Hello,
I have been planning a budget HTPC for a long time. The only think I am relatively firm on is a 785g motherboard, most likely a DDR3 Gigabyte. This is for the integrated HD graphics and optical audio. Originally I had been considering a relatively high-end Phenom II X4 cpu, but last night I have read in a number of sites that these processors run really hot and the cooler fan can get really noisy under load. I already have a PCH A-110 for movies, so likely this computer will be used primarily for ordinary web browsing or for viewing movies that might not play on the PCH including home video and audio which are slow and/or problematic with the Popcorn Hour. When blu ray disks get cheaper I will add a BD Rom. I like a computer that is fast, though, and I do not want to rule out gaming altogether. My last idea was the 705e because it's only 65 watts, but the cooler looks really cheap. Any suggestions on the fastest AMD cpu that can easily be made to run cool and quiet in a low profile case would be much appreciated. I am also worried about those horror stories of power supplies burning out and taking out the cpu and mobo with them.
I have been planning a budget HTPC for a long time. The only think I am relatively firm on is a 785g motherboard, most likely a DDR3 Gigabyte. This is for the integrated HD graphics and optical audio. Originally I had been considering a relatively high-end Phenom II X4 cpu, but last night I have read in a number of sites that these processors run really hot and the cooler fan can get really noisy under load. I already have a PCH A-110 for movies, so likely this computer will be used primarily for ordinary web browsing or for viewing movies that might not play on the PCH including home video and audio which are slow and/or problematic with the Popcorn Hour. When blu ray disks get cheaper I will add a BD Rom. I like a computer that is fast, though, and I do not want to rule out gaming altogether. My last idea was the 705e because it's only 65 watts, but the cooler looks really cheap. Any suggestions on the fastest AMD cpu that can easily be made to run cool and quiet in a low profile case would be much appreciated. I am also worried about those horror stories of power supplies burning out and taking out the cpu and mobo with them.