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#1
January 17, 2013, 04:17:16 AM
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A challenge build
Hey, everyone. I've been messing around with a few systems for the past year or so, and here's where I stand. My desktop died in the last month (Phenom II X6 processor and 500 GB system hard drive--considering RMA on them), and I realized that I barely actually play games on my desktop. The only thing that I really did that I needed a desktop for (again, other than the occasional modern game) was conversion of video files.
As it stands now, I'm left with a laptop that's mostly for browsing the 'net, taking to school, and a little light gaming. It's an HP Compaq nc6230. The other system I have that works well is my media center, which is my new challenge build. Now here's where the challenge comes in. It was formerly a data server, and as such it is a low profile (slim) system. Due to this (and the micro ATX form factor), I cannot use the motherboard nor any expansion cards from the desktop. The other major limitation is its 300 watt power supply (32 amps on the 12V rail). I'd been using a 225 watt power supply until I recently acquired a 300 watt one. It's a proprietary size and can only be replaced with a very special form factor. Please don't recommend replacing the case or the power supply, as that's the idea of the challenge here. The case specs: - Micro ATX or smaller - Four half height expansion bays - One external 5.25" bay - One external 3.5" bay - One internal 3.5" bay - One self-installed internal 2.5" bay - Special server power supply - One 80 mm case fan - Front USB panel Motherboard (MSI K9VGM-V) limitations: - Two SATA ports, which are both being used by hard drives - Two IDE ports, one used for the DVD/CD drive - Socket AM2 - Two DDR2 slots (I presume 2 GB max, but I have no capability to test more) - One PCIe-x16 - One PCIe-x1 - Two conventional PCI - Six USB ports - Network, sound, parallel/serial ports, PS/2 for mouse and keyboard - Specs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130542 Now for the rest of the hardware: - SATA 250 GB Toshiba 2.5" system HDD - SATA 1 TB WD Black 3.5" data HDD (may swap with my 2 TB WB Green data HDD that was in my desktop) - IDE DVD/CD drive (I have one in storage) - AMD Athlon II X2 6000+ with stock heat sink and fan - PCI Rosewill Wi-Fi card (reinstalls itself often) - PCIe-x16 NVidia GeForce 210: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127603 - PCIe-x1 AVerMedia AVerTV HD DVR - Two 1 GB Kingston 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 3.5" floppy disk drive/media card reader combo unit - IR receiver and Media Center remote - Monitor, TV, keyboards, and mice - Logitech K400 wireless keyboard with touchpad: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823126264 - Windows 7 Home Premium (well, it's software) Other components I have: - Another SATA 3.5" 1 TB WD Black HDD - MSI 785GTM-E45 micro ATX motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130237 - Two 1 GB Crucial Ballistix 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM (I will likely be installing this to replace the Kingston.) - A bunch of old parts that either won't work, won't fit, or don't want to use - SATA LG Blu-ray drive Budget: I don't really want to spend much of anything, but I might spring $100 or more for something that's really worth it. As I mentioned above, I don't want to do heavy gaming. Minecraft seems to run quite nicely on it, for instance. What I primarily use it for now is a media center for use with the TV and a portable capture system to capture game footage from consoles. What I want is to see just how far I can push this thing without blowing the power supply or any other components while maximizing my capabilities with the system as a whole. Remember: half-height cards, very few drive bays, and a non-upgradeable 300W PSU. I'm considering an SSD like this one, but I have no idea if that would be of benefit to me. Should I use the other motherboard and replace my Phenom? Should I upgrade the GPU? Should I buy anything else? Last edited by Cat333Pokémon; January 17, 2013 at 10:51:33 PM. |
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#2
January 17, 2013, 05:10:50 AM
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When it comes to video editing, RAM and CPU are the most important. The fact that motherboard only supports up to 2GB will hurt a lot, as some video editing software can use over 1GB while converting.
Also, do you plan to mess around with mpeg/mpeg2? A decent video card will help with that and there are a few low-profile ones out there for cheap. My GT520 is a low-profile card [made to fit into smaller cases] and was only $50. I don't think a SSD would be recommended for something like this, which I think does lots of reads/writes and would cause the drive to eventually fail that much more quickly. Remember that SSD typically has that read/write limitation, though from research it looks as if a SSD would last at least 5 years without failing. |
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#3
January 17, 2013, 09:19:23 AM
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I won't be doing a whole lot of editing, mostly conversion, so it's fine if it runs in the background slowly. I'm even considering building a separate mini box just for the conversion, but that's overkill for now. The output standard will be MPEG-4 encasing H.264/AAC. Any idea what the power ratings are on that video card?
