I stand corrected.
I overlooked one motherboard in my search:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813182193
Comments?
I overlooked one motherboard in my search:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813182193
Comments?
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Appropriate Motherboard for HTPC + Server
I am currently in the process of building a hybrid media server and HTPC. I realize this is not an ideal situation, but it is the path that I am going with now. I may end up building a dedicated HTPC at some point if this does not work out properly.
I plan of building a computer with 5 HDs (4x1.5TB + system drive) and place it in a server case (with 11 drive bays for future expansion). I will be placing this in the closet and running a 25' HDMI cable to my receiver/TV. Therefore, in addition to the usual server tasks, I need a motherboard that is up to the HDMI challenge (audio).
I reviewed the thread on HDMI Audio ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1093445 ). I would like to do 7 Channel PCM. Therefore I decided that I needed either a Nvidia 9300/9400 or Intel IGP G45. However, all of these boards (from newegg) appear to be small form factor. I would prefer a full ATX board for future expansion, from a server perspective.
Can anybody recommend a motherboard that is able to do the full HDMI audio (sans bitstreaming) and would be a reasonable server platform? Also, are there any AMD solutions.
Any insight is appreciated.
I plan of building a computer with 5 HDs (4x1.5TB + system drive) and place it in a server case (with 11 drive bays for future expansion). I will be placing this in the closet and running a 25' HDMI cable to my receiver/TV. Therefore, in addition to the usual server tasks, I need a motherboard that is up to the HDMI challenge (audio).
I reviewed the thread on HDMI Audio ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1093445 ). I would like to do 7 Channel PCM. Therefore I decided that I needed either a Nvidia 9300/9400 or Intel IGP G45. However, all of these boards (from newegg) appear to be small form factor. I would prefer a full ATX board for future expansion, from a server perspective.
Can anybody recommend a motherboard that is able to do the full HDMI audio (sans bitstreaming) and would be a reasonable server platform? Also, are there any AMD solutions.
Any insight is appreciated.
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
Of course there are AMD solutions. In fact they are better, in the sense that you get the same capabilities with a smaller budget.
Here's a list of HD capable IGPs:
For AMD boards: 780G/790/785G (by AMD) & 8200/8300 (by Nividia)
For Intel boards: G45 (by Intel) & 9300/9400 (by Nividia)
Of all the above, the 780G was one of the first and the best (still is IMO). The G45 is capable enough. The Nividia chipsets are much better.
Audio: All except the 780 & 790 are capable of multichannel LPCM over HDMI (if you have a HDMI capable receiver). The 780/8200/8300 boards start at $50 and up while the G45/9300/9400 start at $100.
The 785 is a brand new release from the ATI stable (making up lost ground in terms of 7.1 ch LPCM) and will be officially released next month. However, you can find them at a couple of vendors for $90.
Newegg has great offers for a AMD CPU-MB combo deal. They currently have a sale for the X4 945 CPU with $100 MB for less than $25.
Your platform choice will also depend on what OS and applications you plan to run.
Quote:
Also, are there any AMD solutions.
Of course there are AMD solutions. In fact they are better, in the sense that you get the same capabilities with a smaller budget.
Here's a list of HD capable IGPs:
For AMD boards: 780G/790/785G (by AMD) & 8200/8300 (by Nividia)
For Intel boards: G45 (by Intel) & 9300/9400 (by Nividia)
Of all the above, the 780G was one of the first and the best (still is IMO). The G45 is capable enough. The Nividia chipsets are much better.
Audio: All except the 780 & 790 are capable of multichannel LPCM over HDMI (if you have a HDMI capable receiver). The 780/8200/8300 boards start at $50 and up while the G45/9300/9400 start at $100.
The 785 is a brand new release from the ATI stable (making up lost ground in terms of 7.1 ch LPCM) and will be officially released next month. However, you can find them at a couple of vendors for $90.
Newegg has great offers for a AMD CPU-MB combo deal. They currently have a sale for the X4 945 CPU with $100 MB for less than $25.
Your platform choice will also depend on what OS and applications you plan to run.
What motivated me to ignore the 8200/8300 was that the chart referenced above states unknown results for 48 Khz 16 Bit Down Converted 5.1 Channel PCM. I only have 5.1 (but with a fancy HDMI receiver).
Recommendations for vendors with 785Gs?
Recommendations for vendors with 785Gs?
That is a bit strange, I saw it too. Maybe its a mistake, maybe not. I would think that if it can do 7.1 it should definitely do 5.1.
What receiver do you have?
Newegg, Provantage are a couple of sellers.
There was a thread started recently about these boards, check it out. It was a Gigabyte 785 board.
One option is to go with a cheaper board and add a video card (HD4350). It would still work out cheaper than buying a IGP board.
What are you going to use this system for? BD playback? DVR? MKVs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DBordello /forum/post/16891534
What motivated me to ignore the 8200/8300 was that the chart referenced above states unknown results for 48 Khz 16 Bit Down Converted 5.1 Channel PCM. I only have 5.1 (but with a fancy HDMI receiver).
