We now have OTA digital HD, so I'm looking at replacing my Atom MythTV box with something more powerful, and the best options seem to be the i5 2300, 2400, 2400S or 2500. The current system sits by the TV idle much of the time -- where all the i5s should use the same amount of power -- then every few hours records a TV show and then runs flat out transcoding and commercial scanning. It's also the file server for the house, but that uses very little CPU time. Playback is through a separate Ion Xbmc box so video performance is irrelevant.
Anyone with experience of these CPUs have any suggestions as to which one I should go for? The current Atom system only uses a few more watts when running at full load than it does at idle so it's basically silent, but I don't want to buy a CPU that transcodes two minutes faster than another but sounds like a hair-dryer while doing so. Some of the user reviews I've read say their 2500 gets to 70+C under load with the stock cooler, which sounds too much to me.
The 2400S seemed like the best choice of the three but there's currently a discount deal on the 2400 which makes it $20 cheaper (cheaper even than the 2300) as well as a third faster so that's tempting.
Or can I buy the 2400 and underclock it if it's too hot/loud? I know that you're not supposed to be able to overlock the 2400 but I've no idea about underclocking... the online motherboard manual (I'm lookig at the Asrock Z68 Pro-3) isn't particularly detailed.
Anyone with experience of these CPUs have any suggestions as to which one I should go for? The current Atom system only uses a few more watts when running at full load than it does at idle so it's basically silent, but I don't want to buy a CPU that transcodes two minutes faster than another but sounds like a hair-dryer while doing so. Some of the user reviews I've read say their 2500 gets to 70+C under load with the stock cooler, which sounds too much to me.
The 2400S seemed like the best choice of the three but there's currently a discount deal on the 2400 which makes it $20 cheaper (cheaper even than the 2300) as well as a third faster so that's tempting.
Or can I buy the 2400 and underclock it if it's too hot/loud? I know that you're not supposed to be able to overlock the 2400 but I've no idea about underclocking... the online motherboard manual (I'm lookig at the Asrock Z68 Pro-3) isn't particularly detailed.
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