Re: HT board recommendations please
- From: Dave Smith <sally@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:55:31 -0700
Wow!
Thanks very much Paul. You've given me a lot of great info to check.
I really appreciate it.
Dave
On Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:30:06 -0400, Paul <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dave Smith wrote:.
Hi all.
OK. First please forgive me for a "make my decision for me" type
post. I know they can be annoying but I have done quite a bit of
research and I've found the many options so bewildering that I feel
that I have to ask the experts for help.
I recently got a HDTV (Panasonic TC-L37S1. I LOVE it!) and I want to
build a computer to use for BluRay play VIA a BluRay drive, movies off
the HDD, streaming net videos, and music. I don't think I need a very
high powered system, just something with an HDMI output and decent
audio capabilities. I have no need for HD audio, just input to my
standard stereo system. It would be great if I could get by with
on-board audio and video.
All my computers have Asus boards and I'd like to stay with Asus for
this one. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Dave
My guess would be, a motherboard for an AMD processor, might have
some good options for video playback assist, inside the integrated
graphics.
For ATI, you might consult the "IGP features" table here. The
780G or the 790GX (those are chipsets on AMD motherboards) look
like candidates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_700_chipset_series#790GX
UVD 2 supports dual stream decoding (pip), as described here.
http://ati.amd.com/technology/Avivo/pdf/ATI_Avivo_HD_tech_brief.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Video_Decoder
The discovery process for Nvidia is more convoluted. 8200 and
8300 have the VP3 video processor, for Purevideo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purevideo
By implication, the chipsets for Intel based motherboards, would
have VP3 as well. See the first page, upper right, for mention
of 9400 and 9300 chipsets for Intel LGA775. (When this downloads,
you should see "pure_video_hd_support.pdf" as the file.)
http://www.nvidia.com/attach/1867492?type=support&primitive=0
http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.html
*******
For the M3N78-EM (AMD) 8300 based board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813131354
"edrod 4/28/2009 7:02:19 AM --- Hands Down HTPC Winner
Pros: 8300 Chipset provides Bluray playback through HDMI or DVI output,
Realtek audio sounds great and offers DTS support. Optical
audio output was easy to get up and running. Micro form factor,
quality constrution, and smart layout make this a great board
for an HTPC application.
Cons: It wasn't free :]
Other Thoughts: Initially I had some reluctance, having had an M3N78-VM
which has a known audio bug. I went ahead and pulled the
trigger on this one and I couldn't be happier. Seems much
more stable, and doesn't exhibit any of the issues that
plague the VM model."
*******
GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX.
This would use an Intel LGA775 (Core2) processor, to give some
balance to your choices.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813128363
"N/A 6/19/2009 3:01:10 AM --- Great HTPC Board
Pros: Worked right out the box. HDMI worked flawlessly, though did have to
disable the realtek audio in favor of the Nvidia. After that HDMI audio was
perfect. Compact size and the GPU is perfect for HTPC duty. The price is
spot on as well for HDMI, full digital audio, and built in GPU that can
handle any 1080p playback you throw at it.
Cons: GPU/NB get's hot. It's within specs but it gets hotter than I am
comfortable with. I bought some Arctic Silver and put a fan on top of
their heatsink and now I am much happier. As others noted, the SATA
connectors are in a stupid position on the board. ...
Other Thoughts: Other than the minor gripes the board has performed
flawlessly. The GPU isn't meant for 3D gaming... it says on the box
3DMark06 score of 2400+. I have it in the living room in my HTPC and
it has been rock solid since I bought it so far. On 24/7. Would definitely
buy again as the price is definitely right."
*******
You can use the Newegg motherboard section and "Advanced Search", to restrict
the search to AMD or Intel processors, then microATX motherboards, and then
look for the desirable chipset numbers.
Playback acceleration is enabled via drivers built into the popular
player applications. Playback acceleration, as far as I know, isn't
generic in nature. So to get acceleration, you have to check that the
application you're buying, knows how to use a "VP3" block or
"UVD 2" block or whatever.
And just for the record, you'll have a devil of a time, figuring
out whether you're getting your money's worth. I.e. Benchmarking
how hard your newly built computer, is having to work, to
decode video. A lot of elements have to be working properly,
for the final result to work well (i.e. the state of those
hidden drivers).
For a "Betty Crocker Bakeoff", you can try this article. It
compares some of the IGPs (integrated graphics processors).
You might even get advice on a processor selection. They
used a Q9300 quad-core processor (for the Intel board) and
Phenom X4 9950BE (for the AMD board).
The IGP Chronicles Part 2
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3430
Q9300 is a 2.5GHz quad core. Likely a dual core would do as
much for you. You could pick an Intel dual core at that
speed or higher (depending on what price you want to pay).
The very fastest at stock, would be an E8600.
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAWE
The AMD 9950BE seems to be a pretty high end choice. It
is a quad, and I don't know if quad really helps an HTPC.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103273
This dual seems to be a popular choice. And cheap too.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300
This is another possibility, with a higher clock.
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680
You should check the CPU support charts carefully, to make sure
the motherboard supports the processor. Each manufacturer
usually has CPU Support charts for their motherboards, on
their website. I don't know all the rules by heart, for
sorting AMD processors :-)
HTH,
Paul
- References:
- HT board recommendations please
- From: Dave Smith
- Re: HT board recommendations please
- From: Paul
- HT board recommendations please
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