Anyone using Intel's new 3rd gen IGP ? Ivy Bridge

[cw-kid]

Hi

Looking at building a new HTPC around this Intel DH77DF Media ITX board and an Ivy Bridge 3rd generation IGP.

Just wondered if anyone is using this hardware already ?

[cw-kid]

http://www.missingremote.com/review/int ... -3770s-cpu

This doesn't sound so good:

"Unlike the previous generation of Intel Core IPGs, Sandy Bridge (SNB), IVB GPUs exhibit an issue with some types of PAL television content when the Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder is used. Unfortunately, as this is the decoder utilized by Windows Media Center it is hard to recommend the system to European users reliant on that DVR platform. The issue is limited to this decoder, however, as it is not reproducible with other DXVA2 or Media SDK based filters, and so it is not a general problem with the platform. This issue has been escalated to the driver team and hopefully a fix will be available at some point. This section will be updated when/if that occurs."

[cw-kid]

Not what I wanted to hear about Intel's latest media board, might steer clear of Ivy Bridge then, anyone here using them?

Below is a comment from a user

'I rebuilt my htpc with this board and an i3 2120t a few months back, and what a mess it has been.

Blue screens every day or two. Video crashing almost like clockwork everytime I tried to play any h.264 video. Half the time windows would recover, the other half it would just hang forever. Spent 3 or 4 hours on the phone with intel support, who was of little help. They kept telling me I'm building a system and it's my responsibility to troubleshoot and tell them what's wrong. They replaced the processor, same issues.

Well I started digging some more, and found that the bios was over volting my ram from 1.5v to 1.73v, regardless of the bios being set to 1.5v. I finally found the solution on Intels forums where there was 4 pages spanning 2 months of complaints and not one response from intel. Well the trick was to restore defaults in the bios, save changes, and turn off the computer before it finished the next POST. Everything was good after that.

Then the new bios update came out that was supposed to fix this issue (the pretty GUI bios), but I just ended up back in the same unstable rut. You now get different ram voltage depending on if you use the classic view or the new GUI, both of which were wrong in my case. Manually setting it again did not seem to change this. I ended up reverting back, and have been stable on the unstable bios for a month or two now, but man, what a nightmare. I wish I had just saved a little money and gone with the p67, since I really didn't need the h77 anyways."

[richard1980]

There are a couple of users here from the US that are successfully using Ivy Bridge, but I don't know about European users.

[bobbob]

don't know about ivy bridge but sandy bridge kicks ass from a european perspective

[richard1980]

Honestly I wouldn't recommend Sandy Bridge due to the issue with fluctuating frame rates (though that may not be as big an issue in Europe as it is in the US). It looks like Clarkdale may be the way to go.

[bobbob]

no, no fluctuating frame rate problems here in the uk

[richard1980]

Not being from the UK, I have a half understanding of things. That said, it is my understanding the frame rate fluctuation exists in the UK as well...the only difference between the UK and the US is in the UK it is apparently intentional.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/researchandd ... d-on.shtml

[bobbob]

there was a thread on here a while ago where some users were seeing a similar effect in dvb-t transmissions but dvb-s seems trouble free

[LuckyDay]

I am running an Ivy Bridge i3 3225 with the HD 4000, I can't comment on anything related to Euro formats, but have had no issues for the six or so months I've been using it.

[cw-kid]

Thanks for the replies! Keep them coming.

I already have a Sandy Bridge based HTPC and that has been pretty good.

Not sure if to go for Sandy Bridge again or try the new Ivy Bridge 3rd gen processors and that new motherboard I linked to.

[WarrenH]

Long time. CWKid.
I've recently built a new system with Ivybridge, i7 3770K and it works great with no issues, I only use Intel mainboards though which may assist. Using the Z68 chipset.

