Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge Pentium) vs Trinity

[fallout1]

Which is a better choice for streaming HD Netflix and watching ripped home movies via an HTPC? The APU or built in Intel graphics? I know the Sandy Bridge Pentiums get good reviews for this type of build but what if they aren't paired with a graphics card--do they have what it takes on their own for 1080p?

Thanks!

 

[jrayx]

The Trinity IGP is more powerful than any Intel HD Graphics. For an HTPC the AMD A series should stream HD movies, videos and games at low-medium settings with no problem.

Because is an HTPC I don't think you're going to do encoding or compressing files but in that case an i3 or i5 is much better.

 

[fallout1]

Correct, I've got a Core i5 2500k for gaming/encoding duties. The AMD would be purely for playback. I'm just trying to decide whether to go with the cheaper Penitiums or not and forgo the discrete card..whether or not that the HD Graphics can handle everything HTPC playback related..

The Trinity IGP is more powerful than any Intel HD Graphics. For an HTPC the AMD A series should stream HD movies, videos and games at low-medium settings with no problem.

Because is an HTPC I don't think you're going to do encoding or compressing files but in that case an i3 or i5 is much better.

 

[bretmh]

The built in graphics are fantastic on these cpu's. If not mistaken they're the HD 4000?

You would have great performance with these. The graphics don't matter what so ever for streaming the video. It's the processor speeds.

 

[darth pravus]

Either would be fine. Pretty much every processor can playback HD video as it's not very intense and pretty much anything can handle it.

 

[jrayx]

Yeah any good CPU can stream or play 1080p uncompressed videos (Even the AMD E fusion APU's can handle that), but if you're building a HTPC, I don't think you're going to add a GTX 580 or a 7870 because that's going to be loud.

The A10 it has better graphics if you want to play modern games at low-medium details. And still it's a good processor, but not comparable to an i5 in terms of processing.

 

[djangoringo]

The intel pentium G2120 or an AMD A4-5300 for lower price.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Sandy Bridge Intel Pentium G2120 does not have the Intel HD 3000 or HD 2000 graphic core. Intel simply refers to it as the "Intel HD", or let's just call it the "Intel HD 1000" for argument sake.

Is the "HD 1000" good enough for streaming video? Probably, but I would prefer to get either HD 2000 or the HD 2500 in the Ivy Bridge CPUs.

 

[djangoringo]

I thought it had the intel hd 2500 being an ivybridge cpu, from intel the best will be an intel pentium g630-640 + 6670 or 630 gt/640gt or the i3-3220.

 

[marshal11]

My laptop has the first generation i3 370m with the first generation HD graphics and i can stream any kind of video there is. not only do the sandy/ivy pentiums have faster CPUs which really matters when watching videos (my old pentium D 3.2GHz can't watch 720P videos with a GT520), they also have better iGPUs than this shatty 370m. (HIGHLY recommend the ivy G2120. tested it and it's awesome)

i would just go for the pentium if you aren't going to be doing any gaming (although the G2120 does surprisingly well when it comes to gaming) because the faster CPU will be much more beneficial for you. especially compared to the cheap APUs.

 

[fallout1]

Best answer selected by fallout1.

 

[fallout1]

I went ahead and picked up an AMD A6-5400k. Thanks all!