A barebone delight

[fathead]

Just stumbled across this little gem whilst looking for a few bios updates for my motherboard:





Its the ASUS P1-AH1 barebone & looks perfect for HTPC.

CPU

AMD Althon 64/X2 up to 4600+ GHz
Socket 939
1000/800/400 MHz

Chipset

North Bridge: nVidia Crush 51PV
South Bridge: nVidia MCP 51

Memory

2 x DDR DIMM
DDR 400/333/266
Support max. 2GB

Expansion Slots

2 x PCI

Graphics

Integrated DX9 Graphics


1 x ATA 100
1 x SATA I

LAN

10/100/1000 Mbps

Audio

Realtek ALC861
Azalia 6 Channel


Dimension (mm) W x H x D

91 x 357 x 275

Drive Bays

1 x 3.5"
1 x 5.25"

Front Panel

1 x CF card reader
1 x 3-in-1 Card Reader
1 x S/PDIF-out
2 x IEEE 1394 (6pin/4pin)
2 x USB 2.0
1 x Microphone
1 x Headphone


Rear Panel

2 x USB 2.0
1 x Line-In/Line-Out/Mic-in
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x Parallel Port
1 x Serial Port
1 x D-sub (VGA Out)
1 x DVI-out (VGA Out)
1 x S-Video (TV Out)
1 x Composite (TV Out)
1 x RJ45 LAN

Power Supply

250 W (PFC)

Key Features

Q-fan Technology
Recocery Pro
AntiVirus Solution
CrashFree BIOS2
Ez Flash BIOS
My Logo2

With onboard VGA & DVI + SPDIF & HD audio, this is effectivly a barebones version of the ASUS A8N-VM CSM motherboard. 2 free PCI slots as well make it a HTPC winner! :wink:

[rtv]

No S/PDIF out!? :?
I'm struggling with only 3 free pci slots but this might be enough for most people..

[fathead]

Originally Posted by rtv

No S/PDIF out!? :?
I'm struggling with only 3 free pci slots but this might be enough for most people..

Front Panel

1 x CF card reader
1 x 3-in-1 Card Reader
1 x S/PDIF-out
2 x IEEE 1394 (6pin/4pin)
2 x USB 2.0
1 x Microphone
1 x Headphone

[daveyboy]

Surely the SPDIF would have been better placed at the back rather than under the front panel?

For example, I would have the SPDIF permanently connected to an external receiver which would mean the front panel would always be open, and the cable is on show. Not good in the lounge, and the WAF would surely suffer!

Shame, coz it's a nice case otherwise.

[NorthernJohn]

Originally Posted by rtv

No S/PDIF out!? :?
...

If interested, check that the Composite TV-Out on the rear isn't switchable to SPDIF. When I was initially in the market, I think I saw these with that feature. Therefore, if using S-Video for the TV, you'll be good to go with the rear SPDIF.

[welkin]

ok the Pundit looks very Nice but it has some issues:


1.After a while it gets too hot !!!
2.You´ll have alot of trouble if you want to install a PVR 350 or a similiar big PCI card (but it works at least for me)
3. It´s getting louder and louder because of the heating prob

but all in all i´m still pleased with this barebone because it´s not expensive and powerfull enough for an htpc
But it´s not the best choice if you want an ultra silent htpc

mfg
welkin

[votim1781]

Pundit-R is very quiet if you change cooler fans!! it's little problem

[Spragleknas]

The P1-AH2 looks even more intresting:
Socket AM2

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?m...l1=1&l2=3&l3=0

[votim1781]

same problem its P1-AH2, you must change fans!! if you want silence!

[michaeldavies]

Hi all,

I'm very new to all of this so looking to build my first HTPC. Came across this forum and I love the P1-AH2. I have no problem replacing the fans and adding bits but my biggest problem is I can find anyone in the UK who I can buy this from!!!!

Driving me mad, I can find it on all sorts of danish sites etc. This would be the perfect starting machine to play with.

Ayone know where I can get this from? driving me mad!

oh and while I'm asking this.. whats the best duel DVB-T card to use with MP? (im a UK Freeview viewer)

Thanks for any responces to this

Michael