New HTPC CPU Dilemma

[Yukikaze]

Okay. Since the P4 I was using for my HTPC went splat, I need a replacement.

I happen to be in the states so Newegg is my preferred purchase method for now. My old HTPC was a 3Ghz HT Presc(h)ott running at 4.2Ghz with an HD3850 AGP video card and it did pretty much everything fine, except for 1080p rips which would be all over the place, skipping, jumping, and what not.

I am getting a cheap 785G board, I have 2x1Gb of DDR3 and I am looking for a CPU (The rest will go directly from the P4 rig as it was: Scythe Ninja cooler, 250GB HDD, DVD-RW). Going to replace the crap PSU (EZCool 500W, ewww) I had on the P4 with a Seasonic S12-II 330W.

The question is: Get the AMD Sempron 140 (Sargas, 2.7Ghz, 1Mb of L2 Cache), or get the Phenom II X3 720BE ? I know they aren't even in the same price range, nor the same performance, but I need reasons to decide between these two (I decided to skip the Athlons and Phenom II X2s in the middle, since they really offer no real performance boost when compared to the single core CPU for the task at hand - There will still be content they will not play back in a satisfactory manner without GPU assistance, and GPU assistance is not always a possibility for all types of media, or is simply annoyingly difficult to set up). Money isn't an issue, but I try not to throw it out the window unless it is necessary (Most of the time, anyway).

Thanks for all and any help !

[DrunkenMafia]

If you are using an AM3 board you can actually unlock cores on some of the new X2 and X3 cpu's. do some research into that man. Basically you want something low wattage to keep the heat down.

Pretty much any AM3 cpu you buy will blow the old p4 away in performance

I would stay away from semprons though, go for a new X2 or X3 you don't need quad core for a htpc, hell you don't even need 3 cores really.

I have a X2 4850 in mine and it runs great.

[Yukikaze]

Thanks for the quick reply !

Originally Posted by DrunkenMafia

If you are using an AM3 board you can actually unlock cores on some of the new X2 and X3 cpu's. do some research into that man. Basically you want something low wattage to keep the heat down.

I am quite aware of that. The Semprons also unlock into Athlons in some people's experiences, but I wasn't following that one too closely.

Originally Posted by DrunkenMafia

Pretty much any AM3 cpu you buy will blow the old p4 away in performance

I know.

Originally Posted by DrunkenMafia

I would stay away from semprons though

Why ?

Originally Posted by DrunkenMafia

go for a new X2 or X3 you don't need quad core for a htpc, hell you don't even need 3 cores really.

Well, I've found content (Still have it) that my old E5200 at 3.9Ghz failed to playback smoothly. Hence the wish for a tri-core or a single-core (And then just forget about the really heavy stuff, a dual core will be no help, and that's why it isn't in this equation).

[ShRoOmAlIsTiC]

I would say get a Athlon II X2 240. For an htpc its all the power your gonna need. youll be able to play the 1080p stuff better with the onboard 4200 so you wont need a super high ghz processor. the 240 is a 65w cpu so it will be easy to cool and easier on your electric bill.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103688

[JrRacinFan]

I agree with Shroom, although since you have the cash might as well splurge a little and go with the 720BE. It is a very very good deal for the price.