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looking for a low power dual core for HTPC

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gsrcrxsi

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Location
Baltimore, MD
so i have myself a little HTPC thats been happily running SD vid for a while now with the 1.8GHz celeron processor in it. well i want it to be able to handle HD in the near future so i figure id toss in a 2.0GHz dual core. the 45nm chips seem like the best bet but the thermal ratings are still the same? i thought 45nm vs 65nm was supposed to be less heat and less power? im just worried that my PSU wont handle it. its a CFX12V form factor PSU, so upgrading is nearly not an option, its only a 275W PSU. and undervolting isnt really an option either since the MB is locked down.

ive looked at like the e7200 and i like it, but i could loose a little speed and a little price as well. maybe a chip in the 50 dollar range? and the 65W thing is still bugging me, the celeron is only a 35W chip.

socket 775 please. any suggestions?
 
the atom 330 is out, and it uses a mini-itx form factor and uses the 945 chipset. It isn't very powerful.

There is also the E5200. They can OC to 3.6ghz from what i've seen so far. Although a no-brand name psu might not cut it.
 
not looking to OC this chip, i just want it to use as little power as possible and still have enough power to run HD content. so im looking for the lowest TDP and lowest voltage
 
You're probably much better off offloading the running of HD content to a capable graphics card like the more recent nvidia 8/9 series or the ati 2600 and up series GPUs.
 
Atom will not be able to play HD smoothly, even with GPU offloading from tests ran by Evilsizer.

My recommendation for a good HTPC would actually be an AMD based solution if you're willing to go that route.
A 780G based board with one of the 45W dual-cores will do the job with ease. The GPU has UVD built in, meaning that you can offload Blue-Ray\HDDVD movies to the GPU and the CPU will be able to idle, and all other content will play easily using the dual core CPU.
It will draw very little power, and should cost less than an Intel system since you don't have to get a separate video card.

I have a 690G board and a X2 3600+ Brisbane as my HTPC and it plays everything I throw at it without issues, with the 45W chips which are even faster than this chip and a GPU with UVD I think that AMD is currently a good way to go for an HTPC rig.
 
e5200/e7200 will both most likely fit that bill, however, as was stated, make sure you have the graphics to handle hd content too. onboard gpu will not cut it, and adding a discrete chip is going to push the psu to its limits.
 
go with a amd/780G setup, right now its going to be the most power eff for a HTPC. 45watt dual core and h264/VC1 on 780G is a going to be a good combo. the E1200/E1400 would be the only 2 intel cpu's for cheap i would go with coupled with G45 would be a good way to go. though its price combined vs amd is going to be higher.

Atom 230/330 can handle 480P content but not 720p thats cpu decoding only. ati site did say HD 2000 is able to do h264,vc1 but it seems it cant with 8.6cats. newer cats will not work for some reason on the 2400 pro.

after reading reviews dont go with onboard video if your looking for high IQ the add in a higher end card. the onboard video is just able to do the decoding but not with a high IQ vs add-in cards.
 
I've got my E5200 running in my file server at 2GHz 0.856v P95 stable. TDP is just a rating...not actual output.
 
I agree....go for an amd 780g setup...I have a 790gx board and it's pretty much the same chipset as the 780g with just 200mhz more for IGX...I can play bluray and hd content fine with no problems at all and I also have an amd 45w brisbane be-2400 chip...
 
this is a linux based HTPC setup (mythtv) offloading it to the vid card (XvMC) is buggy at best. my vid card is only a 7200GS which should be fine. a 2.4GHz P4 can handle HD, so any 2.0+ GHz dual core should be able to handle 1080p with ease.
 
I've got my E5200 running in my file server at 2GHz 0.856v P95 stable. TDP is just a rating...not actual output.

my MB gives me NO overclocking or underclocking options. as far as i know there arent any hard mods to reduce clock speed and voltage.
 
I've got my E5200 running in my file server at 2GHz 0.856v P95 stable. TDP is just a rating...not actual output.

Agree'd getting a CPU and just dropping the voltage would do lots to reduce output. Even thuogh most C2D's say 65W, if the most powerful one is 65W in its class, and the lowest one still has the same TDP, i really doubt it uses the same amount of power.

I've been searching for sometime now but still have yet to make my mind up on what to get. Atom though sadly won't be a solution, it is too slow for Hi-Def needs.
 
explain, if its a program to run in the os, its linux.

and im not gonna rebuild the system to be centered around AMD, this is a very specialized system, picoBTX board and intel chip with a VERY small case. if i changed to AMD id have to change everything. maybe if i built a second machine i could go that route, but its not practical for a replacement, when i can just change the processor.
 
umm where are you seeing a PICO-BTX mobo from intel? if this is a LGA775 cpu you could pad mod it for a lower fsb, same thing with the voltage.
 
my MB is pico-BTX and it made by intel with an LGA775 socket. i went with this form factor because it has everything i want and nothing i dont all in a very small package. i initially wanted to use a mATX board, but the case i decided on was pico-BTX so i went that route, and it worked out very well.

here is my board and setup:

http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/dg965pz/index.htm
dg965pz_lg.jpg


setup:

AOpen B200 case w/ 275W PSU
7200GS fanless/passive cooler

riley_077.jpg

riley_080.jpg

riley_082.jpg

riley_084.jpg
 
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