HTPC: AMD vs. Intel

[GTaudiophile]

I am looking at building a simple HTPC for streaming web-based media (1080 included). I won't use it to play or rip BR discs, etc.

Which of the two would you go for?

Intel System
Mobo: Intel BOXDH67CFB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core
GPU: HIS H657H1G Radeon HD 6570 1GB 128-bit DDR3
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Price: $490.00

AMD System
Mobo: ASUS F1A75-M PRO FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX
CPU/APU: AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core
GPU: n/a
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Price: $325.00

 

[sdifox]

whatever is cheapest. htpc are not really cpu intensive.

 

[Fox5]

I would go with the AMD one, not having to have a discrete card should help the thermals of the HTPC greatly. You might want to buy faster memory to feed the integrated graphics though.

 

[Fallen Kell]

whatever is cheapest. htpc are not really cpu intensive.

So sayeth the person who has never used ffdshow or avisynth to process/enhance their video's. My i7-2600k has problems at times doing what I want...

I would go with the AMD one, not having to have a discrete card should help the thermals of the HTPC greatly. You might want to buy faster memory to feed the integrated graphics though.

You want a discrete video card. Even the current generation of built-in CPU/GPU's just do not cut it in terms of being able to properly de-interlace video and/or decode/playback 1080i content without stuttering. Decoding H.264 can also be challenging for them. You are much, MUCH better off getting even an AMD/ATI HD5450 than using the built in stuff, and even that has been proven to not be enough. I would get at least a HD5750. You can get passive cooled 5750's and it has enough power to handle video decoding and playback. It will even support 3D blu-ray if you ever want that...

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I am looking at building a simple HTPC for streaming web-based media (1080 included). I won't use it to play or rip BR discs, etc.

Which of the two would you go for?

Intel System
Mobo: Intel BOXDH67CFB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core
GPU: HIS H657H1G Radeon HD 6570 1GB 128-bit DDR3
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Price: $490.00

AMD System
Mobo: ASUS F1A75-M PRO FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX
CPU/APU: AMD A8-3850 Llano 2.9GHz Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core
GPU: n/a
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Price: $325.00

Take the Intel system and drop the dedicated GPU. There's no need for it for just simply streaming 1080p media. The HD 3000 IGP can do it just fine, and Sandy Bridge is a lot more power efficient than Llano. Also, drop the H67 motherboard and go H61 instead. Something like an ASRock H61M/U3S3 will do the trick. It'll give you comparable features to the Intel board for $50 less. By dropping both the dGPU and changing the motherboard, you should be looking at $120 savings, so the system should now be ~$370.

 

[sdifox]

So sayeth the person who has never used ffdshow or avisynth to process/enhance their video's. My i7-2600k has problems at times doing what I want...



You want a discrete video card. Even the current generation of built-in CPU/GPU's just do not cut it in terms of being able to properly de-interlace video and/or decode/playback 1080i content without stuttering. Decoding H.264 can also be challenging for them. You are much, MUCH better off getting even an AMD/ATI HD5450 than using the built in stuff, and even that has been proven to not be enough. I would get at least a HD5750. You can get passive cooled 5750's and it has enough power to handle video decoding and playback. It will even support 3D blu-ray if you ever want that...

Huh? any decent 100 dollar class video card these day are enough for 1080p. That is why I said the cpu is not much of an issue. hell even integrated ones can more or less do it right.

 

[Aikouka]

I have an Intel-based HTPC right now (i3-540), and if I had to build another one... I'd probably go with AMD. The reason? It's not price... it's software. I absolutely loathe Intel's awful graphics configuration software. I can't even get it to allow me to drop my Overscan Correction past a certain amount, so I've still got a small bit of my screen cut off. :|

EDIT:

I think the only way to do it is to make what they call a "custom resolution", but I didn't have a keyboard hooked up, so I didn't want to go through the hassle of using HippoRemote. I used to use my server as a combined server and HTPC. It has an AMD Radeon 5450 in it, and it worked great on the TV.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Huh? any decent 100 dollar class video card these day are enough for 1080p. That is why I said the cpu is not much of an issue. hell even integrated ones can more or less do it right.

Again, I agree and disagree at the same time. CPU can very easily be an issue depending on what you are doing in a HTPC. And if you care about picture quality, you will know that for a fact. I have issues with my playback on my i7-2600k because the methods used to de-interlace video by my video card are horrendous. They use cheap tricks and poor methods, while there is only one or two good ways to do it, but those use a little more power than they wanted to use in their algorithm because they were designing the algorithm to work on ALL their cards, not just the more powerful ones.

So, I am left with using avisynth and QTGMC Deinterlacing script. Even then, on 1080i, I have to make sacrifices in quality in order to be able to do it realtime at playback. This is why I also have in the background avisynth scripts running to re-encode my recorded videos after de-interlacing them at much higher quality settings than what I can do in realtime playback.

 

[sdifox]

Again, I agree and disagree at the same time. CPU can very easily be an issue depending on what you are doing in a HTPC. And if you care about picture quality, you will know that for a fact. I have issues with my playback on my i7-2600k because the methods used to de-interlace video by my video card are horrendous. They use cheap tricks and poor methods, while there is only one or two good ways to do it, but those use a little more power than they wanted to use in their algorithm because they were designing the algorithm to work on ALL their cards, not just the more powerful ones.

So, I am left with using avisynth and QTGMC Deinterlacing script. Even then, on 1080i, I have to make sacrifices in quality in order to be able to do it realtime at playback. This is why I also have in the background avisynth scripts running to re-encode my recorded videos after de-interlacing them at much higher quality settings than what I can do in realtime playback.

and what are you feeding with this source of yours? Did you try D3D?


op is just looking at "simple HTPC for streaming web-based media (1080 included)"

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yes, and as I have said, it is a quality thing, and I am a picture quality nut. ATI/AMD's "VECTOR ADAPTIVE" is just horrendous quality compared to doing it proper.

