Is the 5050e up to the task?

samdrong · Post by **samdrong** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:13 am

Iâ€™m putting together an HTPC and Iâ€™d like to use AMDâ€™s 5050e paired with an ASUS M3N78 Pro, 2GB memory, and a WinTV-HVR-2250 tuner.

Itâ€™s main uses will be:

1) DVR (digital and HD broadcasts) using Beyond TV
2) Streaming content (digital and HD) to another HTPC usingBeyond TV Link
3) And place shifting using either Orb or Beyond TVâ€™s built in capability.

Will the 5050e be able to keep up with those tasks? Specifically do you think Iâ€™ll be able to use the DVR (recording one show & watching another) and stream content to an additional HTPC at the same time without issue? If not, what AMD processors with a thermal power of less than or equal to 65W would you recommend?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Trav1s · Post by **Trav1s** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:18 am

I have a e4850 in a HTPC that will eventually do the task. My reading tells me that the e4850 will be fine so the e5050 should be golden.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 9:05 am

2.6ghz dual core?

thats great for what you want.

I would get a ati 3200 or 3300 chipset so your proc is hardly used.

eh, you mean standard definition right?

otherwise for doing all that, i would go low level quad

samdrong · Post by **samdrong** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:06 am

Does the ATI 3200 or 3300 take more load off the processor than the NVIDIA GeForce 8300 chipset? I was planning to use the 8300 chipset because it was quality IGP and it had 8-channel LPCM over HDMI. Am I wrong?

To clarify I will be watching both standard and high definition through the clear QAM tuner in the WinTV-HVR-2250. I will streaming both definitions to another HTPC.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:50 pm

samdrong wrote:Does the ATI 3200 or 3300 take more load off the processor than the NVIDIA GeForce 8300 chipset?

Not for video decoding. NVIDIA is the superior HTPC solution if you want surround over HDMI.

DAve_M · Post by **DAve_M** » Fri May 01, 2009 1:12 am

samdrong wrote:To clarify I will be watching both standard and high definition through the clear QAM tuner in the WinTV-HVR-2250. I will streaming both definitions to another HTPC.

The hardware you picked should be fine for what you want. Much more of a problem is the software set up - getting everything to gel together and work as you expect it to.