Hello Peoples,
I've got some money now... $600 and I want a discrete HTPC... I'm torn between a 4850e and a 780G or an E7200 and a 7150. Tell me, how's Blu-ray on the 7150? If its acceptable at 720p (That's my BF's TV for ya) I think I'll get Intel
AMD Build:
Athlon X2 4850e
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103255
Gigabyte 780G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128090
 
Intel Build:
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115052
MSI 7150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130126
 
Other parts:
Cosair 2x2 GB RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145184
Western Digital 640GB HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136218
Antec Earthwatts 430w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371006
 
Anyone get this? http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php [...] 3_no=#menu Is the 7200 supported out of the box?
 
I'm leaning towards Intel as it has more cache and is faster at encoding...

I say go with the 780G overall. The fact it played Blue-Ray with a lowly Sempron with no issues makes it worth going with.

Still the E7200 is quite powerful and the combo is only $20 more... c'mon its not like I'm using a Sempy... an E7200 rather...

Yeah, go for the 780G.
You do not need much power in a media box but the HD decoding with the AMD system will be very nice.  Hell, I used to have a Thunderbird 1Ghz media box with 384Mb of ram that would do everything I asked it to do, sans HD.

Maybe wait until the intel G45 boards  come out.  Otherwise the 780G is the best HTPC setup at this time.
 
Also, I don't know if you noticed, but the nvidia 7xxx chipsets for intel , such as the 7150, do not support dual channel memory.

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Any MB w/PCIe,any dual core @ 3Ghz,cheap ram and an 8800GTS or ATI.
Your $600 budget is far more enough including the ROM/PSU/CASE.

I myself went for the asus M3A78-EMH MB and AMD 5200 CPU, not complains so far. My original plan was the get a 5600 but they did not have it stock when I was ready so I got the 5200.  Just got to be careful here, I don't know if this been fixed but some of the 780G MB wouldn't support high wattage processor, meaning more than 89 W. That's the reason I didn't want to go with a more powerful CPU than the 5600. For the time being, this rig is not hooked to a TV and only serves as a PVR so the integrated GPU is more than enough.  Anyways, I have an ATI 3470 that might be use for slightly more GPU horse power if the need ever arise.   Another good GPU would be an ATI 3650 with passive cooling as you end up with a more silent box.

How dose $458.94 ($448.94 after MIR) sound for the complete system including a Blu-Ray drive?
It is just a media box, not to hard to do...
 
Foxconn 780G Mb                         $76.99 ($66.99 after MIR)
4450e 2.3Ghz                               $65.99
2Gb DDR2 800                              $39.99
WD 640Gb Hd                               $94.99
Blu-Ray drive                                $129.99
mATX media case W/ 300W PSU    $50.99
 
You can even trim some $$ off on the CPU.  Keeping a dual core CPU, you can get a 65W x2 from $47.99 or the slower 45W BE-2300 1.9Ghz for 59.99.
 
4Gb of RAM in a media box is unnecessary.  2Gb will be more than enough for playing movie, music and surfing the net.
 
The included PSU is not glamorous but with a fully integrated, low power media box it will be more than enough.
 
Hopefully you can build a comparable system in Australia for similar prices.

I would go 780g with a cheap x2. It's not like you have to burn the whole budget. Maybe put the rest of the money toward some movie or whatever you could whant.

The AMD build is low power also. I thought about going core 2 duo + intel board but the amd chipset is pretty nice. You can crossfire the onboard gpu with a pci-express card to increase performance. Plus at only 73watts you can play blu-ray movies. The benefit with lower watt usage is lower temperatures.
 
I also recommend shying away from low profile slots. Low profile cards are hard to find.
 
The 780g chipset has a HD3200 gpu. Compared to a lowly 7100 the 3200 kicks its ass. The 780g is better.
 

^ Remember this too! The E7200 owns any current dual-core AMD processor in encoding, one of the primary uses. So let me rephrase my question: Do you have any idea if the 7150 chipset can play HD 720p video? Is the E7200 processor from Intel supported with this motherboard? I don't care about power, the E7200 is roughly the same as an Athlon X2 4850e.

Forget HTPC, think more as PC connected to TV that doubles as a workstation for encoding, photoshop and etc. (I can't believe I was so slack in not asking).

BTW: I'm not the one buying, okay? Its for my BF. My BF's dad has gone to the USA for some sales stuff and is willing to bring back quite a computer w/o a case.

I'm not going into the whole Blu-ray thing yet. I'm waiting until it matures and is easily available as a $20-$30 part at sufficient write speeds.

Now you may post...

 
Its is gonna be kinda like a PVR setup. Mainly TV, hardly ever DVD or etc. Just wait like 6 months and it airs on free-to-air TV. Just cut the ads and there's a movie! Also he does all the photoshop and etc. not to mention encoding. Think about it, 4850e vs E7200 in those apps...  
 
That's the main purpose. The secondary is to serve as a PVR. The third is to play DVDs. I'll get into HD later.
 
The burning question in my mind is, does the MSI 7150 based motherboard support the E7200 out of the box?

Well, according to the MSI website that board supports the E7200 as of BIOS v1.2.  What BIOS will it ship with... who knows.
 
If encoding is a primary function, maybe you should consider extending your budget for quad core CPU's?  Q6600 for intel or 9150e for AMD, each around $200 USD?  Quad cores kick the crap out of dual cores in properly multi-threaded encoding apps.

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If this computer turn out to be more than just a PVR + entertainment system than a more powerful CPU is in order. HTCP doesn't require a powerful CPU but encoding and Photo shopping is another ball game and going with and Intel CPU is probably a better idea.  

 
You do know that I'd have to skimp over everything to get one!