Official Sandy Bridge / LGA1155 for HTPCs Thread - Page 5

Just seemed to have all in a mATX size.
Dual Gb LAN to start, but also USB 3.0, SATA 6, Display Port, HDMI, DVI, VGA, many USB ports, eSATA, 8-channel audio, fiber optic out, PCI slot for those older TV tuner or sound cards, etc...
Only thing missing I noticed was Firewire.

Yup, we often overlook ECS. Suddenly ECS came into the enthusiasts market with P55H-AK LGA1156 nForce 200 (!)/Intel P55 chipsets ATX mb. Now P67H2-A has Lucida Hydra chip.

Other nice all-in-one microATX H67 mb are ASRock H67M-GE/HT, the same features above without dual LAN, plus internal USB 3.0 ports (a nice match with the latest SilverStone ML03/GD06; actually the only microATX mb with internal USB 3.0) and ASUS P8H67-M EVO with IEEE 1394.

I have the system assembled (see post 105), but still loading software. This is an ATX board in a 4U rackmount using the stock CPU cooler, 380 watt Antec PSU and (so far) only hooked up one of the front 120MM fans. Speedfan reports system temp @ 91F, or about 20 degrees over ambient. The iGPU is working fine over HDMI with a LN40C530 as a monitor. Still need to add the PCIe TV tuner and then start WME, but other priorities tonight.

Newegg had the WD 500gb Blue (6 GB) for 40 bucks shipped that I'm using as the system drive. This case will hold 8 drives but waiting for a SATA controller card to build the RAID array.

Intel will ramp up 22nm wafer production in 2H 2011

Ivy Bridge is almost ready.

Is there any significant difference in power consumption overall between mATX and ATX boards?

ATX just has extra PCI/PCIe slots with conductive traces. Unless you use these slots, there won't be any difference if all the other parts are identical.

This graph

cited by ymarker shows that the ASUS microATX mb consumes more power at load than the GIGABYTE ATX mb.

Thanks, that's great info for me. I think an Ivy Bridge/AMD7000 series match later this year is probably what I'm looking for.

I agree with you on the Asus, that looks like the best set up so far, but not far behind is the BioStar.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138288

There IS a performance hit, although negligible. For casual gaming HD3000 is in many ways on par with the Xbox, HD2000 is considerably weaker. Since there are no thermal issues between the two HD3000 is a superior solution even in an HTPC. I'm considering either the K version or the later models (35W or below). The current non K models don't make sense unless you're a computer manufacturer.

I used to buy all my CPU that way. Wait for the combo deal, then Ebay the ECS board

FWIW, I went with the 2500K for both my new gaming and seperate htpc builds, but the primary driver was the excellent deal microcenter was running at $179. For the gaming pc, went with p67mobo and htpc is getting h67. Don't sweat the tdp levels listed. Even the 2500k idles at similar low levels as it's lower end siblings.

Guys, any opinions on this H67 ASUS P8H67-M PRO motherboard:



http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=oztxS9uaDrwQwO2Y

?

The "P" variant of this board came very highly recommended in this review:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20190/15

I just updated my htpc with this board (ASUS P8H67-M PRO) along with an i7-2600k and a 6870 video card along with 2x4gb Corsair Vengence. This is my primary htpc/gaming system connected to a Mits 73" dlp via hdmi. It went together without a hitch. So far so goot. I am using 5.1 analog out to a denon receiver that doesn't do hdmi. Only way I could get truehd out of bluray without downsampling. May eventually upgrade the receiver so I can go all hdmi. Plays everything I throw at so far.

Thank you, dabish.

Have you had a chance to overclock the iGPU at all?

FWIW, after setting up the Happauge 2250 and WME, reported a 1080P signal at 59.94.

All drivers are up to date. (Sandy Bridge I5-2500)

Thanks. Funny, I just got back from Microcenter with an i5, a Biostar TH67XE motherboard and 8 GB of RAM. I still don't know where I'm going with this build. I believe it's possible to use both the integrated and dedicated graphics on the H67 but I've read conflicting accounts about it. The board has four different kinds of video connectors. In a couple of years this will be its most useful feature.

The Quicksync difference (maybe 12 % between the new i3 and the i5 K) is probably due to different clock speeds although I read somewhere that the 6 extra EUs also play a role.

In my opinion, it is a little crazy to have 2 of the 4 slots on a uATX board be legacy PCI slots in this day and age. PCI has been around 18 years; it is time for it to die.

It may be a fine motherboard, but it is not what I'm looking for. I ordered a different one.

No. On that htpc I am running an ati 6870 so no need to mess with it. I have another I built with an i-5-2500K on a Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H and it scores a 5.9 out of the box in windows graphic. Again, haven't played with overclocking it yet.

Both MB's setup easily with no problems other than I could not load win7 from a usb on the Gigabyte. It kept telling me it was missing a driver. IT loaded fine from dvd however.

Just spent the last 24 hours building my new HTPC.

