What should I look for in a APU for a htpc stream machine?
a-10 7850k seems to be best at the moment;
keep in mind you might want to wait for zen.
If zen would come out this summer/fall sure could or wait and upgrade to it at a later time would also be acceptable. None the lest thanks for your quick response.
i wouldn't be sure it'll have same socket.
AMD might finally move to LGA socket. (PGA is far more expensive, mobos are cheaper tho)
Move to LGA would save them quite the buck, and put additional costs on mobo makers (not a lot since its what intel doing for a while now... its awesome way to cut down costs)
HTPCs don't need to be too powerful, even if you plan to do something like in home streaming. One of the midrange quad cores with a decent amount of gpu horsepower should get the job done. I'd be interested to see a build using one of the AM1 processors and a low end gpu, that could potentially be a very small, capable machine built fairly cheap.
Zen will be AM4 only, from the current rumors. It is possible that we could see FM2+ Carrizo sometime soon, though that isn't something to really put too much thought into. If you want an APU build before mid 2016, go with the 7850k/7870k or for a solution with better frame per price, something with a cheaper mobo and a 7600.
Are you talking about for benchmarks in general or for streaming specifically?
streaming mostly, but it would be kinda neat to see benchmarks. I've considered building a tiny little rig with a 5350 and a 750ti or something similar for in home streaming. Problem is I would also need a better router, so I'd have to build a little pfsense or m0n0wall build too.
There are videos and forum posts around the web of people who use the 5350 for streaming without much issue. They say it gets 1080p/45fps with little to no issues. I've seen people use raspberry pis too, so a 5350 should be fine. You shouldn't need a dGPU for a streaming box.
As for benchmarks:
5350 and 7970
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8067/amd-am1-kabini-part-2-athlon-53505150-and-sempron-38502650-tested/10
5350 and 750ti
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/AMD-AM1-Platform-and-Athlon-5350-GTX-750-Ti-1080p-under-450
It's an HTPC, you don't need a lot. Grab an A6 or A8.
A8-6600K $104.99
A10-7850K $130.99
I don't really see a difference in price vs performance.
If you only plan on watching movies, even an AMD AM1 platform should be sufficient. It may even be sufficient for 4k, but don't quote me on that.
The a10 7870k is, yes the most expensive but, has the fastes chip and GPU in the APU section.
I bought a asrock soc motherboard with an amd a4-5000. I hope it can handle 1080p on xbmc/kodi
A8 7600, mainly for the 65W TDP and 100 dollar price tag