The only thing I'd use the SSD for is installation of the OS, but 7 is fast enough for my needs even without one. I will say that the differences between a rather slow (5400 rpm) IDE drive and a 7200 rpm SATA drive are noticeable when booting. I will need to get ahold of a 2 GB DDR2 stick to see if I can push more RAM. Thanks for the advice. 
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#4
January 17, 2013, 09:49:02 AM
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OK, I decided to do some Binging, and from here, yes, your motherboard only supports 2 GB of memory. If you want to take advantage of dual-channel while still using the old one, it is ideal to have two 1 GB sticks. Just reuse them. If you decide to switch motherboards, you have a lot more leeway - the other board supports up to 8 GB of RAM.
You don't need an SSD - after booting, even a 5400 RPM disk is fast enough for conversions - peak 70-90 MB/s ought to be plenty. Heck, even I'd reckon that around half that will suffice as long as you don't do anything else. Video files take a huge amount of space anyway, and you need all the space you can get. As for the graphics cards, I'm not sure whether the 210 is any faster than raw CPU encoding, as it's relatively anaemic for GPU computing - there exist encoders and decoders that can take advantage of the GPU. In the case of a GPU that is weaker than the CPU, bad things happen. The maximum power for the 210 is 30.5 watts - tread carefully, as it's likely that you'll bump to the PSU's limits with anything sipping more power. Look for something below this. (My mobile GPU notwithstanding (not that it's an option), the GT 610 is probably the only card that fits in perfectly for a current card.) What's the TDP of the CPU anyway? (You might want to look into passive solutions.) Is the Toshiba disk faster or slower than the Blacks? If the Blacks are faster, just chuck in a Black and call it a day... leave the other slot for the Blu-Ray (since you have it)... or you could also RAID it (disk failures are very risky then, though!) If something reinstalls often, consider replacing it, if you've already RMA'd it. If I were you, though, I'd set it up as following:
Maximize its HTPC potential. Last edited by Twiggy; January 17, 2013 at 10:01:44 AM. |
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#5
January 17, 2013, 09:54:16 AM
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Yep, I know I'm really close to the PSU limit, so that's why I'm asking whether upgrades would be part of the question. My primary encoders are all CPU-only, so the GPU wouldn't likely be of help. I may be able to upgrade the CPU significantly, as that thing runs 125 watts like many of the high end Phenoms. Or, if I switch to an Intel board, I'll need to pay a pretty penny for an Intel CPU too.
I haven't actually been able to thoroughly test the laptop hard drive, as I just installed it yesterday but haven't put the OS on it yet. Last edited by Cat333Pokémon; January 17, 2013 at 09:54:28 AM. |
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#6
January 17, 2013, 10:05:29 AM
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It's very difficult to recommend a modern GPU for the system, as the CPU's the problematic part right now. What CPU are you planning to replace it with?
I'll be keeping tabs of Newegg deals here - wait for a while... I'll edit this. If I somehow find a deal under $150 in total, I'd recommend you to switch away, and if it's a HD Graphics, you'll be able to throw out the GPU, too, if you don't care about Minecraft (Intel and OpenGL don't mix). Answer: Nope, nothing worth it under $150. You'll definitely HAVE to replace a lot of things - you could call it a new computer. :3 For the Intel camp: Motherboards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...130%2D659%2DTS CPUs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...115%2D090%2DTS For the AMD camp, I've got these combos for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175871 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175744 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175746 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175872 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1175849 Memory (this one can work for AMD solutions that use DDR3): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...148%2D150%2DTS Just keep in mind that the chances of a sideways "upgrade" is very large due to your budget. Last edited by Twiggy; January 17, 2013 at 10:51:14 AM. |
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#7
January 17, 2013, 05:07:43 PM
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http://graphics-cards.findthebest.co...GeForce-GT-520 |
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#8
January 17, 2013, 06:18:04 PM
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Maybe Cat will even be able to do some proper gaming on that HTPC, too. :3 Anything with the level of at least a HD Graphics 4000, man. Last edited by Twiggy; January 17, 2013 at 06:34:14 PM. |
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#9
January 17, 2013, 08:59:31 PM
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Like I said, I may be willing to fork out over $100 if it's a significant upgrade. Having a gaming HTPC would be nice, and having it hooked up to the TV with the option of using my old Logitech game controller may complement that. Regarding the links you provided, do those CPUs have built in GPUs?
