[two_OH_five]

Hi Folks,

After progressing through Modded Xboxes, Asrock 330 ION and most recently a Zotac ND22 box I'm looking to make the next big step

I just acquired a 3D TV so it makes sense (to me ) I need a 3D capable HTPC to go with it. Obviously, good as they are, the ION boxes don't cut it on this front

I already have a 32GB SSD in my current setup and have 8GB of RAM in either SODIMM or regular format which I'll reuse

Don't need ODD as I have one on my laptop and all media is streamed over wired GBit ethernet from 3 servers which also handle the SAB/CP/Sick/Headphone/TVHeadend duties so the box will be purely for content viewing.

Video content ranges from 700MB avi to 45GB M2TS Blu-Ray and I want to make sure I have every possibility covered. Being UK based HULU or Netflix isn't currently an option but I'd like to cover the possibility all the same in case HULU ever work out the commercial issues.

This probably puts me in group 7

Sound wise I have lots of lossless 2Ch wav material and it's hooked up via HDMI to a Yamaha 9.1 capable receiver which is acting as a preamp for the front speakers.
Dobly TrueHD/DTS MA are interesting to me but not a deal breaker


I want the capability of S5 switch on so I'll use either an Asrock or Intel mobo with CIR support

It will be housed in an ITX type enclosure so heat is a major concern for me - I don't want Concorde in the living room when watching movies and I already find the Zotac a little loud even with tweaks to the fan setup and speed.

Possibly I might build it into a center speaker enclosure so I can reclaim some rack space but since that requires some effort and talent from me it's unlikely if I'm honest

Currently running nightly Eden Openelec builds on the Zotac box and nightly Eden ATV2 builds for the bedroom box but Windows7 is an option

So the big question for me is what processor to run with

The current crop of AMD APUs are interesting to me but thier TDP is a little bit of a concern given I'm targeting SFF and low noise

Out of the current models I'd probably go with the 65W A8-3800 which would lead me to an Asrock A75 FM1 mobo and a Win7 OS

Alternatively I'd consider the i3-2100 or similar on an Intel mobo which should run everything without DXVA under Openelec
However, I've not seen anyone reporting success or otherwise running full SBS content without hardware acceleration so this option is less attractive, especially after the recent A8-3850 review where they clain Sandy Bridge is incapable of 3D playback
Given Sandy Bridge's well documented stutter problems I think DXVA is out of the question - I've endured too many years of twiddling xorgs and suchlike with the ION systems to get smooth playback

But, Ivy bridge is seemingly just around the corner and promises a significant step forward so Intel say.
Does anyone think it would be worth waiting to see what comes out?

One thing that Intel seemingly always have over AMD is power consumption and Ivy bridge seems likely to continue this theme?

Whilst I'm suffering from a serious attack of childish "I want it now" syndrome I would rather wait and get something that's really going to prod buttock if it's not too far into the future!

Really would appreciate the input from you

[kyleshay]

To make things even more complicated, you could even wait till the new AMD APU's are released (Trinity, FM2 Socket). They're supposed to be 30% better than Llano.

I believe they're both (trinity + ivy bridge) slated for early (march?) 2012.

Unless I see a black friday deal on any of the components I've been looking at I'll just wait.

Other FM1 Socket mini-itx boards to consider:
Zotac A75-ITX WiFi
Asus F1A75-I Deluxe
ASRock A75M-ITX
Gigabyte GA-A75N-USB3

Also the a6-3600 would be more than enough power compared to the a8-3800, but if I could get the 3800 for the right price..

[Balinus]

If you mostly use your HTPC for media playback, there's not much difference between the APU and SandyBridge (in terms of power consumption) http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/dis...-i3_8.html

Sure, with the notable exception of the A6-3500, Intel line of CPU cnsume less power, but it is by a tiny margin for media playback. For other task, that another question though.

If you need ITX and silent, here's some mod you should consider :
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=104468
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vie...14&t=62680

Once my build is complete (A6-3500+Asrock A75M-ITX), I might do something similar. Already bought the 120mm fan and filter fan.

[voip-ninja]

I think it comes down to the use case. Sandy has played back all of my blu-ray rips just fine. Perhaps if I was more concerned with 3D or gaming I might want a more powerful CPU or APU.

Unless Intel does something remarkable, the AMD APUs will blow them out of the water for sheer graphics performance. The primary way that Intel is "competitive" is that the CPU itself is stronger and they consume a lot less power.

I'm not expecting much of an upgrade between Sandy and Ivy, the iGPU will probably be a bit better, they will fix 23.976 output so it is perfect, improve their 3D performance, etc.

[eskro]

Ivy Bridge - will it be worth waiting? yes if your an intel fan

[voip-ninja]

Ivy Bridge - will it be worth waiting? yes if your an intel fan

Well, it is worth noting that the iGPU on my 2200 i3 offered the least headaches to get solid 1080P/24 playback working of any of the devices that I tested, including the A4-3400.

[Nolwendil]

Intel has got tons of CPU power, but the IGP is not as powerful. (but even the cheapest Celeron G530 is more than enough for 2D blu-ray, though). Whereas AMD APU is more balanced in terms of CPU and IGP power, which makes it better choice for light gaming without a discreete graphics card. But when you want to buy a discreet graphics card, then all you need is Intel's CPU goodness, especially for gaming. That's the way I see it.
However, I'm looking forward to both IvyBridge and Trinity to see how they compete against each other...

[creed3020]

Ivy Bridge processors on release will probably focus on high end which would be overkill for an HTPC. I would wait to see what the benchmarks on Trinity are like. I was half tempted to delay my build for Trinity after speaking with a AMD representative.

[Balinus]

I was half tempted to delay my build for Trinity after speaking with a AMD representative.

And what made you go ahead with Llano instead of waiting?

[creed3020]

And what made you go ahead with Llano instead of waiting?

My wife lol....

[Balinus]

hehehehe Your better half.

[creed3020]

hehehehe Your better half.

Yup! She kept asking me when my HTPC project was going to be finished. I am glad I went ahead when I did as the A8-3800 is still not out. I know AMD is dependent on Global Foundries for their APU production but the Llano roll-out has not been stellar.

[two_OH_five]

Ah great that's helped a lot. Now I have to think about Trinity APUs too

They look good though I must say...... If the Llano fab issues don't get them too

Having thought about it more I lean towards the APU solution I think

Intel processors have always had much more compute firepower but since the SU2300 in the Zotac can already software decode a couple of 10GB 1080 divx files I have there doesn't seem to be much need for a huge increase in that department

What I do want is a graphics core that can cut the mustard and in that area the APUs are pretty much guaranteed to blow Intel/PowerVR efforts out of the water

SO,
Now I just have to decide whether I go with the currently available a8-3850 hopefully undervolted to reduce TDP, the soon to be released A8-3800 or the not so soon to be released Trinity

Cheers for the input.....anyone got any good tips for how to avoid the "Buy It NOW" button, my Amazon wishlist is currently very full

[pike]

intel's ivy bridge roadmap leaked, tihi

http://hwbot.org/forum/showthread.php?t=34548

[eskro]

intel's ivy bridge roadmap leaked, tihi

http://hwbot.org/forum/showthread.php?t=34548

oooo, sweet! thanks for the heads up!