CPU for new media centre

[red_shed2000]

Hi All,

I am just putting together a spec for a new media centre and in particular am deciding on what CPU I am going to use. It seems like the core 2 duo's are way out in front with regards to "bang for your buck" but my question is what speed should I go for to be future proof (well as future proof as you can be with PC's!!) with regards to HD.
I know that HD content is pretty CPU intensive, so bearing in mind that things are going to be changing quite a lot over the next year or so, has anybody got an opinion on what to get.

Thanks

Kev

P.S any other components that anybody recommends I am all ears, especially any really cool looking cases as the missus is really fussy!!

[Media-Man]

Core 2 Duo's are certainly the best CPU range available at the moment.
If you are just intending to use this as a HTPC running MCE or vista then any of the range will serve you well.

re case - plenty of good HTPC cases around; what are your size/budget requirements?

[Embarker]

If you go the AMD route, you can get a AM2 dual core 4600 - recon £160, you maybe able to o/c a 4200.
Maybe the new Abit NFM2-nView nForce 6150 Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £70
This should would allow you to build a very able system for now and then just drop in a decent gfx card say a nvidia 7600gt for £90 later when HD dvd/blueray arrives.
This is a nice case for just over £100.
Then it's just ddr2 mem and dvd drive, cooler and you are away.

[db298]

It depends entirely what your budget and the rest of your setup is going to be. Dual core is going to help, but believe me it's not ESSENTIAL if you want to run an MCE setup. My XP2500+ runs all content up to 1080i just fine thank you very much. Something in the 3-3.2ghz range, with adequately matched graphics (think Nvidia 7 series), large and fast HDD, and at least 1gb, preferably 2gb of memory, should see you absolutely fine, even if you want to go Vista.

[mark.carline]

If its for MCE and your leaving it on 24x7 then definatly get a Core 2 Duo if you can get the mobile type (codename Merom).

The amount (ie little) of heat that they give out when in "away mode" is amazing - around 1w !

I managed to get a engineering sample Core 2 Duo Mobile T7400 from ebay a couple of months ago at £150 ! (only realising now what a bargain it was).

[MacBurp]

I've been going through this thought process myself in the last few weeks. After takinmg advice from the hardware forum here, I was advised that a AMD AM2 4200 would be sufficient for HD - I'm of the view that a core duo is overkill for an HTPC.

The thing that gave me most issue was the choice of case, as I am after 2x3.5" and 2x5.25" external bays for DVD drive, Imon and 2 x floppy DTV devices. Ended up with the Antec Overture II as my choice. Over cases to consider are the Thermaltake desktops and the Silverstone Lascala range.

The Spec is:

Case Antec Overture II inc 450w PSU
Mobo Gigabyte GA-M55PLUS S3G Socket AM2
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 Retail AM2
CPU Cooler Thermalright SI-97A, AMD Heatpipe Heatsink
AM2 Retention Module for Thermalright Coolers
Fans Xilence Red Wing 92mm Quiet Fan
Memory 512MB PC2-5400 Elixir DDR2 SDRAM x2
Optical Drive AOpen 16x DVDRW Black/Silver/Beige
HD Seagate Barracuda 250GB SATA
VFD iMON VFD Black (5.25" bay)
OS Microsoft Media Center 2005 OEM

Just over £500 for this, as I already have the hard drive. Cost of the floppyDTV devices is extra.

regards,
Paul

[red_shed2000]

Thanks to everyone for their response. I was thinking that I would spend up to £800 ish. I am surprised that people are still recommending AMD chips when Core 2 chips are coming in at around £130, but they obviously must be good.

The case mentioned above looks very cool, thanks Embarker!

Kev

[WelshBluebird]

Originally Posted by red_shed2000

Thanks to everyone for their response. I was thinking that I would spend up to £800 ish. I am surprised that people are still recommending AMD chips when Core 2 chips are coming in at around £130, but they obviously must be good.

The case mentioned above looks very cool, thanks Embarker!

Kev

the thing with Core 2 Duos, is that even the £130 Core 2 Duo (e6300) will beat a same priced AMD X2, and that trend carries on all the way up to the higher end chips aswell.

