HTPC Upgrade

[SAgosto]

I am debating a CPU upgrade for my HTPC. I rip Bluray to MKV and then use Ripbot264 to shrink the file. I have no problems watching movies locally using KODI/MPC-HD/etc. but I do see high CPU usage (on certain titltes) and stuttering while using PLEX on my Roku which is hardwired to a switch. Is it worth it for me to do an upgrade? Below are my specs:

ASUS AM3 - AMD785G - DDR2 - HDMI - uATX Motherboard (M4A785-M)
AMD Athlon 64 5400+ 2.8GHz (ADO5400IAA5DO)
Patriot Extreme Performance 2X1GB 240-Pin DDR800/PC26400 Dual Channel RAM (PDC22G6400ELK)
Super Talent 2X1GB 240-Pin DDR800/PC26400 Dual Channel Kit RAM (T800UX2GC5)
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (100322L)

 

[God_Of_Death]

I have two similar HTPC setups and I had to upgrade them to quad cores. everything ran smoothly afterwards.

it all depends on how much you want to spend but I would pick even a 2.5ghz quad core over that 2.8ghz.

 

[SAgosto]

I have two similar HTPC setups and I had to upgrade them to quad cores. everything ran smoothly afterwards.

it all depends on how much you want to spend but I would pick even a 2.5ghz quad core over that 2.8ghz.

What issues did you have? Can I use any AMD quad AM3 socket that will fit my mobo?

 

[God_Of_Death]

my issues were that my MKV's would sometimes get choppy depending on compression and streaming Netflix became a nightmare. HBOGO was unbearable. I have NVidia GT 740's in both systems so I knew the vid card was not an issue seeing as how the CPU would be at 100% all the time.

You have a decent mobo with good quad and six core cpu support. a fast ebay check yelided that you could get a Athlon IIX4 620 for $20. I looked at higher clocked quad cores and you start getting into the $40+ range but a Phenom IIX4 820 would be my second recommended cpu at $30.

go to the asus website to make sure your mobo has the latest bios to ensure that a cpu upgrade is supported or at least that the bios you currently have will support the cpu you will upgrade.

 

[SAgosto]

my issues were that my MKV's would sometimes get choppy depending on compression and streaming Netflix became a nightmare. HBOGO was unbearable. I have NVidia GT 740's in both systems so I knew the vid card was not an issue seeing as how the CPU would be at 100% all the time.

You have a decent mobo with good quad and six core cpu support. a fast ebay check yelided that you could get a Athlon IIX4 620 for $20. I looked at higher clocked quad cores and you start getting into the $40+ range but a Phenom IIX4 820 would be my second recommended cpu at $30.

go to the asus website to make sure your mobo has the latest bios to ensure that a cpu upgrade is supported or at least that the bios you currently have will support the cpu you will upgrade.

I have 0 issues with pre-Ripbot264 running locally on MPC-HD but starting to see issues when Plex is transcoding certain MakeMKV. That's an issue with it's engine that doesn't seem to happen with other apps. It isn't a huge deal but if I can resolve it with a quick CPU upgrade, than it is worth considering.