intel or amd for htpc upgrade path
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 3:29 am
So I thought I had better ask the experts!
I have a bit of a question re hardware as I am a bit torn. Let me tell you a bit of a story!
I currently have 2 pc's and 3 laptops for a family of 5:
My wife has her laptop which is the only computer she uses. (AMD A4, 4 gb ram)
My eldest son has a gaming laptop which is all he uses (AMD A10 w/ dual 7850m gpu, 8gb ram)
I have my flight sim rig (intel i5 4670k / 16gb ram / AMD R9 290)
I also have a laptop, which the kids can use (AMD A6 w/ R5 230m, 8gb ram)
There is also a kids pc, which one of the kids use (intel core2duo e6300 / 3gb ram / Nv GTX 260) but it is pretty SLOOOOOOOOW
I happen to know that over the next 6 months to a year the other 2 kids that do not have a personal laptop will be getting a laptop of their own for them to use (and I will buy them something capable of gaming so that is not an issue).
so my question:
I have $250aud to spend for my birthday. initially I thought i would get a NAS to hang off our router, but then I looked at the kids computer and figured I should upgrade that - it will give them a faster computer for the next 6 months, as well as give me a file server / NAS / HTPC (which is something I have wanted to do for years). I might also put steam big picture on it and use it for some simple gaming on the tv, but that wont be a priority for it at all.
I already have HDD, windows 7, dvd/bluray, case and power supply, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and I intend to leave them with the GTX 260 gpu for now, so really just need motherboard, cpu and ram. I have narrowed it down to 4 options:
1.
intel h87m or h97m chipset motherboard like this http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Prod ... sid=192576 (so I can have raid functions later, plus I want it to have optical out), celeron G1820 cpu, and 8gb 1600 ddr3 ram.
Pro:
in 1-2 years as I upgrade my computer I can put my i5 cpu into the HTPC, which will be a great cpu for a HTPC if paired with a discrete gpu
cheap cpu means I can afford more ram in it now (8gb)
Con: weak CPU for now
2.
AMD motherboard (a88x or 78) like this http://www.gamedude.com.au/prod_show.ph ... 88xi_ac_v2 with a A6-7400K dual core APU and 4gb 1600 ram
Pro:
itx motherboard with wifi and all the boxes ticked
Con:
weak CPU, and may not cut it as a HTPC / NAS later on.
only 4gb ram
3.
AMD motherboard (a88x or 78) with a A8-7600 or A8-7650K quad core cpu and steal 4gb of ddr 1866 from the flight sim rig leaving me with 12gb.
Pro:
Good motherboard and cpu, with the possibility of running it using the iGPU later, or even running it with a cheap AMD graphics card in dual graphics mode.
4.
1151 motherboard, pentium G4400 cpu dual core, 4-8gb ddr4 mem
Pro:
latest chipset / socket
decent cpu for gaming for now, and possibly will do fine for htpc with a discrete graphics card
Con: no easy upgrade path
Considerations:
I could just rely on software raid rather than intel raid (eg I could use windows mirroring for hte file server?
An spdif header on a motherboard means just a $12 spend if and when I need to connect into spdif. or I could just use HDMI anyway.
^^ if the above two hold true, I could buy a cheaper 1150 motherboard, 8gb of memory and put a better cpu in it (eg a dual core pentium instead of celeron) and have some change left over.
Finally, I have to admit I am a bit of an AMD fan. In this case my heart says AMD apu, but my head says intel.
I have a bit of a question re hardware as I am a bit torn. Let me tell you a bit of a story!
I currently have 2 pc's and 3 laptops for a family of 5:
My wife has her laptop which is the only computer she uses. (AMD A4, 4 gb ram)
My eldest son has a gaming laptop which is all he uses (AMD A10 w/ dual 7850m gpu, 8gb ram)
I have my flight sim rig (intel i5 4670k / 16gb ram / AMD R9 290)
I also have a laptop, which the kids can use (AMD A6 w/ R5 230m, 8gb ram)
There is also a kids pc, which one of the kids use (intel core2duo e6300 / 3gb ram / Nv GTX 260) but it is pretty SLOOOOOOOOW
I happen to know that over the next 6 months to a year the other 2 kids that do not have a personal laptop will be getting a laptop of their own for them to use (and I will buy them something capable of gaming so that is not an issue).
so my question:
I have $250aud to spend for my birthday. initially I thought i would get a NAS to hang off our router, but then I looked at the kids computer and figured I should upgrade that - it will give them a faster computer for the next 6 months, as well as give me a file server / NAS / HTPC (which is something I have wanted to do for years). I might also put steam big picture on it and use it for some simple gaming on the tv, but that wont be a priority for it at all.
I already have HDD, windows 7, dvd/bluray, case and power supply, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and I intend to leave them with the GTX 260 gpu for now, so really just need motherboard, cpu and ram. I have narrowed it down to 4 options:
1.
intel h87m or h97m chipset motherboard like this http://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Prod ... sid=192576 (so I can have raid functions later, plus I want it to have optical out), celeron G1820 cpu, and 8gb 1600 ddr3 ram.
Pro:
in 1-2 years as I upgrade my computer I can put my i5 cpu into the HTPC, which will be a great cpu for a HTPC if paired with a discrete gpu
cheap cpu means I can afford more ram in it now (8gb)
Con: weak CPU for now
2.
AMD motherboard (a88x or 78) like this http://www.gamedude.com.au/prod_show.ph ... 88xi_ac_v2 with a A6-7400K dual core APU and 4gb 1600 ram
Pro:
itx motherboard with wifi and all the boxes ticked
Con:
weak CPU, and may not cut it as a HTPC / NAS later on.
only 4gb ram
3.
AMD motherboard (a88x or 78) with a A8-7600 or A8-7650K quad core cpu and steal 4gb of ddr 1866 from the flight sim rig leaving me with 12gb.
Pro:
Good motherboard and cpu, with the possibility of running it using the iGPU later, or even running it with a cheap AMD graphics card in dual graphics mode.
4.
1151 motherboard, pentium G4400 cpu dual core, 4-8gb ddr4 mem
Pro:
latest chipset / socket
decent cpu for gaming for now, and possibly will do fine for htpc with a discrete graphics card
Con: no easy upgrade path
Considerations:
I could just rely on software raid rather than intel raid (eg I could use windows mirroring for hte file server?
An spdif header on a motherboard means just a $12 spend if and when I need to connect into spdif. or I could just use HDMI anyway.
^^ if the above two hold true, I could buy a cheaper 1150 motherboard, 8gb of memory and put a better cpu in it (eg a dual core pentium instead of celeron) and have some change left over.
Finally, I have to admit I am a bit of an AMD fan. In this case my heart says AMD apu, but my head says intel.