Htpc processor question

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Thanks jbart. I'd missed that part - and you're quite right: for this build those things won't be important.

LOL I think I better had 😉
 
If you are looking for a "budget" build, IB is probably not an option, I think the cheapest model is planned to sell for a bit over 300$ which is the price of an i7-2600K ...
 
For a HTPC, you don't need anything more than a dual-core CPU. Have a look at the Pentium G620...it's socket 1155, and has a TDP of 65W. There's also the 620T which has a TDP of 35W and runs a bit slower, but you can take the standard G620 and downclock it in the BIOS to get the same result. The difference between the i3 chips and the G620 is the capability that the i3 adds for transcoding. Ripping DVDs is not transcoding, and is not taxing on a system at all. I would definitely +1 the lower TDP if you can help it, the sound of silence is worthwhile. My HTPC is still audible, but only just and not at all when the TV is on.

If you're using a receiver, and you're moving to Bluray as well, you want to be able to bitstream the audio so that the amp will put out TrueHD / DTS-HD. I'm not sure on the corresponding Nvidia cards, but you want at least a 5xxx series AMD card. 6xxx series if you want to future-proof for 3D. The HDMI cable will be used for both audio and visual, so you won't need to bother with an audio cable, too.

Going back to the silence issue...700 DVDs is going to be easily more than one drive. More drives = more noise...I use an SSD in my HTPC because the spinning HDD it had beforehand was audible (although it wasn't always seeking, more on loading and your case will influence this, too). It may be outwith the scope you have, but have you thought about a server for storing all your data? Bluray streams fine over gigabit cabling.

Lastly, check out Media Browser. I use this for my own set up...looks quite slick.
 
@ Diellur

Sounds like you have nice setup and know from experience. My recommendation of the 2500T was two-fold it is only 45W but has a pretty decent computing power. It is a little pricey though. My concern over recommending a dual core pentium had nothing to do with the eventual playback but the amount of time it would add to the ISO creation process. With 700 DVD's to get onto his HD even an extra minute or two for each movie turns into 15-25 hours of burning time.

Do you have any real word experience with ISO creation speed differences between processors?
The last time I did any real DVD copying it was with P4 and took about 20 - 30 minutes per file. So that doesn't help this situation 🙁
The OP was thinking about using dual dvd drives to speed up the process - would that saturate the capabilities of the pentium G-series processor?

As you can tell my real world experience lately doesn't match up to my theoretical understanding of processors.
 
From the TDP point-of-view, the 2500T is a good candidate. I forgot to say, another reason I recommended the G620 is because it's about half the price of the i3-2100. That's what swung it for me!

In terms of creating ISOs, I actually rip my DVDs to the folder format as TMT 5 reads these fine. However, I've done this on my old HTPC (i5-760...don't ask), my new one (G620), my gaming rig (i5-2500K), my old laptop (Acer 6930G) and my (very) old gaming rig (single-core Athlon). I didn't notice an appreciable difference in the ripping process across these machines. Bear in mind that DVD ripping, once the copy-protection is defeated, is just copying data...it won't tax a modern CPU in the way transcoding does. Also, how the CPU is used will depend on the software you use to rip the DVD. If you've got a quad-core CPU and the software is written to only use two cores, then those other two cores on your quad-core chip are effectively wasted for that task. As that's one of the criteria you're using to choose your CPU, it's worth thinking about. Oh, I use DVDFab and DVDShrink.

I don't know for sure if 2 drives would saturate a G620, but I highly doubt it. The time it takes to rip two disks simultaneously might be slightly longer than it takes to rip one by itself, but it would be quicker to dual-rip than use a single drive twice for two seperate DVDs (if you understand what I mean...?) At the end of the day, 700 DVDs is going to take you a long time...but you're only going to go through that process once (do yourself a favour and back up!!) Once that's done and you're ripping as you buy, you'll probably not be caring too much about the CPU inside your HTPC.

Hope this all helps...I've pasted in my HTPC specs for your info. It's got a small HDD as I have a WHS box in a cupboard where I store all my media:

Motherboard: Asus P8H61-I
CPU: Pentium G620
CPU Cooler: Stock
Memory: 2x2GB Corsair DDR3 (9-9-9-24)
PSU: Silverstone 500W Modular
SSD: 60GB Corsair Nova
HDD: None
Graphics: Asus HD 6450
Case: Silverstone Grandia GD06B (Black)
Optical: Samsung Bluray Reader
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (x64)
 

Whoops! More than slightly over my budget for a processor!
 
