Mini ITX performance

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CPUs

Last response: February 13, 2013 2:32 AM in CPUs

artk

February 13, 2013 1:47:25 AM

I built a mini-itx system about a year ago and tried to use it as a HTPC. It has been a disappointment. Even though speedtest.net shows my getting 20+mb/second of download bandwidth, video streams pause frequently to buffer. In poking around on the system I was surprised to see that the Windows Experience index was 3.2 on a scale of 1 to 10.

So I got fed up and bought a new Mobo and processor. I chose a Gigabyte GA-Z77N motherboard and an I5 processor. The system already had 4gb of 1600mhz corsair ram. I just finished the install and was surprised to see that the Windows Experience Index was still pretty low (5.8). This was determined by the RAM speed and the
So my questions:

1) Should I add a separate PCI Express graphics card? Will that help HTPC performance?
2) Did I make a mistake in choosing the I5 processor for this system? Would the I7 help with a Home Theater application?

I have a separate Blu-ray player so I don't care too much about that. I'd just like to be able to stream content from websites.

Art

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lazyboy947

CPUs Authority

February 13, 2013 2:32:58 AM

if its not ur internet connection it is most likely the graphics that cant handle the streaming etc, i would invest in a dedicated gpu but nothing expensive, i would think a 6670 would be great u can get one for $60 at the lowest, maybe wanna go higher not to sure on how gpu dependent streaming is.

An i7 would not rlly help and an i5 is prob overkill lol

Im not to sure on this either but may be the 4gb of ram maybe try 8, or maybe it is the 1600mhz as i know for sure that the amd apus igpu prefers faster ram speed, maybe intel hd graphics does too but im to sure again