Oh, and I forgot to mention that my desktop has two 4 GB sticks of DDR3 SDRAM, so I can easily use that in whatever DDR3 kit you mention. As for GPU encoders, what do you use? |
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#10
January 17, 2013, 09:52:57 PM
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For AMD Trinity APUs, fast memory is crucial in ensuring speed in games (Trinity APU graphics rely on memory a lot), so check the MHz rating on your DDR3 sticks. At least 1600 is best. (Really, the A10 is your only choice if you want to game on a budget. The TDP should still be lower than your Athlon + 210.) Or if you really want to use the Intel configs (they have lower processor TDP), I'd recommend that you also get a video card like these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NG&PageSize=20 (Depending on your "leftover" budget, of course. The second digit in the number is what's important - anything 4 and below in the AMD camp is a no-go. You can get away with a 3 for recent NVIDIA camp) Also, no matter what you buy, get a new Wi-Fi card or USB stick. They're pretty cheap and probably more reliable than what you use now. Depends - I use encoders to convert videos from one format to another and I usually use Freemake Video Converter (uncheck all crapware first), and that has DXVA and CUDA (but I'm pretty sure CUDA is NVIDIA-only). Your desktop won't be missing these sticks, right? Last edited by Twiggy; January 17, 2013 at 10:08:33 PM. |
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#11
January 17, 2013, 11:03:49 PM
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The RAM is 1600 MHz: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231428 (I paid twice that price.
 ) I can definitely use that in a new motherboard.If the replacement motherboard has three PCIe slots (or has excellent integrated video and doesn't need the x16 slot), I can use the PCIe-x1 Wi-Fi card from my old desktop: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833704059 Otherwise, yeah, I can replace that for a few bucks. (Ugh, everything has terrible reviews on Newegg.) I forgot to mention that the disk I capture my videos to must be a fast disk and not get used much. I found out that if, for instance, Windows Update decides it's a good time to download updates, I can drop a lot of frames and sometimes completely desynchronize the audio. (I can fix it in post, of course.) Regarding the Blu-ray drive, I think I'll install that if possible. It'd be nice to have the option for the future. If possible, I don't want to buy a new motherboard, but it's a bit legacy as the newest it supports is AM3, and I see a lot of FM1 and FM2 CPUs. I think I'm going to bump my budget up to about $200 total. I just got paid and haven't bought myself anything really shiny in a while, but this will mean I won't be getting a Wii U anytime soon, and I'll have to save some money from lunch and other shopping.
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#12
January 18, 2013, 05:44:00 AM
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OK, Cat, I think I've gotten these straight:
For $100: Swap out the motherboard with your 785GTM-E45 and buy this, but before that, please perform a BIOS upgrade if available (if not, you're good to go). No better gaming performance, though. Your current motherboard is stuck on AM2, unfortunately, and this won't give you enough efficiency for real gaming. Also, forget about Blu-Ray playback - not without considerable CPU load. For $200: AMD A10-5800K + a good motherboard should give you 3x raw CPU performance and the ability to play almost every PC game under the sun, including several high-profile console ports at 720p, medium settings at 30 FPS or higher minimum. If the motherboard you've chosen comes with HDMI-out, sell the 210. If not, look elsewhere, as there's no method of HDMI pass-through. DVI-to-HDMI are not ideal unless you've got another method to plug into your audio system. UEFI is good for forward-compatibility and boot speed. This would take up around 100 W or 130 W. You'll most likely want to overclock the memory to squeeze out extra performance - like any GPU, the APU needs all the memory speed it can get, especially for GPU-intensive loads. See this for a comparison between the A10 and a comparable Core i3. Keep in mind that this is CPU-influenced only; if you use their respective built-in GPUs, the 7660D will thrash the HD 2500 like no tomorrow. If you are really serious about video encoding, though, you'll want to wait a bit more, and try to get yourself at least $300 of budget leeway. That way you'd be able to splurge on a quad-core Ivy Bridge Core i5 (around 4x your current configuration) (get one without HD Graphics to save $10, but you WILL have to have a GPU), a good motherboard, and sell the 210 to give yourself a real graphics card that works, and be still under 155.5W for the CPU and the GPU. Last edited by Twiggy; January 18, 2013 at 08:41:48 AM. |
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#13
January 18, 2013, 02:50:27 PM
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Yeah, the TDP on AMD processors is noticeably higher than Intel ones, and I would assume that's the trade-off for AMD processors being quite cheap. I'm currently considering the A10-5800K.
