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jaochoo · 2012-08-14, 05:16

(2012-08-07, 19:42)jaochoo Wrote: How loud is a discrete GPU actually which is enough for serious gaming? And is there a way that during pure media playback the HTPC is using the CPU and iGPU only so that it's only loud when gaming?

Can anyone provide an answer to these questions? Would be really interesting to know..

assassin · (This post was last modified: 2012-08-14, 05:25 by assassin.)

Take a look at virtu technology. Answers your second question.

http://www.lucidlogix.com/technology-vir...phics.html

As for the first question a gaming gpu can be quite loud when used for gaming and crammed into a small htpc case.

jaochoo · 2012-08-14, 05:46

(2012-08-14, 05:19)assassin Wrote: Take a look at virtu technology. Answers your second question.

Thanks, that looks interesting. Any experience with this product? Though I'm wondering if I read correctly that you would have to switch the display connection, connecting it to the MB when not gaming and to the dGPU when gaming, which would be really making the whole idea losing a lot of its charm.

(2012-08-14, 05:19)assassin Wrote: As for the first question a gaming gpu can be quite loud when used for gaming and crammed into a small htpc case.

When gaming, I could live with the HTPC getting loud. When viewing movies though I don't want any noise. Would a solid gaming dGPU still get loud then, or would it stay quite since viewing movies doesn't require that much performance?

assassin · 2012-08-14, 12:59

No, you don't have to switch the outputs.

jaochoo · 2012-08-14, 13:36

Thanks for clarifying. What they write on their page about "i-Mode" and "d-Mode" and the pictures say something different.

So I guess a perfect entertainment solution then would be to add a gaming dGPU on top of a quite CPU+iGPU, say i3-IVB, for example, and then add that Lucid Virtu solution, so that during home theatre usage the PC would use the iGPU and be quite, while during gaming it would use the dGPU, right?

assassin · 2012-08-14, 13:44

Yes.

jaochoo · 2012-08-14, 14:14

Sorry, but please have a look at this official video, especially 0:20 onwards: http://www.youtube.com/v/Y7Br3W3fX4U?aut...d=ytplayer To me it sounds like they clearly say that you have to switch the display connection from MB to dGPU and back depending on the task you want to carry out. This page here seems to indicate the same as mentioned above: http://www.lucidlogix.com/technology-vir...phics.html If you had to switch the cable all the time, the solution really would not make sense at all..

FernetMenta · 2012-08-14, 15:21

XBMC rendering is 3D. I am wondering how this solution would distinguish between a game and XBMC.

assassin · 2012-08-14, 16:48

There are plenty of reviews of Virtu via Google if you want to check them out. You definitely don't have to unplug anything assuming your game is supported.

I am not a gamer so I have no firsthand knowledge of this but there are numerous people at AVS that use virtu and are quite happy with it.

teaguecl · 2012-08-14, 18:57

(2012-08-07, 05:32)assassin Wrote: The one exception is if you want 3D playback. For that the AMD is the better iGPU.

I was under the impression that using Linux also made the iGPU a nightmare. Is that not true anymore?

stevey_frac · 2012-08-15, 00:45

UPS is simply not fast enough. It looks like I should have all the components in hand tomorrow.

Also, using the Ion2 system that I have at home right now is basically intolerable... Any background task that fires up in the background completely screws over playback. I was watching some T.V. and flash decided to update, and I started getting frame drops and audio drop outs making it unbearable.

Very glad that I opted for the more powerful Sandy bridge Celeron.

stevey_frac · 2012-08-16, 19:40

I'd like to report my experience with my new HTPC!

First off, this is a fairly tight fit height wise. There are only a few mm between the top of the fan on the heat sink and the brace across the top of the case.

The PicoPSU's cables are a little short for my liking. I had to thread the P4 connector through the heatsink to be able get it plug in.

The Big Shuriken heat sink instructions are rubbish. Like. Totally rubbish. They are decipherable though, with some work.

The little box is as close to silent as makes no difference, even under heavy load. The system is perfectly stable, even though the 12v brick is only 60w. It does HD netflix and blue-ray rips easily.

Overall, I think it's going to be a great box!