Looking for suitable mainboard AM2 (1 Viewer)

[Kian]

Hi guys,

I am quite a newbie in HTPC building and the only knowledge i got is surfing through this board

I have a pretty idea now how i will configure my HTPC. However, i am stills tuck with the mainboard.

i read about ASUS M2A-VM HDMI, 690G and it seems to be a good board. However, I am looking for something which really fits my needs nothing less or more (cost saving purposes)

So what i want to do is to use:
RAM: 2x 1024mb MDT
CPU: AMDAthlon 64 X2 4200
PSU: bequiet DarkPower 450W
HDD: Samsung t166 SATA II 500gb
DVB: Digital Everywhere FloppyDTV S2
GPU: Sapphire HD 3450 512mb (passive cooling) with hd audiocontroller and hdmi integrated http://www.sapphiretech.com/ge/products/products_overview.php?gpid=206&grp=3
Case: origenae s16v

Now given that my graphic-card has a hd audiocontroller and hdmi integrated i will not need an onboard gpu, am i right?
Is it also true that i would not need a seperate audio card for, e.g. SPDIF?

What i want to do with the HTPC is the following:
DVD, BlueRay Disc, Music (MP3 & CD),and x264 playback
DVB-T or DVB-S2 TV

My important question is:

what kind of mainboard would be most suitable given that it "only" needs to fulfill my requirements (i dont need onboard graphics for instance if i interpreted the graphic card that i want to buy correctly)? would you still recommend the ASUS M2A-VM HDMI, 690G?

my other questions:
is the PSU necessary= bequiet also has a "straight power" product line which is less expensive and allegedly good.
Which CPU cooler should i use to maintain a silent HTPC?
Is the setup silent enough?

i would be happy to read your comments.

Best,

Kian

 

[THDBASED]

Well I have this board and I am a very happy user! You can't use the latest drivers (up to 7.2) but that doesn't really affect me...

I am very impressed by how cool this board stays so it runs also very quiet, I can not hear it running at all actually.

 

[Kian]

hi,

thanks for you rpost.
why cant i use the latest drivers?
also, what kind of setup do you have that you dont here it running (do you mean the boarditself or your whole htpc configuration?)

 

[Dubyahjay]

I have the board also and love it, my setup is in my profile.

Check here https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/ati_690g_x1250_problems-t29894.html?t=29894&highlight=x1250 for answers about issues with the IGP.

 

[Kian]

But there is also the same board without HDMI. what is the difference?

 

[THDBASED]

hi,

thanks for you rpost.
why cant i use the latest drivers?
also, what kind of setup do you have that you dont here it running (do you mean the boarditself or your whole htpc configuration?)

There is a problem with flip used by most of the skins, if you are running the latest drivers MP freezes...
I have the board as my main HTPC indeed, as a CPU I have a X2 4400+ and 1 GB of ram.

 

[kiesow]

I suggest to use another board, there are too many issues with this one.

 

[THDBASED]

I suggest to use another board, there are too many issues with this one.

I do not have a single issue with this board. Could you please explain the problems you mean...

 

[Nemulate]

Personally I swapped this board for The Gigabyte version. If you look at Asus support forums many people complain about the bios upgrades etc. Also Gigabyte one has more features but at end of day if you prefer Asus then stick with this!

 

[Kian]

@ nemulate
whats the model nam eof the "gigabyte version"?

kiesow
why would you suggest another one and which one? any idea which board would fit my needs?