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#14
January 18, 2013, 09:23:29 PM
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Hm, I'm going to retract going for the APUs. It looks like a motherboard, CPU, and GPU are the best combination for now.
Currently eying this six core and this eight core. |
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#15
January 18, 2013, 09:52:24 PM
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(You're thinking of $300?) |
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#16
January 18, 2013, 10:12:35 PM
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I would prefer to keep my $200 budget if possible. Maybe I need to sacrifice a little CPU power. Or maybe I need to sell some old components I can no longer use.
Last edited by Cat333Pokémon; January 18, 2013 at 10:13:03 PM. |
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#17
January 18, 2013, 10:38:31 PM
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Still, limited upgradability notwithstanding, keeping within $200 means the A10 or forget about gaming. The A10 itself is $130 and is pretty much a capable CPU + capable GPU combo. Just remember that when you upgrade it (there's at least one generation of upgrades possible), you'll replace both at once, because it's the same component. Might be a bit of a culture shock moving from separate to integrated on die, huh? For FM2 motherboards You have just $70 to work with. Seeing how you plug things in, I'd recommend that you get something with at least three video-outs: D-Sub, DVI, HDMI. The A55 boards, are, by the way, the lowest-end boards you can find... They won't have any modern goodies - they're meant for scraping the bottom. Last edited by Twiggy; January 18, 2013 at 10:40:05 PM. |
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#18
January 19, 2013, 12:41:10 PM
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I've noticed the following while doing some research last night:
AMD APU Hybrid, but you need a proper graphics card to truly do much with it. (I'm curious about CrossFire.) Also, the motherboard offerings for FM2 are rather scant and feel very cookie cutter like they're all offering the exact same thing with small changes. AMD FX CPU While it saves power usage over traditional CPUs, it looks like you need a proper 990-series chipset to take advantage of most of the newer features. Regarding motherboards, there are even fewer options that offer this, and besides being expensive, they're all ATX. To go micro ATX, you have to settle for the older 880-series chipset designed for the Phenom and Athlon. Intel CPU Intel chips are great for how much power they provide for how much, err, power they use. Unfortunately, they're also expensive. For an HTPC/light gaming rig, I don't think an Intel CPU is worth it. Last edited by Cat333Pokémon; January 19, 2013 at 01:03:44 PM. |
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#19
January 19, 2013, 08:54:49 PM
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Cookie cutter is probably still better than no boards for the FX ones, huh? Quote:
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#20
January 19, 2013, 10:08:02 PM
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Today, I decided to visit Fry's Electronics. They definitely do know their prices, as they are almost all the same as Newegg, some even lower (but there is tax). The only problem was there weren't anywhere near as many options. It was nice getting to see a lot of cases up close, though, especially feeling their weights.
