AMD or Intel For HTPC

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practal

Gawd
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Jun 2, 2006
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Don't follow PCs much anymore so I'm way out of the loop. Had an old i3 system go out on me and looking at building a new htpc. Which is currently best for basic htpc use? I currently use an ivy bridge in my office and a trinity in my weight room so I am not way out of the loop.

I have everything but a motherboard and CPU so looking to spend $200 or less on those 2 components only. I use xbmc as a front end, playback 1080p content from a media server, Netflix, hulu, YouTube. 90% of the time this thing will be doing music playback to a high end system. Nothing fancy at all.

Not looking for a specific motherboard unless it has special audio features. Really just looking at a suggestion for a platform. I like my trinity as it serves similar task well just looking for some additional feedback.
 
Either will work about equally well for just video playback. An AMD FM2 system may be somewhat cheaper though.
 
AMD FM2 Mobo and CPU should meet your requirements and your budget.
 
An i3 and mobo for under $200 might be a little tough, but an FM2 CPU and mobo for under $200 should be easy as pie.

If you do any gaming, you'll find that the FM2's are better in that regard as well.

Alternatively, you could always look into embedded. There are a bunch of mobo's out there with Celeron 1037's that should do everything you want them to do without a problem, and they will be vastly cheaper than $200. I think the cheapest I've seen one of them is around $70.
 
The AMD setup I have in my signature is more than ready for anything you are going to be throwing at it. I have no added cards in this build. Straight Mobo with APU. Granted if you were doing any kind of tuner card you can add it but I have no need for it since I do not use any kind of cable TV. I run everything from the internet or XMBC.
I run Blu-ray's and 1080p Blu-ray rips all the time with h.264 with HD audio with no slow downs. I would imagine the options are extremely open right now with almost anything from Intel or AMD as long as it is been current from the last 3 years.
 
Thanks for the feedback. Ended up picking up a gigabyte z87 matx board with a Pentium 3220 off of amazon for about $115 total. Should fit the bill.
 
why not save some cash and electricity and try something like a roku or the new fire tv? Cheap, doesn't use much power at all, silent. I play all my bluray rips from my media server on my roku 3 via plex and it works wonderfully. My HTPC's are collecting dust since I got a roku.
 
Archer75 said:
why not save some cash and electricity and try something like a roku or the new fire tv? Cheap, doesn't use much power at all, silent. I play all my bluray rips from my media server on my roku 3 via plex and it works wonderfully. My HTPC's are collecting dust since I got a roku.
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Because if you compare the devices standalone a Roku can't do even half the stuff a good HTPC can. Key words in your post are "media server". One thing the roku will never do is record TV. (be it Cablecard or OTA)
 
FnordMan said:
Because if you compare the devices standalone a Roku can't do even half the stuff a good HTPC can. Key words in your post are "media server". One thing the roku will never do is record TV. (be it Cablecard or OTA)
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The op didn't say anything about DVR usage. For what he described a roku or similar device would work awesome.
 
Archer75 said:
The op didn't say anything about DVR usage. For what he described a roku or similar device would work awesome.
Click to expand...

The Plex application for Fire TV looks pretty slick from what I've seen (similar to Plex Home Theater), but it completely sucks for the Roku in my opinion. But at the end of the day, you miss out on HD audio using Plex with a streaming STB rather than PHT on a HTPC. May not be a big deal to the OP and others, but it just seems like a waste to me if you're using lossless BD rips.
 
I used both versions of the gigabyte brix (i3 and amd/richland) and found the i3 to be better in a few ways. Didn't run as hot, seemed snappier in windows, and have been really happy with W8/WMC/cablecard integration.
 
A10-7850K plus Gigabyte F2A88XN-WIFI and Battlefield 4 for $200 from Microcenter. Awesome little mITX.
 
Look into ultram small android media PC. Cheap and perfect HDTV companion.
 
I would go with a NUC(Intel) or one of the like if you want something small and have some WAF. If you don't care about WAF or want some 1080p gaming, I would go with a higher end FM2 AMD.
 
Surprised to see this still going. What I built has been working flawlessly and for under $100 I couldn't be happier. Main reason I didn't go with a device is just in case it could not handle all of the audio formats I use. I have a very high end audio system and didn't want to risk having audio issues. I was not interested in DVR, just xbmc audio/video playback, Netflix, hulu, and YouTube.

Originally bought an Xbox one hoping it would fill the void. Then I found out it could not do what I wanted. Waste of $500:(
 
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