SteffenJones,
With:
You probably know there are ready-made PC's that have VESA screws to mount them behind the wall mounted TV set that can do all the client stuff for Media Portal?
These kind of devices mostly will use fully integrated motherboards and often even run on an energy friendly (slower) ATOM processor.
I mean:
There are barebone or fully equiped PC's that can save you the hassle to assamble one yourself, that deliver good quality. These sometimes even run on ATOM processors. So, In other words:
An HTPC does not need to be a superpower-high-end-the-sky-is-the-limit-rocket-science-nitrogen-cooled type of thing. Even a low-end PC in most cases can do the job.
On the other end, as the primary purpose is watching movies and TV, the video chip is quite an important item.
The intel DG45ID has the same video and sound chips as my DG45FC, and is compatible with the same set of processors. The DG45ID has 2xUSB and 2XFirewire extra
So I can guarantee you it does the job.
Purely based on specs, the ASUS and the gigabyte boards are quite comparable, with even more connectivity, and they are based on the same northbridge chipset, so it should also be able to do the job.
(I don't have experience with the realtek audio chips used on them, in combination with MediaPortal, so maybe another forum member can comment on that)
PS:
On my DG45FC in combination with the HFX case, I had to move the cooling fins from the northbridge to the southbridge, and to use VLP memory (very low profile) to be able to fit the blu ray disk in the case. I knew that I would need to do that before I bought the equipment.
Hope this helps you a bit further in making some decisions.
With:
You probably know there are ready-made PC's that have VESA screws to mount them behind the wall mounted TV set that can do all the client stuff for Media Portal?
These kind of devices mostly will use fully integrated motherboards and often even run on an energy friendly (slower) ATOM processor.
I mean:
There are barebone or fully equiped PC's that can save you the hassle to assamble one yourself, that deliver good quality. These sometimes even run on ATOM processors. So, In other words:
An HTPC does not need to be a superpower-high-end-the-sky-is-the-limit-rocket-science-nitrogen-cooled type of thing. Even a low-end PC in most cases can do the job.
On the other end, as the primary purpose is watching movies and TV, the video chip is quite an important item.
The intel DG45ID has the same video and sound chips as my DG45FC, and is compatible with the same set of processors. The DG45ID has 2xUSB and 2XFirewire extra
So I can guarantee you it does the job.
Purely based on specs, the ASUS and the gigabyte boards are quite comparable, with even more connectivity, and they are based on the same northbridge chipset, so it should also be able to do the job.
(I don't have experience with the realtek audio chips used on them, in combination with MediaPortal, so maybe another forum member can comment on that)
PS:
On my DG45FC in combination with the HFX case, I had to move the cooling fins from the northbridge to the southbridge, and to use VLP memory (very low profile) to be able to fit the blu ray disk in the case. I knew that I would need to do that before I bought the equipment.
Hope this helps you a bit further in making some decisions.