Anyway, I'm thinking of doing something...a little different but probably a good idea. I'm considering splitting the capture system off to a separate box, possibly something with a mini ITX board. There were a lot of nice mini ITX cases at Fry's, especially for HTPCs. The bare necessities (those simple bear necessities *shot*)...well, let's look at our two different systems here. System 1 - Low CPU power, even an Atom might be acceptable; it just needs to capture 1080p @ 30 fps or 720p @ 60 fps in M-JPEG without dropping frames - Small and portable - One PCIe x1 slot for the capture card (low profile is fine) - Lots of hard drive space, with at least two disks: one for OS, one for capture files - No other internal drives are necessary - Integrated graphics are preferred to cut costs - Some flavor of Linux or Windows 7 Professional, depending on how well Linux handles my capture card - Wi-Fi for SSH or remote desktop, but this could be handled over a direct LAN connection too Not owned: motherboard, CPU, RAM, case, PSU, (Wi-Fi card) I can use the existing system for capture, but it'll just be a bit bulky. In that case, I own everything but have to deal with a rather heavy system. System 2 (pretty much what was already discussed, minus capture) - Moderate gaming - HTPC - Video conversion - Medium CPU power - Medium GPU power with HDMI, DVI, and VGA outputs (low profile) - Possibly an SSD; a basic one for the OS alone is only about $50~60 - Wi-Fi card (low profile or USB) - Existing case, Blu-ray drive, DDR3 SDRAM, hard drive, and memory card reader are fine Not owned: motherboard, CPU, GPU, (SSD), Wi-Fi card |
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#21
January 20, 2013, 09:43:05 AM
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You have to see its performance relative to the Athlon - if the Athlon can handle M-JPEG captures just fine, a low-end Celeron will be fine, or a higher-end E-series APU would work, too. However, I'm unsure about the Atoms that I can find on Newegg. At least, they're still faster than a Pentium 4, but that's not saying much. You should be able to get away with it at 720p, but things might get iffy at 1080p. I've already asked other people about how bad the CPU can get for a capture box... Hope that I get an answer for that. An SSD would increase boot times and system responsiveness a lot, but how expensive the SSD is in the first place? Given that you want medium CPU and GPU power, the easy way out would be the A10, but you can also go with the FX-6300 and give it a dedicated card, but this would put you over-budget. I'll have to ask you again - what's your current budget? I don't really expect to upgrade an HTPC's hardware anyway, and the A10 should make video transcodes a matter of hours instead of days. Sometimes I feel like one single box is the best thing, though, unless you really go around with your capture box. How heavy is the current HTPC computer? Last but not least, is the capture card in the capture box hardware-accelerated? I need to check how capable your capture card is - if it can handle 1080p, you're golden. If your capture card wasn't designed for HD input, no matter how good your CPU, there's bound to be skip/desync issues. Hopefully, your capture card is up to the task and you don't have to spend a pretty penny on the CPU. Last edited by Twiggy; January 20, 2013 at 09:53:17 AM. |
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#22
January 20, 2013, 12:37:40 PM
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The capture card is purely a frame buffer device, meaning the CPU has to handle everything on its own.
Looks like I'm going to be scrapping the idea of buying anything for the capture device for now. I'll just use the second HTPC or keep it in the primary one. As for the primary one, I was thinking I'd just buy a decent graphics card last night, but I forgot that I needed a better processor too.
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#23
January 21, 2013, 01:17:01 AM
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Here's what I'm thinking for now:
APU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113280 MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138369 Looks like DVI is out, but it's the least needed, as I mostly will be using it over HDMI (TV) and VGA (monitor). The motherboard also has the newest chipset to take advantage of the A10. (Check out this graphic.) I may get a Radeon card and SSD down the line after seeing how well the APU performs on its own. I still need to pick out a Wi-Fi card. Last edited by Cat333Pokémon; January 21, 2013 at 01:17:21 AM. |
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#24
January 21, 2013, 03:53:20 AM
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Possibly the most feature-rich, reliable FM2 board you can find, and it's reliable, but the price might be a show-stopper. Also an idiotic design fault: NO INTERNAL USB3? Do you trust Biostar? The APU should be at least 3 times as fast as the Athlon you have right now, and should also make 720p gaming viable for once compared to your 210. I don't think you should really bother to CrossFire the APU and a separate GPU for now - from what I've seen the APU should be fine for most games at 1280x720, medium settings, compared to the HD 2500 (crippled), which... well, forget about gaming. The HD 4000 is a higher-end part. Since you've indicated that you'd like to see some gaming, and the 210 is going to moved out together with the Athlon and its board.. The Intel Core i3-3220 and the AMD A10-5800K actually should perform about the same, and are priced the exact same, but the AMD A10-5800k actually has a rebate going on using the code aseries0113, which should be good for a 10% off. There's no rebate on the Core i3. The HD 4000 is more capable, but you shouldn't expect gaming anyway, and it's also way more expensive. Have I mentioned that the GPU performance is going to be a night-and-day difference between the HD 2500 and the 7660D? To me, the Core i3 is not worth it without a proper