Motherboard suggestion needed (1 Viewer)

[umoraes]

Hi !

I'm planning to build my first HTPC and I'd like your help to choose beetween some motherboards. The models are:

Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H/GeForce 7100/nForce 630i
Pros:
+ HDMI
+ Optical S/PDIF Out
+ SVIDEO/COMPONENT OUTPUT (HDTV Bracket)
Cons:
--GEFORCE 7050PV->HW ACCELERATION
-NVIDIA PureVideo


ABIT AN-M2HD (LE) AM2+/AM2 GeForce7050PV/ nForce630a HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard + Pros:
PROS:
GEFORCE 7050PV->HW ACCELERATION
+NVIDIA PureVideo
+1 x HDMI
+1x Optical S/PDIF Out
Cons:
--NO SVIDEO
-COMPONENT OUTPUT



Biostar TF7050-M2
Pros
+GEFORCE 7050PV->
HW ACCELERATION
+NVIDIA PureVideo
+ HDMI
+ SVIDEO

Cons:
- Optical S/PDIF Out


I'll be using this HTPC to play dvd, music, divx/xvid files to a 52" FULL HD TV. I plan to use the HDMI to TV, and digital audio to my receiver (old one without HDMI input/output). I still need SVIDEO to send video signal to my old receiver (I has a projector connected to the receiver)

About playing Blue ray, HD DVD, or H264, it's not a mandatory requirement, but it would be great.

I selected some motherboards with 7050PV because it has HW acceleration, but I don't know if it works with with h264 acceleration. talking about HW acceleration, I need portugues subtitles. Does subtitle work with HW Acceleration ?

Please, comments....


Ulysses

 

[SwingSultan]

the hardware accelleration doesnt wirk with 1080 hd material. the only chipset thats capable of decoding full hd material is the amd 780g chipset for amd cpus. you would save power by using an amd cpu anyway. amds cool n quiet conserves more power and heat than intels eist. you dont need that much cpu power for an htpc if you dont have superspecial demands on your machine.

if you need a video out you probably need an extra graphics card. why dont you connect the projector directly with the pc? shouldnt those tings have vga oder hdmi inputs too? besides the quality of those svideo cables isnt that great either.

 

[rtv]

Hi !

I'm planning to build my first HTPC and I'd like your help to choose beetween some motherboards. The models are:

Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H/GeForce 7100/nForce 630i

Definately wait a few days until this one's availbility gets better:
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, 780G (dual PC2-8500U DDR2) Preisvergleich bei Geizhals.at Deutschland (sorry for german but it has the product name).

First reports in Forums are: < 30% cpu load even deinterlacing 1080i content in hardware.

 

[idioteque]

please be aware when using HW card. No off CPU offloading when upscaling non-FULL HD with ffdshow to 1080.

in other words. if you want to use your TV to the max then most source files will not be 1080 FULL HD. So either the TV upscale or your computer does. Using FFDshow gives you much more options to use for upscaling, BUT, no HW acceleration is available.

So the videocard is less important and only important if you have enough 1080 source material that does not need upscaling.

 

[robyf]

It's better to use an external video card. This way you can easily upgrade it if you need. Most of onboard chips are also one generation old chips. So get an ATI HD2600 silent (hd 2400 has some performance problems with fullhd) or a new 3400.

 

[finrudd341]

Hi,

I can't comment on your mobo questions, but I will be checking back to see what the recommendations are. On another matter - are you living in Brazil, and if so, have you thought of humidity and if that is a problem? How are you getting on sourcing all the parts in Brazil? Just curios, as I plan to move there (Santa Catarina) in about 12-18 months time.

 

[umoraes]

Thank for answering my question !!!! I'll wait next week for the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H mobo.

Finrudd341, I'll be in US next month, so I'll buy all equipment there. About the humidity, there's no problem with it until today.