Recommendations for vendors with 785Gs?
That is a bit strange, I saw it too. Maybe its a mistake, maybe not. I would think that if it can do 7.1 it should definitely do 5.1.
What receiver do you have?
Newegg, Provantage are a couple of sellers.
There was a thread started recently about these boards, check it out. It was a Gigabyte 785 board.
One option is to go with a cheaper board and add a video card (HD4350). It would still work out cheaper than buying a IGP board.
What are you going to use this system for? BD playback? DVR? MKVs?
I will check out newegg, I looked briefly but did not see any.
I have an Onkyo TX-SR805, which I believe supports bitstreaming (although I am not extremely driven by this, maybe in the future).
The system is going to be used for DVD & BD ripping, and possibly reencoding to MKV. It appears that BD playback is the most difficult task, so that is what I am basing my hardware on right now.
I discarded the 4xxx video cards since it appears that it takes some tweaking with some receivers. I figured that if I could avoid this headache that would be beneficial.
The system I have spec'ed right now is pretty full featured.
CPU: Intel Quad Core 9550 (2.83Ghz) or Phenom X4 945
RAM: 8GB
HDs: 4x1.5 + Velociraptor
etc
The last hurdle is getting a chipset that can do LPCM Multichannel audio.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hirent /forum/post/16891577
That is a bit strange, I saw it too. Maybe its a mistake, maybe not. I would think that if it can do 7.1 it should definitely do 5.1.
What receiver do you have?
Newegg, Provantage are a couple of sellers.
There was a thread started recently about these boards, check it out. It was a Gigabyte 785 board.
One option is to go with a cheaper board and add a video card (HD4350). It would still work out cheaper than buying a IGP board.
What are you going to use this system for? BD playback? DVR? MKVs?
I will check out newegg, I looked briefly but did not see any.
I have an Onkyo TX-SR805, which I believe supports bitstreaming (although I am not extremely driven by this, maybe in the future).
The system is going to be used for DVD & BD ripping, and possibly reencoding to MKV. It appears that BD playback is the most difficult task, so that is what I am basing my hardware on right now.
I discarded the 4xxx video cards since it appears that it takes some tweaking with some receivers. I figured that if I could avoid this headache that would be beneficial.
The system I have spec'ed right now is pretty full featured.
CPU: Intel Quad Core 9550 (2.83Ghz) or Phenom X4 945
RAM: 8GB
HDs: 4x1.5 + Velociraptor
etc
The last hurdle is getting a chipset that can do LPCM Multichannel audio.
It appears that the 785G chipset is on the cusp of release. Do you think it would provide a benefit over the Intel G45 chipset? The intel and AMD processors are similarly priced (and I assume the motherboards aren't far off either).
The SR805 is a 7.1 ch receiver, I guess you have only 5.1 speakers.
I have hooked up a HD4350 card for a buddy to his Onkyo SR605 receiver with nary a hitch. The LPCM setup was as smooth as possible with 7.1 speakers.
The Phenom 945 is on sale at newegg with various combo boards, you should definitely consider that since you get the board for nearly free. Only problem is you will need a video card for 7.1 PCM.
The HD4350s are cheap and great for BD playback. They come for sale as low as $20 (I picked up one for $15) so you will still be spending less.
What OS are you gonna use?
I have hooked up a HD4350 card for a buddy to his Onkyo SR605 receiver with nary a hitch. The LPCM setup was as smooth as possible with 7.1 speakers.
The Phenom 945 is on sale at newegg with various combo boards, you should definitely consider that since you get the board for nearly free. Only problem is you will need a video card for 7.1 PCM.
The HD4350s are cheap and great for BD playback. They come for sale as low as $20 (I picked up one for $15) so you will still be spending less.
What OS are you gonna use?
I do have 5.1 speakers.
Deep down I want to use linux (server), but know better for BD playback. I will probably use Vista or Windows 7.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hirent /forum/post/16891693
What OS are you gonna use?
I do have 5.1 speakers.
Deep down I want to use linux (server), but know better for BD playback. I will probably use Vista or Windows 7.
Vista/7 is a good choice, I have used Vista for all HD HTPC builds in the last year, all of them play BD/HD-DVD without a problem using PowerDVD.
Today, I set up mine to play automatically (thru Media Center) with a remote control, it takes a lot of tweaks and add-ons to get it right.
Users are saying Win 7 is even better, I haven't used it yet.
MS still has free downloads open till July end. So get a copy if you don't already have one.
Did you check out the 945 combos?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DBordello /forum/post/16891730
I do have 5.1 speakers.
Deep down I want to use linux (server), but know better for BD playback. I will probably use Vista or Windows 7.
Vista/7 is a good choice, I have used Vista for all HD HTPC builds in the last year, all of them play BD/HD-DVD without a problem using PowerDVD.
Today, I set up mine to play automatically (thru Media Center) with a remote control, it takes a lot of tweaks and add-ons to get it right.
