New HTPC

[welsh]

hi there thinking of building a new HTPC PC based on a I5 650 PCU and a Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Intel H55 motherboard. am i right in beleiving that this will come with GPU within the CPU/MB and i wont need a seperate GPU? Will this be powerful enough to run 1080p moives and blu rays etc? also do i need a special PSU for this CPU/MB combo would this do Antec 380W EarthWatts Green PSU ? was after something cheap and quiet as theres no GPU is 380W enough? sorry new to all this i3, i5, i7 stuff!!

while im asking would this memory Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuffered CL9 work ok?

thanks in advance

Welsh

 

[lothdk]

hi there thinking of building a new HTPC PC based on a I5 650 PCU and a Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Intel H55 motherboard. am i right in beleiving that this will come with GPU within the CPU/MB and i wont need a seperate GPU?

Yes, it comes with integrated graphics processor, requiring the H55 (or a H57) motherboard.

Will this be powerful enough to run 1080p moives and blu rays etc?

Yes, you could buy the i3 530 and still have way more processor power than is needed, most likely the player would use the IGP to process the media content, and thus the CPU would see a 1-2% load.

also do i need a special PSU for this CPU/MB combo would this do Antec 380W EarthWatts Green PSU ? was after something cheap and quiet as theres no GPU is 380W enough? sorry new to all this i3, i5, i7 stuff!!

A good match for the system would be a SeaSonic S12II 330 Bronze 330W, but the Antec is good too.

while im asking would this memory Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuffered CL9 work ok?

thanks in advance

Welsh

Yes, for a HTPC you would see no difference in CL6 - CL9 memory.

 

[mindless728]

have you though of going the AMD route and a 785G board

the athlon II x2 240 and a 785G board would be a lot cheaper and get the job done

works fine for 1080p and blu-ray decoding

 

[moody89]

+1 to mindless728's suggestion.

I use a 785G board with the Radeon 4200 onboard graphics on my non-gaming desktop rig (see my sig) and I'm very impressed with it's performance. I know my board has a HDMI-out connection as well and I often watch Blu-Ray DVDs on a 1080p screen with no hiccips. I know I have an Athlon X4 as opposed to the X2 mindless suggested but that should be plenty for a HTPC.

 

[popatim]

going amd might be an issue if you are not planning on runing media center. Myth I know has little support for amd graphics sadly.

 

[mindless728]

+1 to mindless728's suggestion.

I use a 785G board with the Radeon 4200 onboard graphics on my non-gaming desktop rig (see my sig) and I'm very impressed with it's performance. I know my board has a HDMI-out connection as well and I often watch Blu-Ray DVDs on a 1080p screen with no hiccips. I know I have an Athlon X4 as opposed to the X2 mindless suggested but that should be plenty for a HTPC.

i know the X2 works fine, thats what i have in my HTPC/File Server

@popatim, OP never stated anything about Myth, but yeah the ATI GFX drivers are pretty bad for linux in general though getting better, i would venture a guess that this will run windows, however if not, you can always get a cheap GF9200/9300 board that supports the Athlon II

 

[welsh]

ok great thanks for the help, i will look into the i3 or possibly athlon II x2. thought the newish athlong were hotter tham intel so more noise or heat. not trying to start an intel vs AMD so will research more

thanks again

 

[lothdk]

They are, you wont get much more power efficient than the i3 530 on a standard desktop.

Toms did a review of an i3 and a H55 board recently, see if you can find that, think they were aound 25W idle.

 

[lothdk]

Found the review, it is actually an i5 661 they are using, undervolting they reach 23W power usage at idle.

 

[mindless728]

its not bad at all, 65w TDP chips run cool (Athlon II x2)

though the i3/i5 would be a better chip, i was just suggesting something a lot less expensive