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  Tom's Hardware UK and Ireland Forums » Homebuilt Systems » General Homebuilt » HTPC cpu/motherboard recommendations
 

HTPC cpu/motherboard recommendations

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 Thread : HTPC cpu/motherboard recommendations
 
Profile: stranger
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I have a working Beyond TV box, running on an old pentium in a tiny case with a cpu fan that could wake the neighbors. I'm thinking of moving it over to a new case and, well, since I have it open, why not make some minor improvements? My ultimate goal is to get it running w/ the Hauppauge HD PVR when they get their drivers worked out and Beyond TV puts out full support. It will have to be capable of recording and viewing HD programs, netflix, mlb.tv and setanta sports online; no gaming. So I am thinking of leaving out a video card entirely, letting the mobo handle it to avoid needing another fan (or cost). That means my motherboard needs a DVI out, 1394, and decent onboard video processing.

With that in mind, I'm considering a new motherboard and CPU that can handle the additional load. I'm considering 3 options:

1) The M2A-VM motherboard with X2 5000+ Black Edition. I figure the 5000+ should run cool (=quiet), but this option lacks 1394, meaning I would need to buy a PCI card to control my comcast STB. $129

2) Intel DG35EC with Intel Core 2 Duo E4700. This has DVI out, and firewire, but it runs a bit more expensive. $200

3) Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H. This guy has DVI out for connecting to LCD without a video card (=more heat, more fans, more noise), 1394 support, and an on-board HD3200. It looks like the HD3200 will be able to assist with the decoding of the H.264 created by the HD PVR, reducing the demand on the CPU? Is this the clear option?

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Profile: addict
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Go with the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H.

- Wolf sends


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System Specs:
ASRock 939Dual-SATAII/AMD X2 4800+/2 Gig RAM
NVidia Geforce 8800GTS-640/Creative X-FI Extreme Music/XP-64
Profile: nimble knuckle
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I agree with Wolf's motherboard recommendation. Far as CPU, I would go with one of the 45W X2's such as the 4850e.

Profile: old hand
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Another vote for 4850e and a 780G motherboard.

Maybe bump up to the GA-MA78GPM-DS2H which comes with onboard 128MB sideport memory so you don't have to share system memory for video.


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