I too would like an mATX board spec'd for me please!
- Thread starter Butters
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In my opinion, yes.
No but it's the cheapest. As you don't want features, gaming, or overclocking, you may as well just get the cheapest board available.
If you do want features, then the recommendation changes.
The "daddy" of Core 2 mATX boards is probably the P5E-VM, but it goes for double the price of the board already recommended.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-091-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326
Great board, and with the f4a beta bios clocks great (1:1 on 1066 chips.)
800 fsb chips there ain't any 1:1 dividers.
I've tried a few chips in it and it's great. My quad managed 3.7 without any hassle, and my e6400 is at 3.2.
The nice thing about the board, it can take all the new chips also.
Great board, and with the f4a beta bios clocks great (1:1 on 1066 chips.)
800 fsb chips there ain't any 1:1 dividers.
I've tried a few chips in it and it's great. My quad managed 3.7 without any hassle, and my e6400 is at 3.2.
The nice thing about the board, it can take all the new chips also.
No but it's the cheapest. As you don't want features, gaming, or overclocking, you may as well just get the cheapest board available.
If you do want features, then the recommendation changes.
The "daddy" of Core 2 mATX boards is probably the P5E-VM, but it goes for double the price of the board already recommended.
The GMA X3500 adds very little to the X3000 thats in the G965 chipset...other than extra SATA and USB ports, I can't see any reason to buy the P5E-VM.
Man of Honour
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Hey Butters, I have just built an HTPC based setup consisting of the following.
Antec NSK 2480 Desktop Case - 380W Earth Watts PSU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ 2.10GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit
Samsung SH-S203NRSMN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Beige/Black/Silver) - Retail
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
Abit AN-M2 Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Total : £288.92
Since I wasn't going to be doing any overclocking, I chose an AMD setup. The AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ is around the performance of the Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 and is slightly cheaper along with the AMD Micro ATX Motherboard. The particular motherboard I purchased is absolutely fantastic, no problems what so ever, nice layout and it even has a DVI port which is very nice.
Overall I am extremely pleased with the setup I had ordered. It's running like a dream.
If you are not looking to overclock or do any fancy things with the system, then one of the cheaper motherboards will be perfectly fine.
Antec NSK 2480 Desktop Case - 380W Earth Watts PSU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ 2.10GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C5 Dual Channel Kit
Samsung SH-S203NRSMN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Beige/Black/Silver) - Retail
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM - 1Pk
Abit AN-M2 Micro ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Total : £288.92
Since I wasn't going to be doing any overclocking, I chose an AMD setup. The AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ is around the performance of the Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 and is slightly cheaper along with the AMD Micro ATX Motherboard. The particular motherboard I purchased is absolutely fantastic, no problems what so ever, nice layout and it even has a DVI port which is very nice.
Overall I am extremely pleased with the setup I had ordered. It's running like a dream.
If you are not looking to overclock or do any fancy things with the system, then one of the cheaper motherboards will be perfectly fine.
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Thanks, but I'd rather stick with Intel at the mo.
I'm looking for a feature rich board thats quick and mATX and must have at least 3 SATA connectors and gigabit. Other than that, I dont care if it has no sound and no video. What ever happened to the days of pure boards which had none of this onboard gubbins?
I'm looking for a feature rich board thats quick and mATX and must have at least 3 SATA connectors and gigabit. Other than that, I dont care if it has no sound and no video. What ever happened to the days of pure boards which had none of this onboard gubbins?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-102-GI
Bought 2 of these recently for 2 different HTPC's and they are excellent motherboards, even have some decent overclock features if you wanted some. Just a problem with the expansion slot layout and battery placement but apart from that they are great li'l boards and I'd definetly buy another if I had to build another HTPC.
Bought 2 of these recently for 2 different HTPC's and they are excellent motherboards, even have some decent overclock features if you wanted some. Just a problem with the expansion slot layout and battery placement but apart from that they are great li'l boards and I'd definetly buy another if I had to build another HTPC.
No, neither can I.
I was just pointing out that it's the "top" board for Core 2 microATX.
No, neither can I.
I was just pointing out that it's the "top" board for Core 2 microATX.
Isn't that a bit subjective anyway?
Soldato
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Quick question: How do you get these to record from the TV? Via a PCI Card or USB device?
Best to use a PCI TV tuner card, unless you're fine with inputting audio seperately, in which case graphics cards with VIVO will do.
Isn't that a bit subjective anyway?
Yup, hence inverted commas!
On paper it's the best, however it's certainly not worth the extra over something like the P5K-VM or Gigabyte G33M-DS2R.
Looking over on AVSForum, the p5e-VM seems to be about the only Mobo that will do LPCM 7.1 over HDMI..
Just considereing this as a deciding factor, not sure if it's the G35 chipset or what..