[richard1980]

Just changed to Ivy Bridge yesterday (i3-3225). If you are serious about picture quality, you probably won't like the HD4000 graphics. First and foremost, the HD4000 doesn't support 0-255 levels, which is just plain stupid. Luckily I knew this going in, and had made my peace with the fact that I would just have to settle for 16-235. Second (not by much), Intel's software doesn't allow any fine-tuning of the color settings. You can get close with Intel's software, but if you are looking for precise control, you won't find it with Intel's software.

On the positive side, I can confirm the 3225 plays 29/59 content smooth and without flicker, but only after disabling dynamic contrast.

Overall, I'd say the HD4000 is sufficient, but not something I would put on the list of HTPC recommendations. On the CPU side, the i3-3225 is certainly more than sufficient for HTPC use, so your best bet is probably to pair this CPU (and probably the whole line of Ivy Bridge CPUs) with a discreet GPU from AMD or NVIDIA.

[LuckyDay]

This is something for another thread really, but I honestly can't find good color settings for my ATI card to use that look as good as the HD 4000 I had before.

I think I just got lucky with the 4000 and it sort of looks right on my TV, but the ATI control panel just isn't giving me results I want.

[Mediaman]

Have been running Intel Core i5-3570K Quad 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge Onboard Intel 4000 GPU on a Intel BOXDH77EB [micro atx] in the U.S, for two months without issue [HDHomerun Prime and Dual tuners, W7 WMC, 8 GB ram]. I chose this processor because it is HD4000 and no hyper-threading [which may have issues with OCUR tuners]. Have recorded 5 HD channels at one time, while playing one on a 55" and accessed via xbox at the same time with no issues. Like it so much looking at rebuilding an old Plix case [very similar to existing Shuttle case] with an intel mini-itx, might work well with the space.

[foxwood]

no hyper-threading [which may have issues with OCUR tuners].

That's a new one - where you come up with that?

[Mediaman]

no hyper-threading [which may have issues with OCUR tuners].

That's a new one - where you come up with that?

This last summer on the Silicondust prime forum was a person with a very high end ivy bridge system that was having pixing issues. Was using a second monitor for TV sometimes as a window. After much unloading and reloading and switch settings on a whim [or desperation] they switched off hyper-threading and no more pixilation. It's hard to say why this worked as there was lots of software on the system. They might have taken the Labor day weekend to completely strip and rebuild the system and test along the way. I thought I had saved a copy of the thread to review when I built my new unit but did not and the thread has long expired on the SD forum. I know this was back in September but have not seen a pixing type issue that isn't typically resolved through signal strength and in the case of SD products network issues since that one. Suggested it to a few that were in a position to try turning it off without any positive affect. So it has not proven out as a single cause and affect item but some other program may interact with it to cause an issue. There may have been a bios update that resolved the issue since and since bios update is sop fix in these issues switching it off may no longer be a fix .

As to my build out I mainly got tired of waiting for the Q so I built my own. In evaluating design and bang for the buck I am happy with the 3570 and will take the faster processor and lower cost over hyper-threading for this application. I really have to wonder why I would need hyper-threading in my HTPC. Think I saw a recent article on the benefits for some type of playback [audio maybe] but wasn't swayed much.

[newman502]

Has anyone with an IvyBridge processor successful in getting HD Audio to get properly sent to your AV receiver via HDMI? When I look at my settings, I only see Dolby Digital, DD Plus and DTS Audio. I have a core i3 3225, a Gigabyte GA Z77N WIfi Mobo, 16GB Ram in a Prodigy Bitfinex case. I do NOT have a discrete graphics card. I have my HTPC connected to my Denon AVR using HDMI cable. It registers DTS MA or Dobly TrueHD as "Multi channel" input so I am getting at least 5.1 sound but would be nice to actually get DTSMA or Dolby TrueHD that I know my AVR can support.
Thanks.

[JazJon]

I'm happy with my new Apple Ivy Bridge i7 Mac Mini running Windows 8 Media Center. (using USB 3.0 external hard drive for recorded tv storage) The Intel HD 4000 Graphics get the job done nicely once you disable dynamic contrast.