[Leffe67]

All,


I am in the process of speccing out a media server which will also double as an HTPC. My plan is to use the Norco 4020 case and some combination of 3Ware raid controllers to handle a raid 6 array. I will likely need a combination of raid cards to handle the 20 hard drive bays in the Norco case, starting with an 8 or 12 port card, then adding the other when I exceed 8-12 drives. If I plan on eventually using two raid controllers in my system, it seems that it will limit my ability to utilize a non-integrated video card to handle HDMI/1080P output due to the limited number of PCIe slots in most motherboards available today.


I am currently considering the ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard for my system, due to the inclusion of the ATI 3300 video card. I will primarily be using the system for 1080P video playback and maybe a little gaming, if any. I intend to rip my dvd and blu-ray collection to .mkv files and keep them on the server. I want to be able to pass audio through the HDMI connection to my receiver, most of which will be in DD/DTS 5.1, but would like to pass 7.1, should it be possible. My current assumption is that since the audio signal is digital, and the DA conversion happens at the receiver, that this is fine...


Will the integrated ATI 3300 chipset work for me, or do I need to consider other options, such as a non-integrated card and a motherboard with more PCIe connections? Either way, I would love to know what you think and what hardware I should look at.


Thanks in advance for any advice.


Humbly,

Leffe67

 

[renethx]

HD 3300 does not support multichannel LPCM over HDMI. You'd better go with HD 4200. But 785G does not support split PCI Express x16 link. An exception is ASRock M3A785GXH/128M .

 

[Leffe67]

Thanks Renethx,


I gave it another look and am now thinking something along these lines MSI 790FX-GD70 paired with a SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100269VXLE . I realize this is a pretty dramatic swing from what I was looking at before as well as being a few hundred dollars more, but I would rather get it right. This will still leave me with an additional PCIe slot for something else.


Anyone have a preference for other motherboards / video cards along these lines? Again, I think I'll need two PCIe slots for two raid controllers. Thanks.

 

[renethx]

Yup if you want more than two PCIe 2.0 x8 slots, that's it (for AMD platform).

 

[ryan.w]

Unless I am missing something (or you do want more gaming power now) wouldnt this work? GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H

 

[renethx]

The second slot supports PCIe 1.x x4.