Thanks, diellur & jbart for the information. The more I think about this the more I realise I'd just got an idle thought of "Wouldn't it be good if …", without actually thinking about the logistics of actually creating it. I'd read somewhere else (I can't remember where) where someone had a home server in the cupboard with all their media on it, but used a very simple, low powered HTPC for the actual connection to their home cinema. I'd dismissed this at the time as overkill for my very modest needs, but now I'm thinking that 6 to 8 terabytes of DVDs is not really what's called upon for an 'average' HTPC - but it might be for a home server.

I think I need to do a couple of things: Actually think about what I need out of the build, and whether or not a home server would be better, and start saving - because I think this is all going to end up being a whole lot more expensive than I'd initially thought!
 
DVDshrink is what I used way back when. It may only be written to use 1 or 2 cores but that was where having 2 DVD drives popped up as an Idea to speed up the process. If each instance of DVDshrink - which IIRC is a transcoder that will remove extra languages, menus etc. - uses 2 cores than running 2 drives will require 4 cores.

Taking the transcoding part out of the equation to play back 1080p video streams requires very little processing power now that most processors have hardware level codecs processing. Even an ION or ION2 based thin client would be enough.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859324008
 
For the uses you have described for this HTPC an i3 2105 would be ideal. It has a very low power draw, HD 3000 graphics, and is a hyperthreaded dual core processor. The A8 3850 is certainly a more powerful chip, but extra performance comes at the cost of higher energy use. The AMD 3850 uses 50% more power than the i3 2105. An HTPC is meant to be on all the time and power consumption is a concern.

Both of these processors are fast enough for your HTPC. They are likely overkill in all honesty.
 
thanks jbart & pacioli – I'm personally tending more towards Intel rather than AMD at the moment, mainly because the Stars cores on the current Llano processors aren't up to the same level as SB. However, after all the posts I've received – thanks to all for contributing; it's really helped a great deal – it's clear that I'd not thought the whole concept through.

It's obvious now, but at the start I just didn't have a clue just how much storage space would be required, and therefore the amount of noise which would be generated - not ideal for a HTPC!

Thanks for all the help given to me. I've learned a lot since starting the thread – mainly that a vague idea about what I want isn't good enough to specify a build; but also that there is no substitute to experience – so many of you who have already done what I was attempting, can tell me the problems and pitfalls before I start. That's helped me go in with my eyes open; and I now know that I'm going about this the wrong way.

It's clear that a home server is the way to go but, tragically, I just don't have the budget for both a Home Server and an HTPC: and both are required in order to accomplish what I want to do.

Thanks once again! :)
 
My comment more of a response to diellur since they referenced DVDshrink in their post than a recommendation for what to use. With 700 DVD's to copy I would definitely suggest the OP research thouroughly the options that are available. I was honestly surprised the software was still in circulation the last time I copied a DVD was about 5 years ago.
 


Standing ready to be corrected...but I'm not sure that's the case. I'd have thought the 2 programs were likely to use the same proportion of the first 2 cores, rather than be smart enough to detect the first 2 being used and then switch to the second 2 cores.



Is it? If you're using it to record, then OK, but the OP has said they don't want to use it for recording. In which case, it's only needed on whenever a film is to be watched. I only turn on my HTPC and server when I want to watch something...what's the point on having it on when I don't need to use it? If it's purely used for media, then it's a waste of power and money having it on when it's not being used.



If you set it up to not compress the output, you won't come across that issue (not in my experience, anyway).


I'd personally avoid onboard Intel graphics due to the 24fps issue with Bluray...if you're going to build it, might as well build it right the first time! Also, you could build the HTPC first and play movies off disk to see if you like it. Then, if you do, build the server. If it's just sending files down the network for movies, it doesn't need to be high spec (or expensive) at all.
 


I guess people use HTPCs for different things. At my house with 3 kids it just seems like the damn thing is on all the time... lol!
 
Haha! I've not got kids (yet) so I can't comment, but it sounds like you have a very different usage! Not sure I'd let my kids near my HTPC...probably end up with a slice of toast jammed in the Bluray player or something...
 
When you select your power supply make sure it has enough Sata Power connectors, I origanally linked one with 4 of the proper power connectors and had to revise it. Also look at sata pci cards if you want anything more because most motherboards that are not for enthuasists will have 6 sata ports.

Have a nice day!
 


Kids destroy Blu-rays/DVDs. Its best to just have them able to access the files over the network.
 
Amd Phenom ii x4 840 (quad core 3.2ghz)
2 high speed dvd drives or 2 blu ray writers(2 or more of them to copy alot of dvd's at once, 700+ will take forever lol)
decent htpc case and maby aftermarket cooler
and a decent gfx card
 
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