Reply to: what's going on?

[cailin maith]

gf chef's top tip of the day

gf chef: did you know that if you press just 3 buttons at the same time the computer fixes almost all problems
chef: err i think i might know but go on what is it?
gf chef: <looking very smug that she might be able to teach something IT to her bf> well everyone at work are very impressed that i know this and it fixes almost all problems, you press CNTRL, ALT ..
chef: DEL ?
gf chef: YES !!! you know it aswell, it's great isn't it?
chef: ahh but is it plugged in?
gf chef: what
chef: doesn;t matter, yes that's very good, it is a well known fix, im impressed <thinking >

Love it!!

[chef]

I'd like to just say... ye are all geeks, if ye can't hear it properly, turn the telly up

CM's Top Technical Tip of the Day!

gf chef's top tip of the day

gf chef: did you know that if you press just 3 buttons at the same time the computer fixes almost all problems
chef: err i think i might know but go on what is it?
gf chef: <looking very smug that she might be able to teach something IT to her bf> well everyone at work are very impressed that i know this and it fixes almost all problems, you press CNTRL, ALT ..
chef: DEL ?
gf chef: YES !!! you know it aswell, it's great isn't it?
chef: ahh but is it plugged in?
gf chef: what
chef: doesn;t matter, yes that's very good, it is a well known fix, im impressed <thinking >

[cailin maith]

I'd like to just say... ye are all geeks, if ye can't hear it properly, turn the telly up

CM's Top Technical Tip of the Day!

[chef]

The integrated graphics in the these chips does DVD upscaling as well as bluray playback.

I've spent a lot of billable hours researching into this, i'm confident that it's the best "fast, quiet, htpc" that money can buy right now given my requirements of full HD, the odd game (we're talking WoW not Modern Warfare), silence is extremely important, a large 2nd HDD for Recorded TV and a quick boot time (hence the SSD) packaged in a case that's simple and stylish (well in the last point it seems the crowd and I disagree) and therefore the form factor of hte motherboard is matx or smaller. USB 3 and any future proofing must also be a requirement.

Given these requirements and a budget of say £2k to buy it all right now, I'd happily listen to any adjustments. I'd also be interested in seeing how you would spend norrahe's 3.5k on the same setup.. other than having 2xthe world most expensive SSD's I can't see hwo the extra 1.5k can be spent sensibly with noticeable benefit.

[doodab]

I think what I was trying to get across is the facility of the additional graphics card to upsample from DVDs, whereby there will not be much of a comparitive change on blu-ray, the advantage is clearer on simple dvd quality. You won't get the same facility regarding dvd on an inbuilt graphics card.

The integrated graphics in the these chips does DVD upscaling as well as bluray playback.

[chef]

Wait til you're at the family wedding - oh boy are you for it
All those relatives asking when you'll be tying the knot.
You wont stand a chance

been there done that last year in March when my younger brother got married, luckily she wasnt there then, she couldnt get time off work

[Pogle]

yeah I know but that's my opinion, she just hasn't brought up the subject yet... yet

Wait til you're at the family wedding - oh boy are you for it
All those relatives asking when you'll be tying the knot.
You wont stand a chance

[norrahe]

review of the i5 661 here by trusted reviews

seperate review here

sums me and my situation up ideally I think

I think what I was trying to get across is the facility of the additional graphics card to upsample from DVDs, whereby there will not be much of a comparitive change on blu-ray, the advantage is clearer on simple dvd quality. You won't get the same facility regarding dvd on an inbuilt graphics card.

[chef]

You might want to consider a separate graphics card, if you are playing something like blu-ray on an hd tv, then you can avail of the upscaling that these cards would provide for more high definition experience.

How does that compare with a good CPU and a good graphics card?

review of the i5 661 here by trusted reviews

seperate review here

We’ve already reviewed a processor from Intel’s latest Core i5 range, and we found that it was an excellent choice for anyone interested in 3D games or video editing

This strange new design means that when paired with a suitable motherboard the i5-661 can connect up to a monitor via VGA, DVI or HDMI with no need for either a separate graphics chip on the motherboard or a separate graphics card. And, with the graphics processor and the main processor rolled into one, they only need one fan to keep them cool. Having fewer fans, and less noise, is ideal for computers designed to sit in the living room.

Most home entertainment computers need to play Blu-ray discs, and the i5-661’s graphics chip has been designed with this in mind. The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD can decode all the types of video found on Blu-ray discs, so there’s no need to add a separate graphics card to play high-quality video.

So is the i5-661 a good buy?

The answer depends on what you’ll be using your computer for. If you’ll be playing the latest 3D games, look elsewhere – adding a separate graphics card would make the one included on this chip a waste of money.

Similarly, for power-hungry tasks such as video conversion other i5 processors such as the i5-750 provide more power.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking to build or buy a quiet computer to play Blu-ray discs, this is an ideal choice.

sums me and my situation up ideally I think

[Churchill]

How does that compare with a good CPU and a good graphics card?

What does he need "a good graphics card" for? He's using it for HD video, not graphics rendering.

[BoredBloke]

- the cpu has the latest technology from intel with full hd graphics on the processor, released jan 1st 2010

How does that compare with a good CPU and a good graphics card?

[Mich the Tester]

You are all so much more technically advanced than me. I bought a turntable and an amplifier last year to listen to my collection of Deep Purple classics.

[Churchill]

You might want to consider a separate graphics card, if you are playing something like blu-ray on an hd tv, then you can avail of the upscaling that these cards would provide for more high definition experience.

Go on, I'll bite...

What would a card offer that the on-chip graphics processor doesn't that's particularly relevant to HD processing?

[Xenophon]

chef's audio visual setup

Sorry, buddy.

[norrahe]

- the cpu has the latest technology from intel with full hd graphics on the processor, released jan 1st 2010
- the motherboard has usb3 ports and is after a lot of research is generally rated the best matx motherboard currently available, matx because i dont want a huge case so atx is out.
- tv is the hauppage dual tuner x 2 i.e 4 tv channels available to record/watch/stream to slingbox
- agreed graphics and sound could be seperated out to seperate cards if I was playing hard core gaming but im not a hard core gamer, as long as it displays hd quality sound and graphics that is more than sufficient for my needs, plus adding the high end graphics adds heat and noise which isnt what i want from a htpc, fast and silent were the key parts

just curious, what would you change of my setup (apart from the case)? I'm open to any idea changes..

how on earth can you spend 3.5k on a home built htpc? the 2k was simply the htpc part, excluding receiver and speakers

You might want to consider a separate graphics card, if you are playing something like blu-ray on an hd tv, then you can avail of the upscaling that these cards would provide for more high definition experience.