tomj528

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Jan 7, 2009
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Hi everyone,

I'm putting together my list for a HTPC and I'm wondering what CPU to go with. The two that I'm looking at are the AMD Phenom 9350e Agena 2.0GHz Socket AM2+ 65W Quad-Core Processor Model or the AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model. I'm trying to keep everything as low heat, quiet and low power consumption (65W) as possible. So I guess the question is am I better off going with a 2.0Ghz quad core or a 3.0Ghz Dual core.

The rest of the players:

Silverstone LC13 or LC17 Case
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD
4GB RAM
Nvidia Graphics Card (output through S- video to an old 32" analog tube TV)
Sony DVD-RW Drive
160GB Seagate HD (O.S)
2 - 1.5T Seagate HD (RAID Storage)

I'm still looking into PVR cards. I like the Hauppauge 2250 but I'd like to give Mythubuntu a try and the only linux driver that I can find (3rd Party) only supports OTA digital, which is all I really need but I'd like to see what Clear QAM channels are available from Charter cable. Does anyone have any other suggestions for a hardware encoding, dual tuner digital card? Or experience with the Hauppauge 2250? Also any thoughts on the motherboard choice?

Thanks
 

jj463rd

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Apr 9, 2008
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Under a 65 watt TDP
The 905e would be a good very powerful choice about the best choice (costly though) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103682

The 705e also is another good choice (cheap).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103683

The e series are ideal for an HTPC.

The 720 BE would be O.K. kind of a high TDP though but cheap
The 550 BE would also be O.K. kind of a high TDP but less than the 720 BE (it's very cheap).

The Athlon II X2 250 would be a good low TDP choice.

I wouldn't consider the Phenom 9350e anymore as it's too slow (one of the Phenom series).The Phenom II series versions are a lot better.


Here are much better motherboards for a HTPC (uses the 785 chipset).
I selected micro ATX form factor ones.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+107191003+1071948911+1075707619&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=
 

tomj528

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Jan 7, 2009
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Thanks for the response, I'm not sure that those are the motherboards for me though. A few of the articles I've read make it sound as though the 785 chipset is a lower cost compromise between the 780 and the 790 chipsets. I'm specifically using a full size case so that I can use a full sized ATX MB for maximum future flexability. If you recall I also need a S-Video output for my older TV. Also, it looks as though they use ATI GPUs, which from my reading isn't as well supported under linux. What are your thoughts on this?

Tomj528
 
I was using that motherboard and it has a lot of great features but for some reason my system got slow in responding over a period of about a week and then eventually froze when I tried to shut down.

After 3 days of this it would no longer boot up. It would give a black screen when the windows logo should be displayed. It's about to be shipped RMA and will likely be 2-3 weeks before I see it again.

Aside of the issue that I am now going thru with this board I did like it due to having everything I was looking for for my media center rig. I don't know what the problem is with my board and if this is a problem with this particular board or not.

Try it and see if you like it. Hopefully mine was just a dud. Gigabyte is a brand I do trust and they will make it right...
 

wuzy

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Another vote to the Phenom II 705e.
Regarding AMD780/785G, from reports I've seen Catalyst 9.7/9.8 has fixed most of hardware deinterlacing H.264 problem which is important to New Zealand's OTA DVB-T. If you don't need to deinterlace any H.264 then atm AMD785G is really the perfect HTPC platform to go with.

ATi + Linux (e.g. MythTV) will give you headache for sure. I've always preferred Windows MC so no problems there with ATi gfx. Try Windows 7 MC and see how you like it. IMO it's the best 10-foot interface if you want easy 1-2-3 setup.
 

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