[Tad Everest]

I am researching components for an HTPC that I'm going to build, but I'm having trouble picking a motherboard. I have read (portions) of several threads they but they are so long (some over 50 pages) that I can't get through them.


I will be watching ripped dvds stored on harddrive, Bluray, and using it as a DVR, no games. I already own an Antec Fusion case and Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit. I would like to connect to my TV via HDMI for both video and sound.


Please suggest mobo and TV capture cards.

 

[DJWikiera]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tad Everest /forum/post/15500338


I am researching components for an HTPC that I'm going to build, but I'm having trouble picking a motherboard. I have read (portions) of several threads they but they are so long (some over 50 pages) that I can't get through them.


I will be watching ripped dvds stored on harddrive, Bluray, and using it as a DVR, no games. I already own an Antec Fusion case and Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit. I would like to connect to my TV via HDMI for both video and sound.


Please suggest mobo and TV capture cards.

Finish your research.

Suggestions have been made in numerous threads. When your done then ask questions about components you'd like.

 

[Calcvictim]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tad Everest /forum/post/15500338


I am researching components for an HTPC that I'm going to build, but I'm having trouble picking a motherboard. I have read (portions) of several threads they but they are so long (some over 50 pages) that I can't get through them.


I will be watching ripped dvds stored on harddrive, Bluray, and using it as a DVR, no games. I already own an Antec Fusion case and Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit. I would like to connect to my TV via HDMI for both video and sound.


Please suggest mobo and TV capture cards.

the answer depends on your budget, do you want to overclock?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DJWikiera /forum/post/15500485


Finish your research.

Suggestions have been made in numerous threads. When your done then ask questions about components you'd like.

I saw your edit, stop being an ass.

 

[GooberedUp]

I think the OP needs to look through the threads before asking this question. It's been asked and answered over and over. This will just add to the clutter.

 

[ilovejedd]

Read renethx's excellent guide . When you're done looking at his recommendations, choose one that you like (either based on price, aesthetics or brand loyalty) and work from there. Any of his recommended systems will play Blu-ray. He even posted a nifty feature comparison table for quick reference.


Also, where will you record from and what do you want to record? We can't suggest TV Tuner/capture cards until we know what the source will be.

 

[Tad Everest]

@ilovejedd


Thanks for pointing me here, I had seen it before but didn't realize it had been updated so recently. I will research some of the up to date recommendations.


@GooberedUp


I know I asked some fairly vague questions, but I thought the purpose of this forum was to help people not keep clutter to a minimum.

 

[bpdski]

The problem is it's hard to find a guide that's buried on page 51 of a post somewhere. Thanks for that link, I've bookmarked it.


Tad, I just finished researching and buying parts for my own HTPC. I decided to go with AMD because it's so much cheaper and more than adequate to run an HTPC. I bought a Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3P mobo ($80), AMD 5000 CPU ($50) and Biostar 4650 DDR3 card ($70) from newegg. I spent a lot of time looking at mobos and wanted one with firewire and spdif ports on the back. This board has about every port you could want on the back. I opted for the 4650 video instead of getting a 780G mobo with built in video because not all the AVIVO features are available with the 780G because of it's limited power. The Biostar is the only board on newegg with DDR3 which is much faster and uses less power and is also one of the cheapest 4650s. I've put it all together and installed XP SP3 on it and the latest ATI Catalyst drivers and everything plays beautifully with full hardware acceleration. I can play files or blu-ray discs and my cpu usage is 10-20%.


Hope that helps.


- Brian

 

[CSMR]

Yes, with threads on popular hardware/software reaching several thousand messages this forum is not one that values cleanliness

.


I would say the best bets currently for motherboard chipsets are 780G on the AMD platform and NVidia 9300 (or DG45FC if you want miniitx) for intel.

 

[ilovejedd]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bpdski /forum/post/15502637


The problem is it's hard to find a guide that's buried on page 51 of a post somewhere. Thanks for that link, I've bookmarked it.

Page 85 out of (currently) 182 pages, actually. There's also a link for it on the first post.

I've modified the low-end Intel/NVIDIA build for mine:

Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovejedd /forum/post/15460830

System

• CPU: Pentium Dual-Core E5200 2.50GHz Socket 775, $84.
• CPU Cooler: Scythe SHURIKEN SCSK-1000, $30.
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H GeForce 9400 and nForce 730i chipset microATX, $135.
• Memory: Kingston KVR800D2N6K2/4G DDR2-800 2 x 2GB Kit, $32.
• Graphics Card: GeForce 9400 (integrated in the motherboard chipset), $0.
• HDD: Western Digital WD10EADS 1TB SATA, $110.
• PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS370X 370W 80 PLUS, $55.
• Case: Lian Li PC-C37B, $150.
• Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech diNovo Edge, $158.
• TV Tuner: Hauppauge HVR-2250 Media Center Kit, $140.
• Total Cost: $894

Just placed the order on Newegg, Amazon and Kingston.

*sigh* 1/3 of my cost is just for peripherals (keyboard & TV tuner). Case, CPU cooler and power supply make up 1/4. Funny how the "guts" of the HTPC is less than half the total cost...

 

[Tad Everest]

I'm currently reading the post on the GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H. Without starting another thread on it, is there any major reasons not to use this board?

 

[bpdski]

Gigabyte makes great boards and that looks like a good Intel solution. I only went with AMD to keep my cost as low as possible. The only thing I would say about this board is it does not have a coax spdif output, only optical. If that works for you, then I would get it.