A8 7600 vs i3 4370

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bpizzle1

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I'm in the process of speccing out a HTPC to replace the cable boxes in my house (via HDHomerun Prime), and I am stuck choosing between these CPUs. The main function of the system is going to be streaming live TV to my main TV and bedroom TV (Xbox 360 extender), DVR functionality, streaming movies, and maybe some BR playback/ripping. I know the Intel is faster in everything CPU related, but the iGPU in the A8 is the part that has me second guessing. Is the APU going to have any noticeable difference in image quality or anything of that nature? There will be zero gaming done on this system, so I'd like to avoid a discrete GPU if possible.

Keep in mind price is a wash. I can get the i3 and mobo from Microcenter for essentially the same price as the A8 and mobo online (MC doesn't carry the cpu, unfortunately).
 
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I'd go with the i3, for what you are doing the only difference you will notice is the i3 is cooler, and faster, only place the 7600 is going to win is if you actually do some games but you said you aren't.
 
While I'm a big fan of my A10, and would love to vote for you to get the A8..... I'm going to have to vote for the i3. It'll handle multimedia transcoding / streaming better, and it'll idle better / use less power in the long run.
 
The A8 actually has a 45W TDP mode, which is slightly better than that i3 which I think is 54W. I use one in a NAS and it runs well using it. As for video, if you were doing post processing like MadVR then maybe, the A8 would have a slight edge there but neither would be able to use the advanced features of that. i3 will probably be the better buy though, depending on the mainboard you choose.
 
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Ryokurin said:
The A8 actually has a 45W TDP mode, which is slightly better than that i3 which I think is 54W. I use one in a NAS and it runs well using it. As for video, if you were doing post processing like MadVR then maybe, the A8 would have a slight edge there but neither would be able to use the advanced features of that. i3 will probably be the better buy though, depending on the mainboard you choose.
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Thanks for the input, guys. I was leaning toward the Intel anyway, but the APU had me wondering if that would be the correct route for media purposes. I'm sure the i3 won't break a sweat doing what I'm going to ask of it.
 
Out of curiosity since you mention Microcenter, the fx 8320e and mobo combo for 120AR is a killer deal. I recently built a plex server for a friend and the thing is not even breaking a sweat doing 4+ trans-codes. The i3 4730 (I assume you are mentioning) is really good too, it is a shame that the Kaveri cores cannot match haswell or bulldozer designs.
 
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