Help with HTPC - 3d(HDMI 1.4a), HD Audio passthrough, plus multichannel LPCM

[sam9s]

Hi Sam,

Where u bought the HDD for that price, in delta its about 6.35k. Any web link for that will be very helpful !!!

Thats an one year old price .... when HDD prices were at its rock bottom

Here's what I built recently

Asus P8H77-I mini ITX board - 110$
Intel core i3 2100 - 90$
8GB corsair vengeance LP - around 3.7k
Sapphire 6570 1GB LP - around 4.2k
Antec ISK 310 - around 4.9k
Crucial m4 128GB SSD for OS - 115$
Reused an old 500GB seagate laptop hard drive for some local storage. Most storage is over a network on an old box.

Why prices in USD, ..... if you bought the stuff from India itself can you share the INR for the same ....

 

[NetFreak]

1. 3d video capable (HDMI 1.4a)
2. Audio passthrough for DTS, DD, DTS-HD, DD-TrueHD etc.
3. Multichannel LPCM out through HDMI for multichannel AAC, FLAC etc.

Please suggest a CPU/motherboard/GPU combo to get this done.

1. Ivy Bridge (Core i3/i5/i7) CPU
2. Intel Motherboard with Intel HD GPU

With this combination, you can use HDMI 1.4a + HD Audio bitsteam + LPCM 7.1 Audio.

 

[YPS]

Hello....

I have no intension to hijack this thread but as I am also planning to build HTPC..just wanted to discuss Some of our HFV Experts (FM) suggested that if we building HTPC only for music / movies then we dont need GPU? Mobo onboard graphics is enough for this?? Also wanted to know that onboard sound card is more than enough to suffice our sound desires like DTS-HD MA / TrueHD etc? What will be the best Mobo (Model No.?) for that.

Query about XBMC..As we can switch on the HTPC while OS /XBMC from pen drive? So no need of putting HDD inside HTPC or can be added lateras I have all my movies on my HDD so if I am booting with pen drive and running directly to XBMC then it will detect my external 1 TB HDD ?

Guys need your comments / suggestion.seems it can minimize the initial cost hyeah:

thanks
YP

 

[baijuxavior]

For movie/music you don't need a high end rig. GPU plays the main role for movie playback. But you don't need a dedicated gpu, onboard gpu is enough for hd playback and to get hd audio with amd fusion or llano pltaform. The motherboard should have hdmi out otherwise you should add a gpu.

A version of xbmc called openelec can be run from a pendrive. Connect your hdd to one of the usb port and it will be recognized.

 

[YPS]

thanks.....xavior........always there to help us

So if i want to buy a decent mobo (Maybe lil Highend as i will be saving money on GPU & HDD for rightnow) which one sud be that....any suggested model number.......and hoping that mobo will be having the options if i want to add GPU / etc in future.......also for intially i ll be using openelec form pendrive......hope that will give me same results / feautre which XBMC gives on Windows 7 ??

so now i have to buy

Cabinet
Mobo
Remote
BD Player (I can postponed that too) ;-)
HDMI Cable

Hope not missing anything.......?

thanks again
YP

 

[YPS]

there are so many......which one to use ??

Downloads | OpenELEC - The living room PC for everyone

 

[baijuxavior]

You can select the components I posted earlier. All mobos have atleast one PCIe x16 slot for gpu, so adding a gpu won't be a problem.

You need to select the version of openelec depending on the chipset of the motherboard you select. If the mobo is not in the list then chose the generic version.

 

[reignofchaos]

Thats an one year old price .... when HDD prices were at its rock bottom



Why prices in USD, ..... if you bought the stuff from India itself can you share the INR for the same ....

Those were not available in India. Got tired of waiting and bought the board, CPU and SSD from the states.

 

[gazal]

Guys,

I'm trying to settle for this CPU + mobo combination:
Intel i3 2120 (~7k) + ASUS P8H77 M- LE (~8k).

My primary purpose ofcourse is media playback. I am not looking for gaming.
I wonder if this is too much for my requirements. But I hear in some reviews that the AMD LLano's GPU might struggle for 3d framepacked blurays.

Any thoughts? baijuxavior, you own a LLano, any feedback?

 

[baijuxavior]

I have not tried 3d as I don't have a 3D TV. I think AMD A8 onwards only supports 3D. For other APUs you need a dedicated gpu. Correct me if I'm wrong. By adding the cheapest GT520 you can play 3D blu-rays.

 

[gazal]

Looks like I had to read more.
AMD A6-3650 Llano APU Review - Page 8

Seems the newer Llano's are better at 3D, and the Intel i3 2120 fails to do 3D, although it has a better CPU.

 

[haisaikat]

for most fusion and atom platform mobos one needs to be aware that their pcie-16 slots runs as 4x speed only and not 16x, hence not sure if that can support full 3D bandwidth even if dedicated GPU is put

 

[gazal]

Compelled to choose AMD A6 3650 (rs.5490) + Asus F1A75-M (rs.6850).
Prices from TheITwares Ecommerce, thanx Baiju.

Share your thoughts about this guys.

 

[reignofchaos]

How about a pentium g620 + an h61 matx board and a radeon 6570/geforce gt 440?

Will cost you the same and be faster and much more power efficient.

 

[gazal]

How about a pentium g620 + an h61 matx board and a radeon 6570/geforce gt 440?

Will cost you the same and be faster and much more power efficient.

g620(rs.3380) + GIGABYTE H61M-DS2 LGA(rs.2999) + nVidia GT 440 (rs.4000) = 10379 < 12340 for the A6 + mobo.

The g620 is definitely more power efficient, but is slower than the A6 as per most benchmarks, plus the mobo is pretty bleak with regard to features (no USB 3, no SATA 3) If I go for a mobo that has them, then I'd lose the price advantage.

I would've gone with the core i3 2120 + z86 mobo, even though price is higher than the llano combo, if the integrated gpu could've done 3d (better cpu and power consumption). But if I have to add an external GPU for that the price goes up much further.

 

[reignofchaos]

In games/ hardware decoding video decoding, the pentium + 6570 will be faster - way faster. Just get a board with usb3.

 

[sam9s]

Looks like I had to read more.
AMD A6-3650 Llano APU Review - Page 8

Seems the newer Llano's are better at 3D, and the Intel i3 2120 fails to do 3D, although it has a better CPU.

i3 HD 3000 does not fail to do 3D, but struggles. for safe 3D experience and not to take any chance dedicated GPU is always recomended.

How about a pentium g620 + an h61 matx board and a radeon 6570/geforce gt 440?

Will cost you the same and be faster and much more power efficient.

I will recomend this config. pretty decent price performance ratio .....
You dont need sata 3 for HTPC. USB 3 well that might come in handy but only for data transfer. If one can live with it, USB 2.0 has all the bandwidth for streaming.

I'd say this config with a dedicated GPU will be better in all respects than, an i3/z86 combi with a higher price .....

 

[gazal]

RoC and sam9s, thank you for your suggestions.
I should probably just take it, coz I'm trying to build an HTPC. It needn't be all powerful, just be a very good media player. USB3 and SATA 3 are probably unnecessary.

But I'm also trying to make a decently future proof buy. I don't want to upgrade soon. I wont have to, unless I need to play some new games, right?

 

[baijuxavior]

^^ In that case assemble the amd apu pc. Quite future proof and not much expensive. You can always add a GPU later if you want gaming.

 

[gazal]

Looks like the discussion is turning amd vs Intel
One question to the Intel camp guys, one major drawback of the amd seems to be power consumption. But wouldn't the external radeon gpu plus intel CPU consume more?