780G is the best for playback of HD content.

Reply to sisley_111
skittle   06-10-2008 at 11:17:55 PM
- 0 +

wattage ratings are NOT a indicator of power consumption or heat output.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ macgirlfriend:
"Hey I don't get you people, the people on insanely mac were so much nicer"
 Reply to skittle
Groo   06-11-2008 at 06:48:33 PM
- 0 +

skittle wrote :

wattage ratings are NOT a indicator of power consumption or heat output.




then what are they?

Reply to Groo
zenmaster   06-12-2008 at 10:32:17 PM
- 0 +

They have different meanings for each manufacturer.

But you will find range of CPUs which consume vastly different amounts of power with the same rating.

For Example - Compare the Q6600 and Q9300.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipse [...] =3272&p=10
There is a 55W difference in Max Load Power Usage but they have the same 95W TDP.

The Phenom is a nice selection for a low budget Quad Core in the OPs price range, Especially due to the nice 780G chipset. However, the terming of "Decent Power" or "Low Wattage" as odd since it's really neigher. But it is the cheapest quad solution and he would want a quad solution for what he is doing.

------------------------------ If its good in theory but not in practice,
its not good theory.
 Reply to zenmaster
superfuzzy   06-12-2008 at 10:48:56 PM
- 0 +

I ended up punting and downgrading the system a bit, item #'s from Newegg:

MB:
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128090 $89.99

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor Model ADO5000DSWOF
Item #: N82E16819103194 $81.99

Memory (total 4GB):
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ
Item #: N82E16820231098 (bundled free with the Black Edition 5000+) $0

HP (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) about $30 AR incl shipping - supposed to be good quality memory...

Thermal Compound:
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound Item #: N82E16835100007 $5.99

CPU Fan
Rosewill RCX-Z1 Long life ball bearing for over 45,000/hrs CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835200014 $22.99

I have two PC's to upgrade so this one will be the HTPC rig and I'll use it for Lightroom until I upgrade PC #2 later this summer. That will be a Quad processor machine, Intel if AMD doesn't get their act together on the medium to high end.

The primary hard drive will be a Seagate 200GB PATA.

Any idea is this system will be able to play x.264 1080P?

Reply to superfuzzy
Groo   06-13-2008 at 01:02:16 PM
- 0 +

should be able to do it easily

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to Groo
superfuzzy   07-11-2008 at 06:18:03 PM
- 0 +

Groo wrote :

should be able to do it easily

 

You are correct. The system easily handles x.264 1080p play back.

 

A few other component added to the system -

 

Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3320613AS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $67.99
RAID 1 - primary hard drive for OS and programs.

 

The data drive is a Seagate 500GB Sata re-used from another system.

 

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

 

Seems like a decent power supply, although the SATA connectors could be longer. Very quiet and runs cool. In fact, the whole system is runs quiet.


Message edited by superfuzzy on 07-11-2008 at 06:22:21 PM
Reply to superfuzzy
zipz0p   07-14-2008 at 12:26:20 AM
- 0 +

I think you probably would be better served with a different CPU cooler than the cooler selected. Rosewill isn't well-known for creating good and quiet CPU coolers.

For just about the same price, try: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835185125
Or, for a little more, try http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003
or

Reply to zipz0p
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