HTPC upgrade time

[Archer]

I'm running some 8 or 9 year old AM3 Athlon + HD5450. It is alright for the most part, but I want to be able to play 4k through my HTPC and these old parts aren't up to the challenge (H265 is unplayable). Plus anything that needs doing in windows is sloooow. So what is the potential alternative to a 2200G for a HTPC? I know I may have to wait for a mobo with confirmed HDMI 2.0b support, time is not a big concern. Or should I just get a GTX1030 and live with the CPU until it bites the dust? Think it comes down to R1.5k for just the GPU vs roughly R3.5k for new CPU, mobo and RAM but with a much better general experience

 

[etienne_marais]

New Ryzen 3 (APU with 4k) , better/cheaper option for HTPC than separate gfx card (and viable for non intensive games), outperforms most APU's while new Ryzen 5 outperforms all current APUs AFAIK and also relatively cheap.

 

[CamiKaze]

Definitely this:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12425/marrying-vega-and-zen-the-amd-ryzen-5-2400g-review

Such a lovely item.

 

[Archer]

Definitely this:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12425/marrying-vega-and-zen-the-amd-ryzen-5-2400g-review

Such a lovely item.

Why go for the 2400G over the 2200G that's $50 cheaper?

 

[CamiKaze]

Why go for the 2400G over the 2200G that's $50 cheaper?

The link had 2 CPU's... my answer was to go with either... I did not say that you must go with the 2400G...

 

[PhireSide]

AMD 2200G system would get my vote too. You will struggle to build a system with a dedicated GPU for around the same price

 

[Archer]

The link had 2 CPU's... my answer was to go with either... I did not say that you must go with the 2400G...

My bad, the link text only has 2400G in it and I assumed you meant that (didn't actually navigate to it)

 

[CataclysmZA]

Ryzen 3 2200G, but wait for the 400-series socket AM4 refresh to find boards that support HDMI 2.0b natively. AMD has promised HDR10 and PlayReady 3.0 support for Raven Ridge.

That should land in April, and we should have stock on launch day.

 

[Archer]

Ryzen 3 2200G, but wait for the 400-series socket AM4 refresh to find boards that support HDMI 2.0b natively.

That's the plan Good to see I'm still vaguely clued up on what's good in the hardware world. Just hope that we'll see some boards at launch under R1500, really don't need anything fancy in a HTPC.

 

[Hemps]

What front-end are you guys using on your HTPC's
Would it not be cheaper and more efficient to just get a droid media player or apple tv and use desktop running plex?

 

[Brawler]

What front-end are you guys using on your HTPC's
Would it not be cheaper and more efficient to just get a droid media player or apple tv and use desktop running plex?

Ubuntu.

 

[Budza]

I'm also a few months away from upgrade time.

Starting to sniff around now to see what's available.

Something like this with passive PSU (no fans in the whole arrangement) would be sweet: https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showth...ils-new-motherboards-with-built-in-Intel-CPUs

That or equivalent with the 2200G and all passive is what I'm after.

 

[CamiKaze]

What front-end are you guys using on your HTPC's
Would it not be cheaper and more efficient to just get a droid media player or apple tv and use desktop running plex?

OSMC on the RPi and windows 10 on the gaming machine that I am trying to convert to an actual HTPC.

 

[Hemps]

Have desktop setup with Win7 120gb ssd, 3x 4TB with Series, kids shows, movies etc using plex server.
Cant really have frontend on pc as I use it for Getflix, youtube-dl, torrents, direct downloads etc.
Apple TV 4 connected to Sony amp + Samsung TV.
Upgrade list:
TV to 4k
Router to Gigabit
Apple TV 4k or "sigh" Mibox.
Maybe upgrade desktop to cope with the above.