 

[sdifox]

Yes, and as I have said, it is a quality thing, and I am a picture quality nut. ATI/AMD's "VECTOR ADAPTIVE" is just horrendous quality compared to doing it proper.

op is streaming online, no amount of processing is going to fix that :biggrin:

 

[soulcougher73]

Take the Intel system and drop the dedicated GPU. There's no need for it for just simply streaming 1080p media. The HD 3000 IGP can do it just fine, and Sandy Bridge is a lot more power efficient than Llano. Also, drop the H67 motherboard and go H61 instead. Something like an ASRock H61M/U3S3 will do the trick. It'll give you comparable features to the Intel board for $50 less. By dropping both the dGPU and changing the motherboard, you should be looking at $120 savings, so the system should now be ~$370.

This. No need for a discreat GPU if you go with the i2100. It can do 1080p just fine.

 

[GTaudiophile]

This. No need for a discreat GPU if you go with the i2100. It can do 1080p just fine.

But better than the AMD solution?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

But better than the AMD solution?

That depends on what you want to do. Do you want to use image enhancements like noise and artifact reduction and adaptive processing, as well as a good image scaling? If not, the HD 3000 is just as good as the HD 6550D. If you DO want to use them, neither will do. You'll have to buy a Radeon HD 6570 if you want those.

 

[videopho]

... htpc are not really cpu intensive.

What? Depends...
With mine; I play 3d gaming, BR movies, 3d BR movies, and video encoding.
specs: w 7 64, i5-2500k @4,5ghz, 8gb Patriot Extreme Viper, gtx460s in SLI, Mits73 DLP as monitor.
Even with this spec, it struggles mightily sometimes in 3d gaming.

Back to topic...I'd go with AMD which is the least expensive gear that still does the job.

 

[sdifox]

What? Depends...
With mine; I play 3d gaming, BR movies, 3d BR movies, and video encoding.
specs: w 7 64, i5-2500k @4,5ghz, 8gb Patriot Extreme Viper, gtx460s in SLI, Mits73 DLP as monitor.
Even with this spec, it struggles mightily sometimes in 3d gaming.

Back to topic...I'd go with AMD which is the least expensive gear that still does the job.

HTPC is not for gaming...

 

[elitejp]

i have a amd x2 4400 that I installed with a 50 dollar video card and have used that for the last 3 years to watch downloaded 1080p videos on a 50inch flat screen tv. i have noticed no problems in doing this and run kmplayer to do so. With that said i would prob just go with whatever you fell like going with

 

[bearxor]

Wether or not you need a dedicate GPU in your HTPC is dependent on the level of video quality you're willing to accept. Yes, all IGPs right now can decode and play back 1080p just fine. However, they sacrifice some things in the image quality department to make smooth playback happen. Anand has done several articles on cards that are aimed at the HTPC market. A quick look through a couple of them will probably be very beneficial for a few of you.

My question to the OP would be: Do you need a HTPC? a Boxee Box does everything you want it do, can decode two 1080p streams simultaneous, has a full Webkit browser, costs $125 less than your cheaper AMD build, uses less power and probably fits in to your Living Room a lot better than a computer.

Th only shortfall I can think of is that Boxee and Hulu haven't gotten it together yet for Hulu+ access but I know it's something they're working on.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Keep the dedicated GPU. Intel's GPUs have by far the least robust decoding. For Blu Ray rips it is fine, but its cell-phone heart can't decode some of the internet sources like AMD/Nvidia.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Keep the dedicated GPU. Intel's GPUs have by far the least robust decoding. For Blu Ray rips it is fine, but its cell-phone heart can't decode some of the internet sources like AMD/Nvidia.

Proof?

 

[Emulex]

$100 asus essentio core2quad 2.53ghz 8gb of ddr2 geforce 220 -upgraded to 430 - 1TB drive - used with win7 ultimate. got it off cowboom. they still sell them/auction htem. nobody wants core2quad with ddr2 but the fact is 8gb is 8gb and a quad core is fast - alot of dumb folks think they need the latest i-whatever when in fact it may cost more than an entire used box someone doesn't want any more because the dvd door latch has broken off or there's a dent in the case. lol. love it.

 

[Aharami]

just got a i3 2100 + Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 from Microcenter for $173 ($158 AR) after the $40 off motherboards microcenter was just having. Yes yes, I know I should have bought the H67 mobo, but I didnt really research it enough and I had to buy it before I left for vacation. I'll see how it handles everything I want it to do (play back 1080p mkvs) w/o a dedicated GPU before making any other purchases.

How powerful of a PS should I get in case I want to add a dedicated GPU to the system?

 

[Aikouka]

As I mentioned, I use an i3 540 with the built-in graphics, and it plays videos fine. Not to mention that it's not Sandy Bridge, which means it has the much worse integrated graphics.

 

[infoiltrator]

Aharami an Antec EA380 is quiet, inexpensive and will more than cover your build.
Equal quality at 300 watts is likely cost more.

 

[soulcougher73]

But better than the AMD solution?

From what i have read they both do what you are lookign for just fine. The AMD has a better GPU but slower CPU. The Intel is faster CPU but worse GPU.

Most recommned Intel because of the fact you can add a discreat GPU later if you want but youll already have the CPU power you need for HTPC.

I have the i620t. Looking back i probably should have gotten the $99 MC i2100 but it still works fine.