Need a HTPC for my friend under 20k.

[babhishek]

get a zotac
end of discussion

 

[Jakob]

For Codecs and Media AMD has the upper hand,Since you're getting AMD A6 3500,No need to go for Nvidia GPU,That will beat the A6 purpose.Another option is to go with Intel G630+AMD HD6670,I thought you didn't have budget to add external GPU,If that the case then best option is G630+HD7750.If you're only going to do HD playback and no gaming then even HD7750 would be too much for you,Get the highlighted combo it'd be more than enough for you.

Thanks.

I have a doubt, Somewhere i have read that NVdia GPU's are better for media playback and all considering their CUDA architecture that is useful for CORE something codec or something like that.

Any ideas?

 

[m-jeri]

Well, as of now I dont have a budget for the GPU. But perhaps in a 6 months or so I can add it. See this is for my home. so usage wont be as often as u might think.

So last call Intel G630 + H67CL + 4 GB DDR3(This combo has to serve me till I get the GFX) now and a HD6670 Or similar 4 or 6 months down the lane Or the AMD APU combo now. Please consider my usage frequency and comment.

 

[Rockfella]

Thanks.

I have a doubt, Somewhere i have read that NVdia GPU's are better for media playback and all considering their CUDA architecture that is useful for CORE something codec or something like that.

Any ideas?

You won't feel a flying difference between the two. Onboard of Intel and ATI will play full HD with ease. If you watch a 1080 movie on a 24" LCD or a 52" LCD TV you gpu has to do the same work as the native reso is same just the screen size increases from 24 to 52" so don't worry too much about it.

 

[m-jeri]

but cant i get more res from bigger displays? like the 27" shimian ones??

 

[Chaos]

The only major benefit nvidia gpus have over amd for media playback is that they support custom resolutions - you can lock the 24p frame rate to exactly 23.976 fps. However you'd need to tweak this - out of the box support for 24p accuracy is pretty poor compared to AMD. There's also support for hardware decoding of 2160p content which currently AMD lacks but then there's hardly any content or display device that supports 4k resolutions anyway.

Other than that, it is even or better for AMD. AMD's hardware deinterlacer is significantly better than NV's hardware deinterlacer. My 6570's 24p frame rate is 23.977 fps or 0.001 fps higher than ideal. However this only leads to an extra frame once every few hours so for most part this is as good as it gets. No tinkering needed.

Just setup madvr with lav codecs and you are done. In fact the authors of both madvr and lav codecs use AMD now as their reference setup.

 

[m-jeri]

Very well then AMD APU+4GB DDR3 RAM. Done.

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So going ahead with the following...

Corsair DDR3 2 GB (1 x 2 GB) PC RAM (VS2GB1333D3) * 2
MSI A75MA-G55 Motherboard
AMD 2.1 GHz FM1 uPGA A6 3500 Processor

All from flipkart. Shall I get it??

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Also, need a fast boot drive. Coz main purpose of this is a HTPC. Don't want to wait around for booting it up.

http://www.flipkart.com/ocz-agility...8c-9ed10715af74&srno=s_6&otracker=from-search

Is the above on ok?

Please recommend a cabby from these...

Cooler Master HAF 912 Combat Cabinet with side Window With Bill & Warranty | eBay

NZXT Tempest 410 Mid Tower Steel cabinet | eBay

NZXT Phantom 410 Crafted Series Cabinet (White) | eBay

LIAN LI Lancool Dragon Lord PC-K62 Black Steel Cabinet | eBay

Antec DF-10 Mid Tower ATX Desktop Cabinet | eBay

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K59 With USB 3.0 Black Steel Cabinet | eBay

Cooler Master CM 690 II Plus Pc Gaming Computer Cabinet With USB front 3.0 x 2 | eBay

 

[Chaos]

Also remember one thing - the AMD APUs and the discrete cards are not the same as far as HTPC duty is concerned. Here are the differences:

-> No 4k output (not even output let alone hardware decoding). All southern island GPUs (7750 or higher) support 4k output via hdmi.
-> Poorer deinterlacing (This is fixed with trinity though)
-> 3D MVC acceleration is not fully hardware - it eats more cpu
-> No lav video acceleration - you must use software. If you have an intel cpu with a discrete card, you can decode on the cpu's integrated gpu and use the discrete card for presentation. Lav filters + madVR is the best way to get video out of an HTPC.

Also any ssd will do for an HTPC - just get a 64gig one - its enough for OS and the video player with an odd movie thrown in.

 

[m-jeri]

God. Again confused. I will never need a 4k output anyways. but 3D I may. Right now I have more of mind just to get a damn media player and get it over with. Either way in a year I will use it only 30 days max.

 

[Chaos]

Grab the config u decided in that case. It doesn't matter for such light usage.

 

[m-jeri]

Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus Mid Tower Cabinet -- 3774
AMD/MSI AMD 2.1 GHz FM1 uPGA A6 3500 Processor and MSI A75MA-G55 Motherb Combo Motherboard -- 9360
OCZ Agility 3 60 GB SSD Internal Hard Drive (AGT3-25SAT3-60G) -- 4033
Corsair DDR3 4 GB (1 x 4 GB) PC RAM (CMV4GX3M1A1333C9) -- 1081


PSU & Creative XFi --- I got.

I am buying it now. For full HD/max bit rate Madness in my 40" soon.. . Any other suggestions please tell...

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@Chaos @Rockfella @Jakob @cranky

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and also.. am i missing anything to buy???been sometime since i got a PC .

Thght of a HDD hot swap backplane but this cabby has a XDock. So...

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Bought the items.... .. ...

A DVD burner to be bought from ebay.. wanted to get one from fk...but got out of stock.

 

[Jakob]

^Congrats on the purchase,You could've got the AMD Trinity combo but it'd been little expensive.Later add HD6670 gpu which will crossfire with the APU that will give you better gaming performance,Enjoy the new rig.

 

[m-jeri]

For my purpose this will suffice r8?. .

I wont game a bit. I got a PS3, XBOX 360 for that... perhaps a Wii U soon...:|. Gonna be bankrupt soon..

 

[Chaos]

That SSD is a piece of crap. Otherwise everything else is pretty good.

 

[m-jeri]

holy shit.. why so?? How much shitty it is??

I just want it for Win 7 or Win 8, PS3MS, XBMC, VLC. and perhaps some office files..

And anything in this price ranges?

 

[subham]

I have sealed i3 2120 for 5k and g840 for 3k

 

[altainta]

I have sealed i3 2120 for 5k and g840 for 3k

I think he brought it..
Dude post some thing here this thread was so long and old i regretted reading it...
Still there was so much to learn "SET A DEADLINE FOR EVERY TASK"

 

[subham]

Its just five days old