Fastest, lowest power single core system?

valnar · Post by **valnar** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:00 pm

I want to build an HTPC for my television (to replace a P4 2.8Ghz Northwood that I have) and need to stay with a single processor/core CPU because of a HDTV PCI card that I own. It has issues with dual-core or hyperthreading. (I have hyperthreading turned off on my Northwood now).

As compared to my current P4 2.8Ghz, I want something with a little more speed and a lot less power consumption.

What would be the CPU for me? And which chipset would you pair it with? I don't care if it has AGP or PCI-E, but I will need a motherboard with 3 'usable' PCI slots.

Thanks,
Robert

Fat_bloater_dave · Post by **Fat_bloater_dave** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:08 pm

I would say go for an Athlon 64 in a HTPC an Athlon 64 3200+ would be fine but the fastest is the Athlon 64 FX57.

And personally I donâ€™t think it matter that much which Motherboard you go for i know there are differences but as long as it has all the connections you want and a passive chipset then the differences donâ€™t mean that much (hope no one shoots me for saying that)

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:09 pm

Core Solo? No idea about chipsets, sorry.

duality · Post by **duality** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:47 pm

I agree, as for me as long as chipsets can be cooled passively it's all fine.

As for something single-core CPU and chipsets, I'm not a huge fan of semi-proprietary chipsets for Mobile Pentium / Core Solos. How about Turion 64s? They're (I think) faster than your Northwood, and even if the mobos don't all support Cool'n'Quiet, I'm sure it supports Turions. I often see ML-28s for sale on eBay for cheap.

If not, well... I don't know, really. I was going to suggest Semprons but realized that the low-power versions are quite a bit more expensive and quite underpowered compared to regular counterparts.

Post by **MikeC** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:56 pm

My rule of thumb is not to upgrade for performance unless you can get 50% improvement. Lower, and it just feels like a waste, especially if your old system was perfectly functional and had adequate connectivity. To get this, you need not just more CPU power, but improvements all around so the higher CPU power won't be chocked by something like a slower vidcard or HDD or not enough RAM. If I had to go single core, the best bargains right now are probably 939 A64-3700/4000+ (2.2 or 2.4GHz w/1mb cache) for around $100 or a bit more, then undervolt. Hopefully, you can get a good undervolter.

Problem with 754 is that it's already discontinued, and the ML28 mentioned is not that fast. 939 boards also have better/more features all around -- if you need/want them.

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:00 pm

Ussually cache has little impact on media performance. I would go for the 512 KB cache versions and get 2.4Ghz instead of 2.2. Namely, the 3800+ is only $112 at newegg and you get a free AMD wallet. Awesome. I want to warn you though, the 3800+ is not likely to undervolt much at full load so you would only get the decreased power consumption at idle with CnQ. As long as you have a temperature controled fan this should not be a problem.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:22 pm

How much do you love your HDTV card ?

New cards are fairly inexpensive these days, so replacing the card may be a another option ? Would certainly stop you from being limited to certain processors, etc.

mb2 · Post by **mb2** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:57 pm

for your situation i'd suggest, assuming you are in the US, newegg's deal for a 3400+ with a free motherboard for $99.00.
you're getting a 2.4ghz K8. Its therefore going to be pretty similar in speed to the S939, 1MB 4000+, which is $36 more, and with an AMD wallet instead of a motherboard. i don't know about you, but i already have more wallets than i need, and i don't think i'd use an AMD one anyway. the 3400+ is 90nm too.
The two (suitable) boards are;

BIOSTAR ATX NF325-A7, nForce3
Gigabyte Micro ATX GA-K8VM800M, VIA K8M800

both have atleast 3 PCIs and AGP

MikeC, iirc, there are going to be no new CPUs for 939? so how is it any better than 754? performance difference due to dual-channel memory is minimal as we know, limited to only specific activities significantly. For someone who specifically doesn't want dual core, i see such little advantage of 939. if the OP had requested a particularly feature combination, which happened to only be available on 939 (of which there aren't a great deal), then maybe i'd agree on the motherboards. And from your earlier philosophy; theres no way your going to get a 50% faster single core on 939; so u'd be upgrading the whole lot.

i'd guess that generally u'd get a greater % reduction in heat than a % increase in speed, by going with a lower cache.

valnar; u are looking for more power for? general 'snappyness'? HD playback/recording? conversion (ie encoding to something other than what it is broadcast with)?
some situations u may be better off getting a better gfx card which would take some of the HD loads? (depending on what u have now)

which chipset would you pair it with? i'd think anything but Nforce 4 (hot, powerhog) would do the job fine. performance is very similar between them all. i'd avoid the ATI if using USB hdds (fairly poor usb performance), but its fine otherwise.

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:20 pm

Yeah, i agree the s754 solution is a good one for that price. I was joking about the dumb wallet. But who wants agp when all the new technology for h.264 and VC-1 decoding are primarily on PCI-e.

I was a little thrown off by the statement "I don't care if it is AGP or PCI-e." Unless i already had a decent video card that can handle the future, I would definately go with PCI-e. Even if i did have a decent video card, I would probably get a hybird motherboard that could do both AGP and PCI-e

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:03 am

I'd probably look at something like a Sempron 3000 AM2 slot. I have a Powercolor AGP Vivo card that's fanless-but I have not seen fanless Vivo PCI-e cards. A Sempron 3000 is sufficiently cool that a passive Ninja is a happy camper. Further-If the PSU has a nice big fan-I like Coolmax's for the 140 mm fan...you get away with no case fan.

You don't need to worry about OC'ing a Home Theatre PC...so look at ECS and Asrock mobos..both do nice reliability at low $,they are not overclockers but are not fussy either.

Rather than waste $ on a CPU more suited for gamers-get a good soundcard--M Audio Revolution is way clear and not expensive. Available as a 5.1 or 7.1. Full 24 bit goodness.