Users are saying Win 7 is even better, I haven't used it yet.
MS still has free downloads open till July end. So get a copy if you don't already have one.
Did you check out the 945 combos?
Would there be any benefit of one chipset over another? These are some pretty good deals.
I went through all of the combo deals, looked at the motherboards that were ATX and 6+ SATA ports.
When I started this building, I wanted a 945, so looks like I have gone full circle. I am sure the discrete graphics card has some inherent advantages as well.
Thoughts?
I went through all of the combo deals, looked at the motherboards that were ATX and 6+ SATA ports.
When I started this building, I wanted a 945, so looks like I have gone full circle. I am sure the discrete graphics card has some inherent advantages as well.
Thoughts?
The AMD 940 BE (3.0 GHz) is faster than a Q9400 and the Q9550. I'm assuming the 945 will be too.
So to me, economically and performancewise the 780 or the 8300 (with the 945) is good enough. No need to spend more money on the 790.
Personally, I prefer ATI over NVidia when it comes to HD video. They really got it right before anybody else. However, that doesn't mean I won't consider Nvidia especially if the price difference is big.
Regarding discrete graphics, even the slowest discrete will be more powerful than any IGP. The 4350 is capable enough for HD video decoding and 8-ch PCM.
Some users are saying that the 4350/4550 chips don't have advanced de-interlacing options. For BD playback it doesn't matter since its always progressive. But for DVDs, where you need upscaling and de-interlacing, some people prefer to have something more than the HD4350.
I have used the 780G (HD3200), HD2400 and the HD4350 and I find it good for my DVDs. If advanced de-interlacing is important to you then you might want to spend more and get more. There are some great threads here to read up about it. Of course, since you were considering IGPs it probably never crossed your mind.
So to me, economically and performancewise the 780 or the 8300 (with the 945) is good enough. No need to spend more money on the 790.
Personally, I prefer ATI over NVidia when it comes to HD video. They really got it right before anybody else. However, that doesn't mean I won't consider Nvidia especially if the price difference is big.
Regarding discrete graphics, even the slowest discrete will be more powerful than any IGP. The 4350 is capable enough for HD video decoding and 8-ch PCM.
Some users are saying that the 4350/4550 chips don't have advanced de-interlacing options. For BD playback it doesn't matter since its always progressive. But for DVDs, where you need upscaling and de-interlacing, some people prefer to have something more than the HD4350.
I have used the 780G (HD3200), HD2400 and the HD4350 and I find it good for my DVDs. If advanced de-interlacing is important to you then you might want to spend more and get more. There are some great threads here to read up about it. Of course, since you were considering IGPs it probably never crossed your mind.
Sounds like you are recommending the 780.
Therefore I am going to go with this board with the 945 :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131362
coupled with this video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121310
This should have no trouble with BD playback (and mkv) with multichannel LPCM.
Comments?
Therefore I am going to go with this board with the 945 :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131362
coupled with this video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121310
This should have no trouble with BD playback (and mkv) with multichannel LPCM.
Comments?
Sounds good.
You shouldn't, if everything goes well.
ASUS is a dependable company with good products, the board has good ratings.
About the video card, I generally am not bothered with fan noise so I don't prefer fanless cards because of heating issues. But usually they are ok.
BD playback should be a breeze with Win 7 and the right software.
All in all, it will be a powerful config.
I'm trying hard to resist temptation and caving in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DBordello /forum/post/16892434
This should have no trouble with BD playback (and mkv) with multichannel LPCM.
Comments?
Sounds good.
You shouldn't, if everything goes well.
ASUS is a dependable company with good products, the board has good ratings.
About the video card, I generally am not bothered with fan noise so I don't prefer fanless cards because of heating issues. But usually they are ok.
BD playback should be a breeze with Win 7 and the right software.
All in all, it will be a powerful config.
I'm trying hard to resist temptation and caving in.
If you buy a 785G mb such as GA-MA785G-UD3H , you don't need a discrete graphics card (785G is surely better than any other IGP). You can go with either two AOC-SASLP-MV8 PCIe x4 cards (software RAID, unRAID [when driver is ready], WHS) or two AOC-SAT2-MV8 PCI-X cards (unRAID, WHS) (or a more expensive RAID controller card) as a server mb.
Do you think a 785G based board or a discrete 4350 would be better?
The 785 has 7.1 capability, you don't need anything extra.
The 785G has the HD4200 graphics chip, so the base architecture will likely be the same.
However, the point was that with the X4 945 CPU you were getting a free motherboard. Saving $70 with these deals and spending $25 on a HD4350 is a no-brainer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DBordello /forum/post/16897453
Do you think a 785G based board or a discrete 4350 would be better?
The 785 has 7.1 capability, you don't need anything extra.
The 785G has the HD4200 graphics chip, so the base architecture will likely be the same.
However, the point was that with the X4 945 CPU you were getting a free motherboard. Saving $70 with these deals and spending $25 on a HD4350 is a no-brainer.
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
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