graphics card if you're gaming, TDP notwithstanding. I understand that you're on the fence about certain aspects of the A10, though - what would these be? There are certain things that you should not worry too much about. I suppose it boils down to performance-per-dollar or performance-per-watt. Which do you value more in your HTPC? Also, frame latencies, anyone? Intel GPUs have a bad problem with that. Some alternatives: This Phenom coupled with an adequate GPU that has a TDP of 30.5 W or lower will work, but I don't know about the GPU - you barely have room to work around, but even a 520 would be an upgrade. (You might want to ask Shade about his 520 - he's replacing it.) One of the sets I was suggested: Intel Core i3-2100 XFX Radeon HD 6670 GIGABYTE H61 This should run you $255 after rebates, before shipping is taken into account. This should be a lot more efficient compared to an APU. Around 2.5x the performance of your Athlon, and a gaming-ready GPU, complete with a trusted board. If you think you can get away with a modern Sandy Bridge Pentium, you might be able to squeeze in, into $200. Of course, for the best performance-price ratio, the A10-5800K is the way to go (I trust you already know the links for that). Try to put aside your worries as I think it'll be your best choice without going over-budget. Also, I just remembered about the motherboard with all three ports (D-Sub, DVI, HDMI): This MSI. I hope you trust that though, seeing as you have bad experiences. Last edited by Twiggy; January 21, 2013 at 09:48:00 AM. |
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#25
January 21, 2013, 05:06:22 PM
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I was looking at that 10% off discount, but I did get an important e-mail this morning. AMD approved my RMA submission, so I'm going to send in the Phenom X6 1100T. I think I'm going to hold off on purchasing anything until I find out what happens next. If I get a replacement, I won't have to buy a motherboard or processor. I might be able to just spend a little on the capture box and a graphics card for the main HTPC.
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#26
January 21, 2013, 05:42:08 PM
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#27
January 28, 2013, 06:49:21 PM
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I really hope that RAM I have works.
I've FINALLY settled on this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113280 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138369 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833315096 Subtotal: $177 shipped after mail-in-rebate Optional: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227925 Really, it was difficult choosing between the A10 and the i3, but my final conclusion was that I have no need for a discrete graphics card at this time. When I need one, I can buy one, but I won't need one for a while. If the RMA succeeds on the Phenom, I can use that for sheer encoding power on the second system and move the capture card over. Then I can have one system dedicated to capture and one dedicated to being an HTPC. Significantly under budget, don't you think? Edit: The first three items have been purchased for $196.97. Last edited by Cat333Pokémon; January 28, 2013 at 08:12:27 PM. |
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#28
January 29, 2013, 09:35:15 AM
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Being under budget is better than being over budget and still not meeting specifications.
If you want to play games on an HTPC, it's actually a no-brainer, unless you're really, really concerned about the power consumption: the Intel HD Graphics 4000 will never give you a satisfactory experience, even at 1366x768. On the other hand, at the exact same resolution, you can reliably push 30 FPS on most console ports at medium or high settings, and should be able to run basically every game in the market and quite a bunch of future ones, at least at low, but smoothly. You can't say the same with Intel. Pairing the Intel with a new(-ish) graphics card on its own would make you over-budget given that the 210 is pretty much junk, and also lose the TDP advantage. One thing's for sure, though: Even that HTPC you have there will play games better than your 360 and will encode more efficiently than the stuff you had in the past. When you do successfully RMA your Phenom, then the HTPC won't have to spend any time encoding stuff - more time for things in life! The SSD is indeed optional: after installing everything you need on the HTPC, try to fiddle around in Autoruns (GoogBing "Sysinternals") and see what eats up your start-up time the most. That alone can potentially cut boot time up to one-third. Even though you won't be planning on overclocking the CPU, try to check whether the motherboard offers options for automatic overclocking for the memory at least. Push it as high as possible without errors (Windows Memory Diagnostics, run at least 10 passes (might take a while), Extended, hold Space during Windows boot, before "Starting Windows" shows up). If your motherboard does not offer such an option, leave it alone. Last edited by Twiggy; January 29, 2013 at 09:38:28 AM. |
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#29
January 29, 2013, 12:20:27 PM
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You definitely know exactly what the Phenom will be useful for.
 Yeah, I definitely will look into RAM overclocking considering its importance here. |
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#30
January 30, 2013, 10:57:43 AM
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Jeez, the parts arrived this morning. That's some fast delivery. I'll post some pictures later tonight.
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#31
January 30, 2013, 11:14:12 AM
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Quote:
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#32
January 30, 2013, 11:24:20 AM
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Yeah, I used the free shipping.
