CPU for an HTPC

I just upgraded desktop with one of these, its silent, runs cool, and is 45w

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103298

I simply use CPUs that were formally in my primary PC. My first HTPC had an AMD Athlon XP 2600m CPU, my current HTPC has an Intel C2D E6600 since that was my previous primary PC CPU.

My next HTPC will have a C2Q Q9450 because that is the CPU in my current primary PC.

I agree with waiting on the new motherboards with the AMD 785g chipset.
Also here is one CPU that would go great with a HTPC.It is AMD's new low power quad core Phenom II series CPU the Phenom II 905e.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103682
Here is the tri core version which is a less expensive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103683
Tom's had an article that featured the new low power quad cores and tri cores for an HTPC.It was also
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 324-3.html

What input on your HDTV will you use?

1) VGA-PC
2) HDMI
3) HCMI-PC

I'm assuming you'll use the normal HDMI (Video) input which means you need to set your computer to 1080p permanently (1920x1080). This also means it's your only resolution you can use which will cause problems for games.

If you have a VGA-PC input it might not be 1080p (maybe 1360x768). Anway, you can't use VGA for BluRay (Slysoft I think can bypass the HDCP to allow BluRay in VGA mode).

I know you're getting a Surround Sound system. Carefully think out how you want the audio and video to work before buying parts.

Get an audio card that supports AVC, MPEG2 and VC-1 decoding.

You should install the K-Lite codec pack and use WMPC-HC with DXVA enabled for the above three codecs. There are other programs you'll want of course but this should be installed.

There are several articles on building a HTPC around and one or two at Tomshardware. It can be tricky and you'll need to compromise.

My dad's laptop has an HP laptop with HDMI out and it can play all the video there is and is very quiet.

I have built a few HTPC's and the old 3800+ X2 CPU is a good little workhorse for this sort of thing.

An X2 rated at about 2Ghz is enough to push HDTV at about a 20% CPU load on a DVICO or similar card. 45 watter would be great with a decent cooler (from a 6000+).

Couple of gigs of cheap ram and a good mobo with a decent IGP like the new 780 chipset or later is enough.

I did use an NVidia gigabyte passive heatpipe PCI-E card in one system - 6600 GPU . That seemed ok and was quiet and cool.

You want a small PC case with fairly quiet fans and focus on the whole thing not generating a heap of heat or noise.

Alternatively an E5 series cpu will be just as good.

Oh and put a big HDD in and partition a small boot drive (put a ghost image of that on the D drive when it's up and running ... then when some turkey stuffs it up you can re-image quickly. point the directory for recording to the second drive as well.


Good luck.

You really don't need much for a CPU to play back video with a good modern IGP that has accelerated MPEG-4/H.264/VC-1 playback. That means a motherboard with an NVIDIA 8000/9000-series chipset, AMD 780G or 790GX chipset, or one with an Intel G45 chipset. I would probably go for the Athlon II X2 250 in a 780G board if I were you as the unit is very efficient at idle and the 780G is a great HTPC chipset. If you want to go the Intel route, a Pentium E5200 in a G45 board would work well, too.

Below is a little review I did on the 905e.
http://www.techreaction.net/2009/0 [...] -the-hepc/

The temps are great

Not a bad effort Archer !!

@ wuzy

They seem to talk about it here
http://nunnally.ahmygoddess.net/wa [...] sing-dxva/