[anarchys_revenge]

Been researching parts for my first HTPC build and I was looking at a passive Full ATX with integrated graphics; doesn't seem like there is any such animal but I thought I'd toss the question out. Why integrated graphics? I don't game and I'm assuming (bad assumption???) that I don't need anything fancy for running MCE2005 for DVDs and free OTA HD programming (PVR).

 

[renethx]

Which platform, Intel or AMD? There are a bunch of passively cooled ATX motherboards with IGP for Intel and two for AMD (GIGABYTE GA-M55plus-S3G rev 3.x, MSI K9NVG Neo-V, neither of them is available in US yet).

 

[hdmi4ever]

Only a small percentage of the full ATX boards have onboard video. You do need a fairly decent video card with 128 MB of video RAM for comfortably playing high-definition video, and that narrows down your choices even further because most onboard video is pathetic.

 

[grittree]

There is one very good integrated video, the nvidia 6150. Unfortunately, it is only available on uATX boards for AMD's AM2 socket.


Perfect for your use, but only 2 PCI slots.

 

[hdmi4ever]

You can find decent video cards (like the NVidia 7 series) that will accelerate high-definition playback and cost under $100 with passive cooling.

 

[BigAl]

I have an intel DG965WH motherboard... it's ATX w Intel X3000 integrated graphics. I'm running Vista RC2 and it handles HD video playback better than the 6150 board I have in my other machine. 1080i and 720p clips played back to an output resolution of 1600x1200.

The board only has VGA output but you can buy an ADD2 card to get digital video out.


The 6150 board can do 1080i and 720p video but at a max output resolution of 1280x720.