Relative HTPC Noob – Component Advice

[flips]

I am also looking a new build to replace my old S939 Operton Sage Server.  The performance has been pretty good for me, but I am looking to reduce my power bills and combine my Sage server with a windows server, running a bunch of small processes, squeezebox, sabnzbd, etc.

I was actually looking at an even cheaper processor, the G620, which is about half the price, of the i3, but also about a 1/3 the speed when encoding.  I am not using this server to play any video, so it might be faster enough for me, what do you guys think?

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1665/

Also, is the advantage of the T processors worth it?  It looks like they are about the same when  idle, and only slightly better when unloaded.  I had read somewhere, that if you have the right kind of motherboard, you can get the same performance of the non-T version, but I can’t find that now.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500t-2390t-i3-2100t-pentium-g620t_8.html#sect0

flips

 

[millpub]

The current Core i3 and i5 architechtures are wonderfully efficient at idle and Intel is investing a lot of money and effort in making sure that this is a hallmark of all of their processors going forward. The value of the xxxxT processors is entirely in their performance per watt. Take a standard i3 and its comparable i3 T counterpart, and the T processor will consume less power, but at least in part because it will be running at a lower clock speed. However, take an i5 T and put it next to a slower standard i3 prcessor, thare is a good chance the non-T i3 will consume less power because it only has two cores compared to the four cores in the i5 T.

The biggest mistake that most people make when trying to build a low-power HTPC is buying too much processor. If you are not transcoding, than a quad core is probably overkill for a stand-alone HTPC. However, you mentioned that you are planning on consolidating your server needs, essentially building a media server. A media server plays a different role than a stand-alone HTPC, a role that will involve a lot of different little programs all running at the same time, exactly the scenario that multi-core processors were developed to handle. The G620 will probably consume less absolute power than an i5 T processor, but it will likely be slower at completing the kinds of background tasks that a server is expected to accomplish. If it is much slower, then the G620 will end up spending more time at load and ultimately consume more power, not to mention the possibility that it might become network bottleneck in time as well.

[flips]

Thanks for the reply.  You got me thinking I will go up to an i3..  But I’m not convinced on the T though.

According to those benchmarks at load, the T saves you 7.25 W for one of the benchmarks.  At $0.126/kWh, to make up the small $10 delta you need to run for 15 months at full load.  Assuming you run at full load at 25% you would need to run for about 5 years to save that 10 bucks.  that doesn’t include the 10% performance hit that you take.  That would push out another 6 months, if I did the math right.

flips

[RehabMan]

There are other reasons to go with low wattage parts — not necessarily economic.  In particular, it is easier to keep lower wattage parts cool, which can help keep the system quiet.  Whether your particular situation requires that depends on where your equipment is located, your sensitivity to noise, and your desire to have a quiet system…

Something to think about…

[babgvant]

[quote=RehabMan]

There are other reasons to go with low wattage parts — not necessarily economic.  In particular, it is easier to keep lower wattage parts cool, which can help keep the system quiet.  Whether your particular situation requires that depends on where your equipment is located, your sensitivity to noise, and your desire to have a quiet system…

Something to think about…

[/quote]

+1

I really like the S/T parts for exactly this reason.  There’s not a huge difference in many cases but it’s refreshing to have a guarantee.

[millpub]

Absolutely. This is probably the #1 reason to go with a T series processor. If you’re not necessarily putting together a mini-system, than the T series processors my not be as important, though I must admit I am also a sucker for whatever power savings I can eke out of a system. Also, living in Arizona, I tend to be perfectly willing to build even a slightly cooler system if it means a more comfortable living room in the desert summer. 

[flips]

yes, yes of course…  I made a similar choice on my last client build when I used an Athlon 4850e.  This is a rack mount server in Wisconsin, so noise and heat isn’t too much of a concern for me.  🙂

 

 

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