Do I need a dual core?

MarkR

I'd been previously looking at a build including a dual core chip. Now wondering if that's overkill. I don't even play pc games right now, but thought I might later. This is my current idea.

07202 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz Socket 939,
- 512KB, BOXED w/fan
1 65.01 65.01 118737 Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB
- Kit w/two matched Value Select 512MB
1 103 103 320630 MSI K9N NEO-F, nForce 550, Socket-AM2,
- SATAII, DDR2, GbLAN, ATX, PCI-Ex16
1 77 77 308626 Fortron/Source Powersupply ATX 400W
- Bulk, 120mm Fan, SATA, 24pin
1 62 62 315869 Thermaltake Bach Silver - Aluminium (Without PSU)


Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2
- 16MB 7200RPM


I'll be adding a 6600 gt pci express and a dual layer dvd burner I have at home. Plan to connect to hi def tv by dvi->vga. Take in rf from skybox to a cheap tv tuner card. Might be able to replace dvd hard disk and dvd player with the above.

Could always upgrade the chip later as it's an am2 board. I think the HD is big enough for the time being for recording SD broadcasts, my hard disk recorder is only 160 gb and I've never really gotten close. Can always burn to dvd / back up to network drive if needed.

Any comments?

8T8

You don't need dual core I have the same CPU as even when recording it is fine for playback XviD's or watching DVD's. H.264 encoded videos are fine as long as you aren't doing anything else at the same time.

Dual core is only required if you plan on making use of HD-DVD or Blu-ray.

MarkR

Thanks! Puts my mind at ease a bit. I bumped it up to a 3700 (was only another €15 and will change to a 8 mb (250-300 GB) drive from pc world (have a voucher) so that will come in at under €425.

• Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB - €103
• MSI K9N NEO-F, nForce 550, Socket-AM2 - €77
• Fortron/Source Powersupply ATX 400W - €62
• Thermaltake Bach Silver - €102
• AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2GHz Socket 939 - €79.94

Factoring in shipping and vat it's € 447.94

philologos

that should be fine I have a 3700+ running perfectly here
Edit: woah wait the motherboard is AM2 but the processor is 939 that won't work.. I have a 939 processor.

SouperComputer

My last HTPC was a 1.7, so dual core is definately not needed. However, if you plan getting your HTPC to do a lot of post processing (Compression, removing ads etc etc) then a dual core would be of definate benefit.

MarkR

Crap. And there doesn't seem to be much in the 939 section for motherboards on komplett, except for clearance items. I had assumed that when the board said it supported athlon that it was backwards compatible with 939. Quick search in clearance brings me

• Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB - €103
• Fortron/Source Powersupply ATX 400W - €62
• Thermaltake Bach Silver - €102
• AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2GHz Socket 939 - €79.94
• Abit AN8 SLI,nForce4 SLI, Socket-939 S-SATA,GbLAN,Firewire,PCI-Ex16 (B Grade) €59.99

Total cost € 430.93

I think 939 will serve me well enough....

SouperComputer

TBH if you are going to corner yourself, dont spend 400e doing it. Buy a used system from adverts\BuynSell.

MarkR

I managed to find a board and some memory on adverts, so i'm well on the way. If only I could find a decent case. Can anyone recommend an online store beside komplett for htpc cases?

8T8

Cases aren't always easy to come by here a few places to check out besides Komplett;

OcUK case section - see Zalman & Origin AE products.

Pixmania Silverstone section - Silverstone make a lot of HTPC cases.

Pixmania Thermaltake section - a small selection of Thermaltake HTPC cases.

Kustom PC's - HTPC shop.

Quiet PC - more HTPC cases.

X-Case - more HTPC cases mostly Silverstone.

MarkR

Thanks! Found some nice ones on pixmania. Think i'll go for this. Wife acceptance factor is ok.

119 plus delivery.

They also had processors, but the 3700 was a full €100 more expensive at pixmania! :eek:

Still on the lookout for a second hand 939

SouperComputer

Still on the lookout for a second hand 939

Well, if nothing turns up on adverts, ebay.co.uk or .de is a good way to go for cheap chip. If you are into overclocking you could save even more money.

adrian.s

MarkR wrote:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2
- 16MB 7200RPM[/B]


Could always upgrade the chip later as it's an am2 board. I think the HD is big enough for the time being for recording SD broadcasts, my hard disk recorder is only 160 gb and I've never really gotten close. Can always burn to dvd / back up to network drive if needed.

Any comments?

I'm running an AMD 3200 939 1GB RAM, (myth, ubuntu 6.06). Load when recording SD is barely goes about 0.1 (PVR 350), commercial flagging brings it to 1, but it's nice'd so if a recording needs to kick in the priority gets lowered. Playback is over the network to another device so load is not a factor there. But if you're using a good graphic card with hardware acceleration it wont shouldn't impact performance significantly.

Speed wise, the machine kicks ass, where it falls down big time is the 250GB hard disk! You need tonnes of it, once you start putting all your other media onto it, music, photos, movies etc. So from a processor point of view unless you plan HD stuff any time soon, you spec is more than adequate. So get as much hard disk space into the machine as you can. Or at least make sure it's easily expandable.

Of course, with hard disks, comes heat, from heat noise, so then you'll be into the cycle of spending money trying to eliminate it. My gut feeling is you never can get it quiet enough for a living room environment. But this money wont be going to waste, you can always re-jig it down the road if you think it's worth additional money to split the htpc over a network.


Adrian.

MarkR

Thanks for that adrian, Plan on a 400 gb as a later secondary drive. Or bigger! (anyone see the Tb drive in the news over the last few days?)

tman

You might want to go for something a bit quieter than a WD drive as well. (a seagate instead should do the trick)