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Zoltrix · (This post was last modified: 2012-10-09, 05:54 by Zoltrix.)

Hi all,

I already have a Radeon HD6450 PCI-E card, so was looking at putting together some parts to do a quick HTPC build. Since the video card can do all of the video processing already, I was thinking of getting something along the lines of:

AMD Athlon II x4 631 2.6Ghz FM1 CPU
ASRock A55M-HVS
4GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM

Would this be ok in terms of performance and playing 1080p content without issues? I don't think I need a CPU with GPU support if I already have the HD6450, is that correct?

Cheers,
Zolt

**Dougie Fresh** · 2012-10-09, 06:28

You don't need to purposely avoid a CPU with an integrated GPU if you have a discrete GPU. A nice HTPC combination with the HD6450 is the Intel G530 CPU. With an H61 motherboard it's hard to beat it for bargain status. It's also what I have right now in my living room HTPC (except HD5450) and it works great for 1080p, live HD TV, Netflix HD streaming, anything really.

Get a H61 micro-ATX motherboard and 4GB DDR3-1333 and you're good to go.

Zoltrix · 2012-10-09, 06:45

Ah thanks for the info. Does the Intel perform any better then the AMD x4? There isn't much of a price difference between the two options, and the local store I am looking at has the AMD in stock, but not the Intel unfortunately.

locoguano · 2012-10-09, 15:33

Mine was about as cheap as they get. I bought a used PC on eBay. Lots of large sell-offs from offices. You can typically get a 3-4 year old pc, which is plenty for HD video, for less than $100. Mine even came with a decent discrete GPU. (I'm at work so I don't have my specs in front of me.) I added a large capacity hard drive and my old HD tv tuner and I was good to go. Eventually I want to upgrade to something with a better look, but even then, this computer can be my media server.

bluray · 2012-10-09, 16:04

(2012-10-09, 06:45)Zoltrix Wrote: Ah thanks for the info. Does the Intel perform any better then the AMD x4?

No...Intel G530 performance is not better than AMD Athlon II x4 631....the G530 should be compared to AMD Athlon II X2 250 instead......

I'm suggesting the 45W AMD Athlon II X4 610e instead. Couple with your HD6450, it should make great HTPC.......I have 610e, and it can handle XBMC with ease.....

**Beer40oz** · 2012-10-09, 16:23

Your HD6450 will take care all of the video work... you are good to go.

I had a phenom with a 6450 .... and the 6450 worked top notch.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=107562

**Dougie Fresh** · (This post was last modified: 2012-10-09, 17:58 by Dougie Fresh.)

Certainly, if the Athlon is what's available it will be fine. A quad-core is not necessary for playing 1080p video. It'll use more energy and create more heat than the G530. But if that's what you can get then it'll work. Even dual-core Athlon will work -- I had a AMD 5050e with a HD5670 in my first HTPC and it performed very well.

Zoltrix · 2012-11-07, 04:32

Thanks for the advice so far, I'm still looking and haven't purchased the parts yet. In terms of AMD everything seems to be quickly moving towards FM2, so now I've got my eye on the AMD x2 A4-5300. The GPU part will be redundant I guess as I've got the separate video card. But I was thinking a high speed dual core might be better than a lower speed quad core, as I think XBMC is dual core aware, but not quad core?

Anyway, I wanted to ask a quick question about RAM. In terms of CPU's these days, how does one determine was speed RAM to run with the CPU? If I brought the A4-5300, is DDR3 1333MHz fine?

Cheers,
Justin