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Motherboard for Silverstone LC11 case?

1578 Views 32 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Ursa, Mar 25, 2005

Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · Mar 1, 2005

Hi Everyone:

Looking for a recommendation for a motherboard for the above-mentioned case.

Some notes:

1. Must have 2 USB header (for the 4 USB ports on the front panel)

2. Must have Firewire header (for the Firewire port on the side of the front panel)

3. Low power draw (PSU is 240W, and needs to power the board, 1 SATA drive, 1 DVD+RW drive, eVGA nVIDIA GeForce FX5700 Video Card and perhaps a sound card (if the onboard sound card isn't up to par).

Any suggestions?

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1 - 20 of 33 Posts

Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · #2 · Mar 1, 2005

I forgot to mention - must be micro-ATX form factor!

Regards,

Brian

Beefcake

· #3 · Mar 1, 2005

There are plenty that fit the bill....could you say what platform you are lookign at ?

Athlon XP

Athlon 64

Pentium

Other?

-Beef

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Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 1, 2005

Plenty? I've been searching around for hours and I couldn't find one, LOL. The FireWire header requirement tends to be the dealbreaker. Athlon XP would be fine - or a solution that works with the Pentium M. Trying to get the best performance for the lowest power requirement.

While this system is also likely to be used to play games, it's not going to be my uber-gaming PC. It WILL be called upon to drive an HP 2335 23" LCD monitor though

.

Kevin Haskins

· #5 · Mar 1, 2005

Brian,

You really limit yourself by picking a mATX board. If you go with the LC-04 case you can use a full size ATX board and pick from among MANY choices.

I'd recommend a AMD 64 based platform using the 939 socket. I'm not sure if this MB has Cool & Quite implimentation so that is something you may want to research. It will help cut heat production significantly by idling down the CPU clock at idle.

You may also want to consider the ATI 9600 series of video cards. They are considered one of the better low power video cards that can be passively cooled and don't heat up the case.

Here is a mATX board you might want to check out.

MSI mATX Board

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olyar15

· #6 · Mar 1, 2005

I have the Aopen Pentium M motherboard. It only has one USB header, so 2 of the front USB ports are not hooked up. The other ones I have been looking at inlcude the above-mentioned MSI board. Note that this is a PCIexpress board, so you will have to buy a PCIE riser.

Others that I have thought about include an Asus K8V-MX(socket 754), Intel 925-based motherboard (a low-end Prescott should be OK), and not much else.

One thing to note is that the LC11 has one serious design flaw. The AGP card uses the lowest cutout on the case, and the bottom lip of the case will likely interfere with the VGA or DVI plug, unless they are quite slim. Also, there is not much room between the video card and the bottom of the case, so 3rd party VGA coolers are almost out of the question if they require a back brace (Zalman VF700).

But it sure is a pretty case.

Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 1, 2005

Thanks for the responses so far.

On the MSI board recommendation, the PCI-Express requirement is an issue of concern. The LC11 doesn't ship with a PCI-Express riser card, and I'm not sure a 3rd party card would work. Is there an AGP 8x version of that board available?

Concerning the bottom lip of the case interfering with the VGA or DVI plug, that's nothing a few strokes with the dremel can't fix

.

LYU370

· #8 · Mar 1, 2005

Actually, I've been struggling trying to decide what case to use. Going back and forth between, the LC11, the LC10 or waiting for the LC14. I think I've finally decided on the LC11. While it says it only takes a mATX board, you can actually fit a full size ATX in there, BUT, you have to watch out what motherboard connectors are on the lower left corner, because that's where your DVD drive will end up being. If anything is sticking up there, you might be in trouble.

As for mATX boards, I've been looking at 915G boards and found the Abit IG80, 5.1 sound no S/Pdif connector though, and the FoxConn 915G7MC-ES also 5.1 but only has a S/PDIF header. Still thinking about the Asus P5GDC-V, S/PDIF connectors on the back and Intel's new 7.1 audio, but it's full size, so I have to see what connectors are in that corner. I might have to wait til I get the case so I can take some measurements.

I did run across several 2U PCIe riser cards that put the PCIe slot in the middle, so I don't think that will be an issue.

Andy

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davidwiz

· #9 · Mar 1, 2005

The nice part of the MSI board is the onboard video is actually pretty good and you may not need a seperate video card. Of course, this will depend on your needs.

Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 1, 2005

I've found two boards that might fit the bill, both available from NewEgg:

1. FOXCONN "760GXK8MB-ERS" SiS 760GX Chipset Motherboard For AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 CPU

2. FOXCONN "865M01-G-6ELS" i865G Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU

Both have onboard headers for 4 USB ports and 1 FireWire port, to match the LC11's front panel. However, the AMD board also has an audio I/O header while the the Intel board does not, which gives it a slight edge as the LC11 also has audio connectors on its front panel.

Which one of these would you consider to be the better choice, and why?

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olyar15

· #11 · Mar 1, 2005

Brian, I have also thought about the Dremel method, but I am concerned that it will cause a loss of a bit of structural integrity in the area that supports the expansion cards. This may be important if you have a fairly heavy heatsink on your graphics card.

I have ordered both a new AGP riser card and a PCIE riser card which will hopefully work with the case. I am expecting it to be delivered any day now, and will let you know how it works.

LYU370

· #12 · Mar 2, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by olyar15

I have ordered both a new AGP riser card and a PCIE riser card which will hopefully work with the case. I am expecting it to be delivered any day now, and will let you know how it works.

Which PCIe riser did you get, was it by chance this one? http://www.mypccase.com/2uriw2x32and.html

Just wondering.

Andy

Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 2, 2005

What do you think of this loadout?

SilverStone Silver MATX case, US$160

Windows XP Pro OEM, US$160

FOXCONN 760GXK8MB-ERS, US$73

AMD Athlon 64 2800, US$120

512 MB RAM (400 MHz), US$60

Samsung 160GB SATA HDD, US$99

Samsung DVD+RW drive, US$60

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce FX5700, US$209

TOTAL - US$941

Notes:

1. The FOXCONN mboard is the only one I've found so far that provides the USB, Firewire and audio headers (the LC11 case has ports for same on the front panel).

2. The EVGA video card solution comes with remote and HTPC software. An alternative may be one of the ATI AIW solutions.

3. May go with a simple USB keyboard / mouse. They'll hardly be connected, as the primary use for this PC will be for playback of movies and music. The keyboard / mouse will be required for gaming though

.

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LYU370

· #14 · Mar 2, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian Steele

I've found two boards that might fit the bill, both available from NewEgg:

1. FOXCONN "760GXK8MB-ERS" SiS 760GX Chipset Motherboard For AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 CPU

2. FOXCONN "865M01-G-6ELS" i865G Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU

Both have onboard headers for 4 USB ports and 1 FireWire port, to match the LC11's front panel. However, the AMD board also has an audio I/O header while the the Intel board does not, which gives it a slight edge as the LC11 also has audio connectors on its front panel.

Which one of these would you consider to be the better choice, and why?

The Intel board does have audio headers, NewEgg doesn't always give you every little detail. http://www.foxconnchannel.com/redesi...=865M01-G-6ELS

Personally I prefer boards with Intel chipsets, I think they are more stable. I avoid SIS, VIA, and ATI whenever possible. But that's just personal preference based on past experiences, others may disagree.

Andy

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Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 2, 2005

Good catch there.

The AMD board also comes with RAID 1 though, which may come in handy if I want to insert a backup disk at a later date. And the AMD processors are usually cheaper

. Difficult choice though (and I somewhat agree with you wrt chipsets).

LYU370

· #16 · Mar 2, 2005

What are you going to use as a front end? You might want to look at MCE instead of XP, also any reason you're choosing Pro over Home?. Check out pcalchemy.com for the case, they also have a good reputation. Not sure about the video card, don't think MCE supports the TV tuner in it, Sage TV doesn't support it, Beyond TV might. So if you don't like the NVidia app that comes with it, you might have limited choices for software.

Andy

Brian Steele

Discussion Starter · #17 · Mar 2, 2005

Definitely XP over Home (network support to start - this PC is going to be connected to my LAN at home). I'm not sure I want to go to MCE - any particular advantage to doing so?

I think the Nvidia card is supported by MCE - the Nvidia site suggests as much. I'll likely be using the Nvidia app though.

olyar15

· #18 · Mar 2, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by LYU370
Which PCIe riser did you get, was it by chance this one? http://www.mypccase.com/2uriw2x32and.html

Just wondering.

Andy

Can't really tell from the picture, but I think it looks something like that. Haven't received mine yet.

I ordered mine from www.ameri-rack.com

I purchased the ARC2-790, and also an AGP version (just in case).

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LYU370

· #19 · Mar 2, 2005

Yep, that was the other place that I found. How are their prices? They don't list them on the website.

Andy

olyar15

· #20 · Mar 2, 2005

I paid $50 dollars for the PCIE version.

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

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