Hi
I'm looking to build a cheap and power efficient htpc.
I've got a spare hd 2400pro from when I upgraded the gpu on my desktop, so I can use that.
Can you recommend what's the minimun config for this to run mediaportal smooth? I don't really need to play full HD or BD, telly only goes up to 720p. On the other hand, I want everything to run smooth.
This mobo is around 42 euros here now, could be a good starting point:
http://www.motherboards-reviews.com/ASU ... eview.html
Can you recommend a cpu?
How much memory would I need to run mediaportal under xp? Does memory speed really make any noticeable difference in htpc use?
htpc help: what's good with a hd 2400 pro?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Re: htpc help: what's good with a hd 2400 pro?
My experience is that everybody uses their HTPC a little differently. Your HD 2400 Pro has hardware acceleration, so it should play 720p smoothly on any CPU made in the last 5 years.
Using MediaPortal is a different matter though. The basic skin does not require much computer power. But a fancier skin like StreamedMP with animated backdrops, etc. can be heavy on the CPU and memory. It's a little better in your case because you are running at 720p and not 1080p.
XBMC, on the other hand, tends to be much faster overall. Even slow processors can run the default skin smoothly.
CPU: I would recommend a Athlon II X2 processor. Any one is fine. Personally I would go for the fastest one since there is very little difference in price, but if you want to save a few euros then even the slowest ones are plenty fast. There are also special low-power versions (they end in e or u), but I don't think they make much of a difference. Even if you get a 95W CPU, it will be mostly idle and will not use very much power. More cores (X3, X4 or X6) is not that helpful unless you are doing video recording. MediaPortal does better with one or two faster cores, than three or four slower cores.
Memory: 2 GB. I've had some trouble with MediaPortal on 1GB. It can be one 2GB stick or two 1GB sticks, it doesn't really matter. Speed does not matter, get whatever is cheapest that is still compatible with your motherboard.
Video card: Your HD 2400 Pro should be fine, but the HD 4000 series and later has better HD decoding support. They're also lower in power consumption, and you get some extra HTPC features like better digital surround sound support. The low end cards are pretty cheap. You might consider switching your video card for the cheapest HD 5450 you can find.
Using MediaPortal is a different matter though. The basic skin does not require much computer power. But a fancier skin like StreamedMP with animated backdrops, etc. can be heavy on the CPU and memory. It's a little better in your case because you are running at 720p and not 1080p.
XBMC, on the other hand, tends to be much faster overall. Even slow processors can run the default skin smoothly.
CPU: I would recommend a Athlon II X2 processor. Any one is fine. Personally I would go for the fastest one since there is very little difference in price, but if you want to save a few euros then even the slowest ones are plenty fast. There are also special low-power versions (they end in e or u), but I don't think they make much of a difference. Even if you get a 95W CPU, it will be mostly idle and will not use very much power. More cores (X3, X4 or X6) is not that helpful unless you are doing video recording. MediaPortal does better with one or two faster cores, than three or four slower cores.
Memory: 2 GB. I've had some trouble with MediaPortal on 1GB. It can be one 2GB stick or two 1GB sticks, it doesn't really matter. Speed does not matter, get whatever is cheapest that is still compatible with your motherboard.
Video card: Your HD 2400 Pro should be fine, but the HD 4000 series and later has better HD decoding support. They're also lower in power consumption, and you get some extra HTPC features like better digital surround sound support. The low end cards are pretty cheap. You might consider switching your video card for the cheapest HD 5450 you can find.