Need advice on HTPC

439 Views 8 Replies 3 Participants Last post by toast, Mar 3, 2009

toast

Discussion Starter · Mar 3, 2009

First things first Im sticking with the 775 intel because I have those parts laying around NEEDING to be used... Here is what im thinking...

Parts laying around:
2GB of ram
2160
300 watt PSU
80GB IDE HD
DVD Rom

What I need:
MOBO
here is that IM looking at:
GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9400 HDMI Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128363
or
EVGA 113-YW-E115-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300 HDMI ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188035

Responders please give me reasons to why one or the other I dont want any fanboy respondes I know they are both good boards.. The Gigabyte recieved really good reviews for the performance over the 9300 ASUS, and that ASUS was the best of the 9300's at the time of the Gigabyte 9400 review. I'm courious if the 2160 is going to hold back the Gigabyte or not for the video performance.

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Tator Tot

· #2 · Mar 3, 2009

1. No your CPU will not hold back the onboard video. (93/400)

2. What is the PSU you are trying to run this machine with?

3. I would get the EVGA board for the lifetime warranty.

Final/Side Note: You will need a SATA HDD for either of those boards to load into an OS as their chipsets do not allow for them to do so with IDE hard drives.

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toast

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 3, 2009

Hay tator tks for the heads up.. that really stinks though..

I didnt want to purchase another drive I have plenty laying around.. and the PSU I was going to use was the Antec SL300S true power. It has a +4 connector so I thought I would give it at least a try..

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Tator Tot

· #4 · Mar 3, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by toast

Hay tator tks for the heads up.. that really stinks though..

As long as you have a 20+4 pin(or 24pin) mobo connector and a 4 pin (4+4 or 8pin works aswell) for CPU power you should be fine.

It is important for HTPCs to have decent PSUs as if you have a crappy one they heat up and can be noisy which don't want in a HTPC

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toast

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 3, 2009

ya this thing is going into an old box, nothing pretty.. We just cancelled our tv and just want some on the side entertainment from time to time.. Another words no crampy HTPC box.. Tks for the advices though.. another rep+ for you even though I knew that stuff...

I think I will go with the Gigabyte if I can bring myself to getting another drive...

It has better encoding for the audio with bluyray compared with the ASUS 9300. No DTS and the such.. you know Need all those extras...

Yes Im hooking it up to a reciever just for the sound...

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DuckieHo

· #6 · Mar 3, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tator Tot

3. I would get the EVGA board for the lifetime warranty.

It is TR model.... this means a 1 year warranty with an additional 1 year if you register within 30 days of purchase. It is not lifetime.

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toast

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 3, 2009

tks duckie...

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Tator Tot

· #8 · Mar 3, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieHo

It is TR model.... this means a 1 year warranty with an additional 1 year if you register within 30 days of purchase. It is not lifetime.

Ah, thanks for catching my mistake Duckie.

its the A1's that are Lifetime warranty.

With that I would get the gigabyte because it is a 3 year warranty I do believe. (Not 100% sure, never had to RMA a Gigabyte board before lol <3 GB)

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toast

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 3, 2009

The only Gigabyte that I have owned just died after 8yrs...

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