Best CPU for media centre?

[Guest]

What would be the best CPU to use for a media centre playing largely 1080p TV and also blu ray? doesn't need integrated graphics, as it will be running with a nvidia geforce 8600GT

 

[damasvara]

An AMD Athlon II dual core or an Intel i3 would be more than enough to support your needs. Even the lower generation of Intel's dual core is already enough. Unless you specifically require additional features such as low power consumption, speed preference, or anything else, the cheapest priced dual core CPU from both platform tiers would be more than enough. HD media playback is more GPU dependent then CPU. I'm not too familiar with nVidia's product, maybe the others can fill you in on this one.

Personally, my Athlon II X2 240 is a good candidate for the criteria. Sufficient amount of L2 cache, respectable 2.8GHz speed, and a fairly cheap price. But if you're looking for more raw power, get the Phenom or i5. They can handle your needs single handedly, or in this case, (maybe) single core-ly :lol:

 

[Guest]

so for my situation, it wouldn't be worth getting an AMD phenom? I'm looking to minimise costs

 

[Guest]

scratch that, I mean an Athlon II 640 quad?

 

[damasvara]

By media centre, I assume you're looking for something that's capable of playing HD contents, am I correct? If I am, then that concludes your criteria, which is a dual core CPU. It would be a whole different story if you're planning on editing/converting video files or multitasking. That's when more cores are required. What is it exactly that you have in mind? Please be more specific.

 

[Guest]

just playing HD media, no editing/converting. so intel I'm guessing?

 

[damasvara]

Both AMD and Intel dual cores are very capable of that. The decisive factor is price, are you willing to buy the more expensive i3 for the common task that the cheaper Athlon II can handle? I'd go for the highest price to performance ratio, which is the Athlon II dual core lineup. Check the prices for comparison, you'll see my reasoning.

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by Slias.

 

[Guest]

sweet, thanks for the answers

 

[Guest]

so around a $50 difference. Any issues with durability?

 

[damasvara]

You're very welcome. Feel free to jump in if you have anymore questions. Good luck on that build!

EDIT: durability? I'd like to answer that in details, but it would be best to open a new thread on this issue, since the others might think this thread is closed because of the [solved] mark.

In short, it depends on how you handle it.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey