Sandy Bridge Pentium G620 - Suited for HTPC?

[fallout1]

I'm contemplating a new HTPC build and have noticed the 2nd gen Pentium ... but I want to make sure the G620 is capable of routine HTPC duties: watching movies (mostly personal dvd rips), HD netflix/amazon.. I've heard Llano is a great choice but the price is irresistible with the Intel..

Thanks in advance!

 

[o1die]

The 620 is a dual core with hyperthreading disabled. Or you can go for a celeron single core for around $40. There's a 530 dual core for around $56 at newegg that's also a good choice.

 

[simon12]

Its not bad but Llano is better is your not getting a dedicated gpu

 

[fallout1]

But is the Llano dedicated GPU be useful for anything other than gaming? I'm not planning on using it for anything other than media

 

[simon12]

Llano would make bluray play back smoother I think the intel on the pentiums is OK but im not sure.

 

[diellur]

Check my HTPC build...I use a G620 and it's fine. I also use an HD6450 (passive) for the graphics because I bitstream to my AV receiver and also want as close to 23.976fps for Blurays. The cost of the G620 + the cost of the HD6450 is probably about the same as a Llano but it would probably run hotter. Which means you need more cooling, which means more noise. The GPU on the Llano is also a 6xxx AMD GPU, incidentally.

 

[de5_Roy]

iirc intel's igp still has the problem playing 23.976 fps videos - they settle on full 24 fps. i don't know if they fixed it later or not. i hope someone can verify this.
llanos shouldn't have that problem since amd uses a radeon igp with it. llano's igp scores much higher in hqv benchmark as well. and you can use faster ram with llano to boost it's gaming performance if you're into casual gaming. intel's igp supports directx 10.1, llano's supports dx 11. llano's motherboard a75 chipset also natively supports usb 3.0.
pentiums should use much less power than llano though. pentiums had much lower tdp than desktop llanos ( usually 65w/100w) because of their discreet class igp. imo amd a8 or a6 with a75 mobo would be better than pentium.
although a pentium with an h61 mobo will open path for ivy bridge (untested, uncertain) that promises a 60% faster igp than sb's hd 3000.

 

[diellur]

AMD GPUs can't play 23.976fps flawlessly, but they're very, very close. Instead of getting a frame stutter every 40 seconds as you would with Intel's graphics, you get one every 8 minutes or so. For an HTPC you don't need a Llano, although it's very good at it.

 

[lothdk]

No, the integrated video of Intel CPUs can not do perfect 23.976 and will drop/skip frames, more so than a discrete AMD or Nvidia GPU.

Anandtech has done several articles on this and GPUs for HTPC. Here is one article (although a bit old) that is a good read before building a HTPC.

 

[diellur]

Isn't that what's been said?

 

[popatim]

OP mention playing ripped movies. Does anyone know if Media Player classic can enable gpu acceleration for x.264 for the intel chips like it can for Nvidia and Amd?

 

[fallout1]

Or VLC ?

 

[-Fran-]

Well, I do have an A8 Llano HTPC and it's awesome, but found out it was actually a little overkill for HTPC.

You could settle with an A6, since applying most of post processing effects won't miss a Stream Processor.

One word of advice with Llano though. It's annoyingly picky with RAM settings; I had to change the Kingston HyperX modules for Corsair Dominator ones for it to work fine (no idea why). It really makes "good" use of RAM, so, don't be that "cheap" when looking at RAM modules.

In a positive light, the Asus MoBo for the A8 I have is wonderful. I know "cheap" Intel MoBos are not, so it's up to you.

If space and MoBo "quality" is not a concern, then the G620 will do fine with a good video card. AnandTech has a very good review for HTPC video cards, you could go check it out.

Cheers!

 

[fallout1]

I was going to go with some GSkills..---> G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800).

Which Asus mobo are you using?

Thanks!!

One word of advice with Llano though. It's annoyingly picky with RAM settings; I had to change the Kingston HyperX modules for Corsair Dominator ones for it to work fine (no idea why). It really makes "good" use of RAM, so, don't be that "cheap" when looking at RAM modules.

In a positive light, the Asus MoBo for the A8 I have is wonderful. I know "cheap" Intel MoBos are not, so it's up to you.


Cheers!

 

[fazers_on_stun]

No, the integrated video of Intel CPUs can not do perfect 23.976 and will drop/skip frames, more so than a discrete AMD or Nvidia GPU.

Anandtech has done several articles on this and GPUs for HTPC. Here is one article (although a bit old) that is a good read before building a HTPC.

I've read that as well, although it amounts to one frame every 45 seconds or so. I doubt I would notice it .

Anyway, supposedly Ivy Bridge's GPU fixes that and some other problems while improving performance a lot.

 

[-Fran-]

I was going to go with some GSkills..---> G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800).

Which Asus mobo are you using?

Thanks!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131764

Now, there's an ITX version of it. I'm sure it would be a better buy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131789

Cheers!

 

[fallout1]

Best answer selected by fallout1.