HTPC - Newegg Foxconn options

[roscolo]

Looking for something cheap for an HTPC. Want to play 1080p off the network, and play Hulu, Netflix, Youtube, completely stutter free.

One of these Newegg Deals better than the other? The LGA1155 one I would add an Intel core i3 - 2105 for the onboard Intel HD 3000 graphics:

Intel:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119065&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL121112&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL121112-_-EMC-121112-Index-_-BareboneSystems-_-56119065-L023D

AMD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119069&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL121112&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL121112-_-EMC-121112-Index-_-MiniBooksizeBareboneSystems-_-56119069-L024A

tx

 

[Aristotelian]

I would think the Core i3 will work way better and faster than the Amd E350, but the processor alone will cost you $120. All the reviews of the AMD E350 I have seen say that it will not play Netflix (which uses Silverlight). Is Netflix worth $80 to you?

If you are just interested in media playback, you could go with Pentium or Celeron in the LGA1155 socket at a lower cost. You should still be able to play Netflix at a price point much closer to the AMD E350.

 

[rwpritchett]

I use an E350 in my HTPC. It can't play HD Netflix because Silverlight doesn't properly support hardware acceleration. 'Regular' Netflix plays just fine as well as YouTube, Hulu and properly encoded 1080p content.

That said, I agree... go with either a low power Intel (i3, pentium, or celeron) or go for an AMD Trinity. If you find yourself needing to do software decoding of a video file, you'll be glad you have the CPU muscle to do it.