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Build Advice Is an I5 2500k too much?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Spouse, 4 Dec 2013.

  1. Spouse

    Spouse Spouse

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    Hi.

    Looking to build a PC for my Dad, it will sit in the living room and stream Interned Tv & net flix & the like. It will be connected to a monitor for internet surfing but to a 42" plasma for Tv watching. will be looking to set up TV Recording on it also.

    Now I was advised to use the I5 2500k processor for streaming but it would seem a bit like overkill for what it would be used for. so what do you think, if you have another ideas plus the right bits of kit that will fit around it well. your help would be appreciated :wallbash:
     
    Last edited: 4 Dec 2013
  2. Spouse

    Spouse Spouse

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  3. Spouse

    Spouse Spouse

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    f

    need sata III and the A55 chip set supporting motherboards dont support sata 3
     
  4. Spouse

    Spouse Spouse

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    I get the impresstion if I go amd I will need a Graphics card, but if I go intel I wont for a mid range quad core
     
  5. Flibblebot

    Flibblebot Smile with me

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    For streaming, I'd say your weakest point is always going to be your dad's Internet connection. Netflix themselves (as a guideline) only state a "1.6-gigahertz (GHz) or higher processor" - I think the limitation is Silverlight, which is what the Netflix player uses.

    Any mid-range processor is going to be fine; any GPU that does hardware decoding is OK too.

    TL;DR version: no need to push the boat out just for video streaming.

    Also, you may want to consider editing your posts rather than posting multiple replies to yourself ;)
     
  6. Steelez

    Steelez Minimodder

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    Netflix, at least on the PC, can also use HTML5. There's a setting in the options.
     
  7. GeorgeStorm

    GeorgeStorm Aggressive PC Builder

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    The 2500k is definitely overkill :)
    I'm pretty sure any i3 chip could do that (if you're wanting intel) and on the AMD side you could just get an APU.
     
  8. Urcomp

    Urcomp What's a Dremel?

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    I'll lend you my AMD Athlon X2 4200+.

    In other words, yes.
     
  9. Harlequin

    Harlequin Modder

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    get an AMD APU - ideal tbh
     
  10. Fruitloaf

    Fruitloaf Tinkerer

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    I have an old atom with nvidia integrated gpu doing the same job fine so an i5-2500 is more than powerful enough. I would look for the lowest powered AMD cpu with GPU that you can find.
     
  11. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    You could almost use a pi for streaming...
     
  12. kelvinb

    kelvinb BF3 Username - D0rmarth

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    I would go for an AMD APU you will gain more for your money in this situation
     
  13. Fruitloaf

    Fruitloaf Tinkerer

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    I wouldn't go for that one - 100W is quite a lot of heat for a very undemanding task. The bottom of the range is more than enough for just video playback and even web browsing. Something like http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-...re-3ghz-amd-radeon-hd-7480g-720mhz-65w-retail would work.

    As said a raspberry pi plays 720p perfectly but isn't that great for web browsing. TBH if it was me I'd buy a Roku for the TV playing and a tablet like a Hudl for web browsing and you'd probably be about the same price as a dedicated PC.

    EDIT: the hudl might even have HDMI out via MHL so you wouldn't even need the Roku
     
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  14. Deblow

    Deblow Minimodder

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    i5 definitely overkill, i use a i3 on my media player/streamer
    but if you plan to use the cpu's onboard graphics chip you could have some stutter on 1080 video playback as i did
    so i got myself a cheap amd card for about £30

    let me know if you want model numbers and i will dig them out for you
     
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  15. Spouse

    Spouse Spouse

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    Great info By the way Just noticed I didn't thank you all :)
     
  16. MightyBenihana

    MightyBenihana Do or do not, there is no try

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    I would definitely go the AMD APU route here, their graphics side is stronger than Intel's and as said the processor will not be pushed in the slightest.

    Also, what's your budget?
     
  17. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    The i3 is a waste of cash these days. The Pentium chip is very close behind it and half the cost. That's where my money would go. The 53 watt power usage at full blast is very desirable too. Oh, and it'll happily sit at 4GHz on the stock cooler without a problem, if that's of interest. I had mine at 4.6 on the stock cooler for a brief moment. It could cope though.
     
  18. MightyBenihana

    MightyBenihana Do or do not, there is no try

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  19. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Firstly, old thread is old.

    Secondly, very true Dude, in fact I'd now argue that for anything other than a gaming or productivity PC, even the modern dual core Celerons are more than powerful enough.

    Case in point, a Celeron G1850, a sub £40 dual core Haswell chip, is roughly as quick as the old Yorkfield Core 2 Quads and Phenom II X4s running with all four cores flat out, and in single/dual threaded apps it's nearly twice as fast. All the while sipping power. I know it will be slower in certain benchmarks, but those are not indicative of your typical PC user's workload.

    I would argue that a Yorkfield is still overkill for most regular users even now, ergo the latest Celerons and Pentiums are awesome. Basically unless you need 4 or more threads, the i3, i5 and i7 chips are not necessary.
     
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  20. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    Oh dear lord. I just saw the most recent reply and assumed it was from yesterday or something.

    Mega thread revival! :D
     

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