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#33
January 31, 2013, 03:05:47 AM
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Hmm...
It's already Thursday morning for Central Time. Hmm... set it up yet? Measured boot times after installing drivers and AV? *gets a bit excited seeing new hardware* |
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#34
January 31, 2013, 03:10:13 PM
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Alrighty, last night I got to the assembly.
Here's the shiny stuff: Putting the motherboard in: Adding the CPU, heatsink, and RAM: Installing the network card and connecting a few cables: Adding the drives: (The second picture was actually from the capture box before moving the laptop drive mount over.) Starting the Windows installation: The finished case: Open flap: Comparisons to the capture box: I have so many updateables: However, I had a little bit of a problem. The hard drive was incredibly slow, but I still wanted to keep the system files and data files on separate drives: So yeah, I went out and bought this at Fry's today, and I'll be installing it later: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167120 |
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#35
January 31, 2013, 04:37:50 PM
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Bottlenecked by the laptop drive, huh? Laptop drives sure have come a long way since then: may be hits 5.9 reliably (as fast as spinners go).
I bet the SSD will make you wish everything else used SSDs. Expect iPad-style boot times and sleep times. |
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#36
January 31, 2013, 06:00:09 PM
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Most likely.
Well, I'll have a gaming rig...again. And still well under my $300 budget.
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#37
February 1, 2013, 01:32:34 AM
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Here's the new SSD:
And here's the improvement in WEI: It really is noticeable. Windows installed much faster, it boots in about 15 seconds, and it shuts down in about 3 seconds. |
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#38
February 1, 2013, 05:14:04 AM
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#39
February 1, 2013, 11:43:14 AM
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I should be able to do a bit of stress testing this weekend.
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#40
February 4, 2013, 04:13:11 PM
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Good news: the system works quite nicely. It fully reboots in about 35 seconds. I've copied most of the stuff from the capture system over. I hope those fans come in the mail soon, though. I need to replace the one in the PSU.
More good news: Quote:
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#41
February 4, 2013, 11:03:05 PM
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Oh, and have you checked out the gaming performance of your HTPC? |
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#42
February 4, 2013, 11:34:33 PM
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I only really had time to test out Portal, Portal 2, and GTA IV, with the first two running off an external hard drive. With my monitor at 1024p85 (1280x1024x85):
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#43
February 4, 2013, 11:44:56 PM
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Is fan noise a problem? Have you OC'd the memory? Last edited by Twiggy; February 5, 2013 at 01:35:48 AM. |
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#44
February 8, 2013, 05:49:08 PM
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Hm, I guess the replacement of the Phenom chip does cause a new predicament. I'll have two reasonably powerful machines. I'm not quite sure which one I should use for which purpose now.
Computer 1: - Phenom (1.5x the power of Computer 2) + micro ATX MB - GeForce 210 - 2 GB DDR2 Computer 2: - A10 + micro ATX MB - Radeon HD 7660D (integrated) - 8 GB DDR3 Can be used with either: - 60 gig SSD - Plenty of hard drives - BD drive - DVD drive - Wi-Fi cards I wish I wasn't so indecisive. It's obvious that Computer 1 will be used for video encoding, but now I really don't know which I should use for which purpose, especially if later on I want to install a new GPU for Computer 1, which will become the primary computer then. (Maybe I should've gone ITX with a Celeron or i3 for a possible case shrink down the road? Then again, there are a couple FM2 ITX boards too.)And now I'm curious what I should do with the rest of the parts. I've got a perfectly working Athlon 64. I can easily move that to another case, such as my dead desktop. (I do blame the fact we're moving, and the fact that the TV is in a very uncomfortable spot, for having a hard time with some of this. )
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#45
February 9, 2013, 08:04:35 PM
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The Phenom came in today, so I should be installing it soon.
I decided to stop being silly with this. I'm just going to keep the original setup and keep the CPU power with the capture system. But now, I really don't know what I should do with the Athlon system. It's a fully working computer, after all. Any ideas? |
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#46
February 9, 2013, 09:13:22 PM
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#47
February 9, 2013, 10:25:23 PM
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Nope, nobody near me needs one. Guess I can keep it as a spare and probably stick it in the desktop case.
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#48
February 10, 2013, 06:34:24 AM
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