Pentium G3220?

[Bryan]

I'm wondering how folks think a G3220 would do for Media Center: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116950 I'm currently using an Athlon X2 5600+ on a motherboard from around 2007. It's working well, but for some time I've felt like it could run cooler and stand to be more current. It also does not have onboard gigabit, so there's a PCI card in addition to an Nvidia card and my Ceton. I'm wanting to upgrade to a board with SATA 6Gbps, and hopefully use onboard video. If there are issues with the video, I can keep my GT430.

The Pentium I mentioned looks like a similar i3 without the hyperthreading and without the Intel HD 4400. I haven't looked much, but I have to imagine it's quicker than my aging Athlon. It's getting great reviews as an HTPC processor, but I don't know how much of that is XBMC vs. Media Center. My HTPC runs Media Center, My Media Center, and Media Browser Classic, and not much else. I watch blu-ray discs on my PS3, and do video conversion on my desktop.

I was hoping to re-use everything else, and already have 8GB DDR3 I could use. I only have one extender, and that's rarely used. Also, if it's not obvious, I'm hoping to upgrade for cheap. It doesn't hurt I could upgrade to an i5 someday, but if the Pentium could do it all, I don't know why I would.

[milli260876]

I've got one, it's fine. If you need transcoding for any remote content you'll need to upgrade...

[milli260876]

Matter of factly I've a couple of previous generation celerons (Ivybridge) that run media just fine so you should have no issues with haswell...

[Bryan]

Thanks. I'm not doing any transcoding, and apart from recorded TV everything is stored elsewhere on a WHS system anyway. Are you using the Intel video or something else?

[Mike88]

I'm using the older G620 Pentium (Sandy Bridge) with WMC7. I can record 4 OTA HD programs at the same time without a problem. I made this to be a DVR, however I can stream Hulu, NBC.com, etc. I do not have any extenders so I don't know how those would affect things. From previously reading a few things it appears each extender might need a bit more CPU power, but maybe using just one doesn't. Just something you might want to verify.

I initially used integrated Intel video & never saw a problem with HD content. But then I saw some stuttering with older content SD programs which appeared to be related to the 29/59 bug. And indeed the SD frame rate was fluctuating. So I added a cheap HD6450 video card which took care of that problem.

[Bryan]

It's very rare that the extender is in use at the same time something is being watched on the HTPC, so I'm not thinking it'll be a big issue. The 5600+ does fine with it, and I have to imagine the Pentium is at least as fast, probably faster.

I do need to look into the 29/59 thing some more, it's never been a problem for me so I don't really know what's involved. I'll have the GT430 to fall back on, though I'd prefer onboard if possible.

[Doctor Feelgood]

I have a few of the Pentium G620 processors Mike88 mentions in media centers and they work great - even using the integrated graphics for HD. Your choice should work well.

It is only on one system that is a step down in the CPU department where I seem to have occasional glitches, and that is a Celeron G1610 that has the same clock speeds as the G620, but the video performance isn't the same.

At one point I was using some stand alone video cards in these systems just because I had them laying around and thought they would have to be better... The 2GB GT630 I had was slightly better, but the 1GB GT610 was worse... I think the GT430 is comparable to the GT630, which means it might be modestly better than the integrated Intel graphics, but then you will have higher power consumption and perhaps more noise if the card has a fan on it. All of mine are back on integrated.

[Bryan]

I think mine is fanless, but it's still another heat source in the case. With a gigabit card and the Ceton, there's three cards installed. I feel like getting down to just the Ceton (and I'd like to swap to a network tuner someday, the InfiniTV-ETH or HDHR) would keep things much cooler.

I'm glad to hear the Pentium should be enough. It's a pretty sizable price jump to get to an i3, which mostly adds hyperthreading. The video's a step up but it doesn't sound like it'd be necessary.

[milli260876]

Bit late but. Yep exclusively using Intel hd graphics...

[Bryan]

Thanks guys, I went ahead and ordered the Pentium this morning. I briefly thought about the i3-4130T for the extra low power, but the Pentium reviews are great for HTPC use and it's already much less power than my 5600+. With the GT430 removed it should be a lot cooler, and the 5600+ is so old I can't imagine the Pentium being slower.

[milli260876]

If you decide on the step up, look at the core i5 4670T...
That's where my next spare change is going!!!

[Mike88]

I saw a recent comment on another forum that mentioned the i3 CPUs are sort of caught in the middle, or words to that effect. If you're building a basic HTPC it won't add a lot (or anything) to what a Pentium can do. And if you're building a high powered HTPC to run other software to handle the video the i3 probably won't do the job & you'll need an i5. That may pretty well sum things up when thinking about which Intel CPU to use.

Way before reading that I considered using an i3 but thought what's it going to do for my basic HTPC needs. So I went with the Pentium. I could have used a Celeron but the Pentium was only $15 more.

[milli260876]

I've got a mediabrowser server and have one or two streaming issues with my set up. I'm not sure whether its my broadband/3g or the cpu not being able to transcode quickly enough. Point being the CPU is the only one i can really do anything about! I5 is going in when i can afford it, if that doesn't work i guess i have to wait for fibre&4g....

[Bryan]

I saw a recent comment on another forum that mentioned the i3 CPUs are sort of caught in the middle, or words to that effect. If you're building a basic HTPC it won't add a lot (or anything) to what a Pentium can do. And if you're building a high powered HTPC to run other software to handle the video the i3 probably won't do the job & you'll need an i5. That may pretty well sum things up when thinking about which Intel CPU to use.

Way before reading that I considered using an i3 but thought what's it going to do for my basic HTPC needs. So I went with the Pentium. I could have used a Celeron but the Pentium was only $15 more.

Yeah, apart from the lower power, the 4130T wouldn't have bought me anything. If I had unlimited funds I would have looked at the i5, but even if I did, for my purposes it probably wouldn't have helped.

I also hadn't realized how old the 5600+ is. According to Wikipedia, the series launched in 2006. I have a feeling the Pentium will run circles around it

[Bryan]

I had a few driver issues, but finally got the system running last night. So far I'm very pleased with it. Even when playing a 1080P .mkv in Media Browser, CPU usage isn't above 50%, and the stock heatsink is almost silent. With a new Samsung EVO SSD, it boots insanely quick. This weekend I'll swap it into the case and get the InfiniTV installed.

[LuckyDay]

The Pentiums are perfect for WMC. I used the G620 before upgrading to an i5 to turn the system into a gaming machine. Never had any issues at all.

[Bryan]

I swapped the system last night after running the board in my office a few days. I had everything installed ahead of time apart from the InfiniTV, which went quick and smooth. The system is working great and is much quicker and quieter. While I was at it I upgraded the recording drive to a 2TB, which will be plenty for us. It was nice to remove the Nvidia card and Intel NIC and just onboard for everything but the tuner.

Overall, very pleased with the Pentium, especially as a $60 processor. I ran Cinebench on the 5600+ and the Pentium, and it indicated quite the improvement. I'm actually considering another Pentium to get my WHS box a bit more current.

[Mike88]

I'm glad the Pentium worked to your satisfaction.

[Doctor Feelgood]

This thread got me looking at CPUs again... damn. I see Micro Center has an i3-3245 for $120, double what I paid for the G620s, but I may get it to replace the one Celeron chip I have and then make that system do more work and the HD4000 graphics should eliminate the issues I have there...