[JonLeach]

Originally Posted by MacBurp

I've been going through this thought process myself in the last few weeks. After takinmg advice from the hardware forum here, I was advised that a AMD AM2 4200 would be sufficient for HD - I'm of the view that a core duo is overkill for an HTPC.

The thing that gave me most issue was the choice of case, as I am after 2x3.5" and 2x5.25" external bays for DVD drive, Imon and 2 x floppy DTV devices. Ended up with the Antec Overture II as my choice. Over cases to consider are the Thermaltake desktops and the Silverstone Lascala range.

The Spec is:

Case Antec Overture II inc 450w PSU
Mobo Gigabyte GA-M55PLUS S3G Socket AM2
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 Retail AM2
CPU Cooler Thermalright SI-97A, AMD Heatpipe Heatsink
AM2 Retention Module for Thermalright Coolers
Fans Xilence Red Wing 92mm Quiet Fan
Memory 512MB PC2-5400 Elixir DDR2 SDRAM x2
Optical Drive AOpen 16x DVDRW Black/Silver/Beige
HD Seagate Barracuda 250GB SATA
VFD iMON VFD Black (5.25" bay)
OS Microsoft Media Center 2005 OEM

Just over £500 for this, as I already have the hard drive. Cost of the floppyDTV devices is extra.

regards,
Paul

i would not go with a antec overture II case, it can be noisey and is quite deep as the psu is at the front.

[Szgany]

It all comes down to what your budget is and if you intend to use your MCE just for the normal HTPC functions.

I use mine for watching / recording TV, uploading from my main PC ie Videos / Films, uploading / ripping CD's for MP3 playback.

My spec is below - Never had any running issues yet, its been running 24/7 for 4 months. Overall running nice and quiet for 11 months.
(Please note that for MCE2005 you only need an equivalent spec that you'd run WinXP with)

XP3100
Thermaltake A1889-01 Silent Boost
Asus A7V600-X
1Gb OCZ 3200
250Gb Samsung SP2504C SpinPoint P120 (Partitioned)
Asus 6600 128mb AGP
Ahanix D5 Case
NEC AD5170A DVD-RW
Netgear Wireless Adapter
Creative X-fi Extreme Music
Hauppage 1300 x 2
Microsoft Remote & Keyboard (IR modded to fit inside case)

As said, depending on your useage you can build a cheap fully functional MCE HTPC that'll do everything you want.

[mark.carline]

Originally Posted by Szgany

......Never had any running issues yet, its been running 24/7 for 4 months..............

Just out of interest have you ever worked out / noticed how much your elec bill is for running a PC spec like that 24x7 ???

[Szgany]

My last Electricity bill received the other day, matter of fact and it was an astonishing £93. The gas bill was however twice as much. Oh, I don't run the MCE off GAS btw

[mark.carline]

Originally Posted by Szgany

My last Electricity bill received the other day, matter of fact and it was an astonishing £93.

Was that for a quarter ? estimated or read ?.

Dont want to stray from the thred discussion but its an important point when choosing a system that you'll be running 24x7.

I did some basic calcs based on a normal pc that uses 300w of power and the electricity costs are around £15-£20 per month. If you go for a core 2 duo mobile with a viiv compatabile (away mode) motherboard then when the machine is in away mode it reduces to around 30w-60w which is then around £2 per month.

[MacBurp]

Originally Posted by WelshBluebird

the thing with Core 2 Duos, is that even the £130 Core 2 Duo (e6300) will beat a same priced AMD X2, and that trend carries on all the way up to the higher end chips aswell.

This is a fair point, but I'm struggling to find a mobo for a Core 2 that has the features I need. My requirements are:

- Onboard graphics
- 2xFirewire minimum, 3 preferable
- gigabit lan
- spdif to the back plate

Any recommendations?

regards,
Paul

[MacBurp]

Originally Posted by JonLeach

i would not go with a antec overture II case, it can be noisey and is quite deep as the psu is at the front.

Most desktop cases are deep anyway - the Overture is only 3cm deeper than the Thermaltake Tenor, for example.

Can you provide more info re the noise? This is the first time I've heard of an Antec case being noisy. I did read one review that said the power supply on early versions of the Overture is noisy when the PSU fan is connected to the mobo for monitoring, but this problem has since been fixed.

regards,
Paul