Core i5 2500k
Intel DH67GD motherboard
8GB RAM
160GB SATA drive (boot), 2 x 3TB 7200 RPM drives (recorded TV)
4 ATSC TV tuners (1 PCI ATI, 2 USB ATI, 1 USB Pinnacle)
Windows 7 Pro x64, Media Center
All the latest drivers

Unfortunately, this build was nothing but problems from the get go. First, I find out that the H67 only supports 3TB drives in AHCI mode, not RAID. Supposedly that's coming.

Finally get Windows loaded, and my MCE IR receiver starts flaking out. Tried moving USB ports, using another receiver, no go. Finally ended up moving it to the USB 3.0 ports, and it started working again.

Using the onboard graphics, I connected the DVI port to my TV via a DVI to HDMI cable, and connected the HDMI port to my receiver so I could bitstream DTS HD, etc. There are settings in the BIOS of the board that allow you to change where the video and audio are routed. Anyway, this worked right from the start then started flaking out. The PC couldn't see the receiver, so I finally ended up reinstalling the video drivers and that fixed it.

Once I finally got everything working, I found that some DVDs I had ripped are crashing during playback in Media Center. Not sure what's causing it, but it worked perfectly in a previous HTPC with a Radeon 5670.

I've been able to play back Blu-rays and rips with TMT5 and get bitstreaming. However some just hang at the menu, like AvP 2.

I may end up just throwing my 5670 back in and say to hell with the integrated graphics. Nice concept, but Intel's drivers suck at this point.

Try running both. There should be a Bios option for that. Ahh, the joy of breaking in a new PC. I think I'll wait with mine 'till next weekend.

Is anyone planning to use a fanless 460W PSU and discrete graphics?

Have you tried using just the HDMI out -> receiver -> TV for both audio and video?

I'll be using a fanless 400w psu but no discrete. Also on h67 you can either onboard OR discrete but not both at the same, afaik.

Has anyone tried the updated MPC-HC to see if it still crashes?

I've been using a G35 board with a Core 2 Quad Q9450 (45nm), and a rather old 400W fanless FSP Zen PSU without problems, with the 5770, and for a while the GTX460. I used the 300W version as well, with a 4670. Just make sure there's enough air flow. My case only has one 200mm fan pulling air though (antec P180 mini). Sandy Bridge should be much better even.

This stupid limitation (specific to Intel chipset mbs, up to G4x) has been removed since Clarkdale (although some mb manufacturers may still limit simultaneous use of iGPU and dGPU, like previous ASUS H55 mbs). From SNB data sheets (Vol 1, page 32):

Great thread! I've been scouring to read all the Sandy Bridge reviews/tests/hands-on experiences I can find, and as usual AVS is one of the best resources.

I've been putting off building my first-ever HTPC, but this seems like it could be the right time. I've got a Panasonic TC-P54G25, which doesn't handle 23.976 properly anyway, so HD 3000's incompatibility isn't a concern. I'm looking forward to browsing a selection of DVD/BD rips using a slick-looking XBMC setup, judder be damned.

Anyway, I've settled on the following parts, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Any concerns? The HTPC won't be used for any 3D gaming, and currently won't be used as a DVR (but may in the future).

MB: Asus P8H67-M LE
CPU: Core i5-2500K
RAM: 2 x 2GB G-Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1333
SSD (OS/Programs): Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 40GB
HDD (Storage): Western Digital WD20EARS 2TB
OPTICAL: Lite-On iHOS104-06
PSU: Antec BP550 Plus 550W
CASE: Silverstone Grandia GD05B

OS will be Windows 7 Pro. I went with the 2500K/H67 for the HD 3000 integrated graphics, of course. I'm hoping the SSD does well for quick XBMC performance and speedy cover display. The storage drive will fill up quickly using BD rips, but I plan on adding a NAS later. The PSU seems like overkill at 550W, but I like Antec quality, it's modular, and having overhead helps if I decide to add a discrete GPU later.

You're right; a 550W PSU is overkill for that build. Even if you add a discrete video card it is overkill. I'm all for having a good modular PSU, but it is a little tricky to find one that you trust that is modular and more reasonable wattage. I'm going for a SeaSonic 400W fanless modular PSU, but I'm not sure how well it would work in the Silverstone case you're looking at.

The SS-400FL did come up while I was researching components, and the passive cooling would definitely be a plus.

However, my build will ultimately wind up housed behind glass doors, inside a media cabinet, which should alleviate most of the Antec PSU's fan noise. The SeaSonic is also selling for nearly 2x the price of the Antec. Not sure if the extra dough is worth it for fanless in my particular case.

Also, subjectively, I'm more comfortable with an Antec label on a PSU than a SeaSonic. That's only due to anecdotal personal experience, though.

The problem you mentioned of finding high quality lower-wattage modular PSUs is a frustrating one. With HTPCs growing in popularity, it seems like an overlooked market.

I'm also looking into getting an SSD but I'd go with a 64GB 6Gb/s drive. Or a 2TB drive for an OS drive.

With one hard drive the minimum the recommended PSU wattage for your configuration is 312 W - 343 W. Things get complicated when you start adding more stuff. I have not seen any fanless PSUs that are over 460W.