Looking for opinions on a CPU/motherboard upgrade

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Fri, 06/29/2012 - 8:03am

XMan

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Joined: 3 Feb 2007

Looking for opinions on a CPU/motherboard upgrade

I've got a Core 2 Duo (Q9400) in my HTPC now. I'm thinking about upgrading to an Ivy Bridge i5 to get a faster solution and a cooler one (Q9400 is a 95W CPU). My main concern is the slot availability of the motherboard. I have a Radeon 6750 PCIe16x video card, two Hauppauge PVR-2250s and a Ceton InfiniTV. Right now the slot arrangement of my board is such that I can't use one of the PCIe slots unless I shift all of the memory down into single channel mode.

The slot format on this board looks like it should work:

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-CrossFireX-NVIDIA-Motherboard-GA-Z77X-D3H...

Does anyone have any experience with this board or ones that would offer enough PCIe slots with clearance? I'm hesitant to jump on it just yet because my board before the one I have now was an MSI Crossfire board, and it turned out that you could only use the extra PCIe16x slots for graphics cards; they would not function for PCIe1x devices.

Fri, 06/29/2012 - 12:31pm

Michael Welter

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Joined: 19 Mar 2007

If you are going w/ an Ivy Bridge, any particular reason for the discrete video card?

Assuming you are OK w/ the onboard GPU (for HTPC can't see why you wouldn't be) then I would look at the Intel DH77EB myself (I have it and have been fairly happy with it). Stay clear of that Gigabyte board...the Atheros network card is underwhelming to say the least.

Unfortunately most of the "ideal" HTPC Ivy Bridge CPUs are not available yet, i.e. those Core i3\i5 w/ HD4000 (that isn't a -K).

Mikinho | Missing Remote | Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP

Fri, 06/29/2012 - 1:09pm

(Reply to #2) #3

XMan

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Joined: 3 Feb 2007

I already have the 6570 and I know it works perfectly with my setup . . . that's pretty much the only reason why I'm keeping it.

I'm looking at the i5-3450S, it's only a 65W CPU. Still hot but better than what I have.

I had considered just going with another Sandy Bridge setup like an i3-2105 but the price difference between IB/SB is not very much at all.

That Intel board looks like it would fit if there is sufficient length clearance on the slot "north" of the 16x slot. Certainly better than what I am using now; see attachment.

Sat, 06/30/2012 - 10:39am

Aaron Ledger

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Joined: 6 Aug 2010

Take a look at Intel DH77EB. It is less expensive, smaller and seems better-suited to your requirements as an HTPC with 4 PCIe slots. It is good to see Gigabyte has finally stopped using Realtek NIC, but I'm not sure of the performance of Atheros while the Intel NIC is a known good performer. The Intel board also offers the CIR header. In my experience, Intel board support is much better than Gigabyte. If you can wait a while longer for the i3 IVB parts to arrive, you'll save some money.

Senior Editor | @swoon_

Mon, 07/02/2012 - 7:59am

XMan

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Joined: 3 Feb 2007

Well I got a wild hair this weekend and swung by Fry's. I don't know if our Fry's is long for the world as they seem to be trying to slash prices as much as possible. I actually got some stuff for a bit cheaper than what Newegg had it for. I ended up getting:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130617

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001

Got it set up Saturday. Forgot what a pain setting up DRM and the channel guide is with a new motherboard.

I decided if I was going to go with an integrated solution I'd stick with ATI as it has the fewest issues with ArcSoft 5. So far I'm liking it. I know the CPU is a bit hotter than what I had but I figure I'm losing the video card as well. So far the system runs cooler and quieter than what I had before. Anybody want to buy an almost-new Sapphire 6570?

Looking for opinions on a CPU/motherboard upgrade

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