motherboard with TV-out (micro atx)? (1 Viewer)

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I was looking for a motherboard which support either the Athlon 64 chips or P4 chips.. I haven't bought my chip yet so it doesn't matter..

It is to go inside a htpc case mce-301.

Does anyone know of a good motherboard which has a footprint of microatx with built in tv-out...

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

 

[Timmay]

You should have a look at the RS480M2 from MSI:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=639

It comes with a Radeon X200 onboard with tv-out and is for Athlon64 processors.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Wow that does look nice. Have you (or anyone else here) tried it?

Shame it is AMD based though. It was pointed out to me recently that the AMD processors do not have a built in temperature monitor like their Intel counterparts do. This is particularly important for a system intended to run 24/7 unattended. And even more important if the MB will be placed in a piece of furniture instead of a traditional case.

Any others out there that are Pentium based?

 

[Marcusb]

The AMD 64bit chips have Cool and Quiet technology.
They are able to lower the frequency and voltage of the chip when the processor isn't working too hard. This does exactly as the name suggests.
Part of this is also thermal control, although nearly all AMD motherboards have the capability of shutting down the Chip if it gets too hot, anyway.

I would much rather have an AMD than intel, you pay much less for a much better chip.

I am also thinking about getting this motherboard.

 

[ktg]

I agree with marcusb. In addition, the typical power consumption of an Athlon 64 up to 3500+ is only 68W max, which is significantly less than the consumption of an Intel chip with the same clock rate.
On the other side - I wouldn't rely on TV-out, because I made some bad experiences. In my case, I used a graphics card with TV-out, i.e. S-video via SCART-converter to my TV set with unacceptable results, so I had to buy an external VGA->SCART-converter. Maybe it's better, if your TV has an genuine S-video input, but the best solution would be a LCD-TV with DVI or at least VGA input, for which I'm now trying to fetch the money.

 

[innersky]

I have that msi motherboard, and I'm not happy with it. The qualily of the TV-out is worse than the tv-out of my 4-year old portable (has also ati graphics card, I think M4)
TV-out is not sharp enough. I'm planning now to make a VGA-RGB cable to get better picture quality.
Second remark, this MB does not support AMD Cool'n Quiet...(but that wasn't a problem for me)
And, be aware that this board does not have a DVI output.

 

[innersky]

ktg, what VGA->SCART-converter do you use, and how is the quality?

 

[Marcusb]

innersky, thanks for the feedback.
I currently have an Albatron mATX with an AMD 2500XP and it runs great. The NForce2 onboard graphics are really good too (as far as I can tell with just an RCA cable to my tv.
I could use a little more grunt and I was trying to decide between upgrading to a 3200XP or taking the plunge with the MSI and an AMD 64.
I think the 3200 is the way to go then...

 

[ktg]

innersky
I was very unhappy with the poor TV-out on my graphics card Sapphire Atlantis 9200SE. High contrasts (i.e. white on black etc.) resulted in colourful artefacts at the edges like a pearly necklace. Because of the obviously different results with homemade solutions, as I read here, I bought this device http://www.grandtec.com/xppro.htm in a local store and I am glad with it. There are a lot of adjustments possible to match the TV perfectly, partly immediately via buttons, partly via OSD. Even on a small 15" TV (I use the RGB option!), which I made the first test with, I can read the menues, and no flicker at all. But don't expect to get crisp characters with resolutions beyond 800x600 - that's simply impossible. Sold for 99.95€ it's not really on the cheap side, but highly recommended.