Blue Ray capable Mobo and processor?

sastusbulbas

sastusbulbas

sastusbulbas

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Could someone specify a few options of motherboard and processor choices for smooth Blue Ray playback?

I would like to build a PC with an HDMI output with which I can play rented Blue Ray discs through, with smooth playback.

Any recommendations?

Cheers,
Steve
 
I have read that revision 2.0 is the latest Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G to go for, is this available?

What about processors and memory can this be taken as far as the AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 or even the AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 940 Black Edition with PC-8500?

What would be a good choice of memory and processor for all round media and music use?

Ta,
Steve
 
The processor I used was the AMD X2 4850e (e for efficient) and just 2.5ghz and works an absolute treat :) very happy with it.

So far I have 2tb (2 x 1tb Samsung hd) and getting a third very soon. All depends on how much memory you need.
 
I used the GA-MA78GM-S2H with an AMD X2 4850e. No need for a graphics card; absolutely superb, and amazingly cool!

:)
 
How does this sound?

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G Micro-ATX Motherboard
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9150e 1.80GHz (Socket AM2+)
Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 TwinX (2x2GB)

Maybe with a new 320gig Samsung Hard drive for the OS?

Is the processor and Memory overkill? And what about the AMD Dual core 7750 or Phenom quad core 9950 black editions, would these be noisier?

Is it true that I would not be able to play games such as C&C 3 and Red Alert 3 on medium to high settings on the onboard graphics? If so, how would the above perform with an ATI 4850 as a stop gap before another build for games?
 
But OC don't have the 4850e, is the 7750 just as suitable? and would PC-8500 be overkill, particularly if I want to use it as a between stop gap for games, or even upgrade it with components which will be moved on to an AM3 board?

Is 4gig not better suited to Vista or Windows 7?
 
If you want smooth playback and have a 24hz/fps capable TV you should avoid the G35/45 chipsets as they can't do 24hz without glitches.

If you also want to be able to put multichannel HD audio over HDMI the 780g can't do this only stereo. This leaves the 8200/8300 for AMD chips or 9300/9400 for Intel chips that can do 24hz and multichannel HD audio these chipset boards are regarded by many as the best current all in one solution for a HTPC. I run a HTPC with a 8200 chipset and a 4850e and it plays everything and runs cool its all you need for a HTPC really cheap aswell the chip and MB were only £100.
 
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Regarding CPU use, I was under the impression that the Revision 2 version of this board was suitable for processors up to 140w.

Quote,
This leaves the 8200/8300 for AMD chips or 9300/9400 for Intel chips that can do 24hz and multichannel HD audio.

So can someone name the top HTPC motherboards to look at? With these options?

What I am after is something which WILL be capable of 24hz and multi channel if required, with replay from a Blueray drive.

I will also be interested in going 64bit at some point.

It would be nice if I could use this motherboard as a path for some better components for another rig, hence I thought AMD "might" be a decent choice, as I could have added a Phenom II 940 quad core and more pc-8500, and an ATI 4850 bit by bit then pass them to something like the Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P for a reasonable gaming and do it all rig. Leaving me with a decent Media PC for a second system?

I cannot see any such upgrade path with the Intel options, and I am not sure if this sort of thing is worthwhile. (Though from what I have read the Phenom II is not as good as the Q6600)

Maybe I should just stick my old AGP 3850 and PC 3500 into an Asrock board with an Intel 5200? And forget a Blueray drive?
 
AMD is still a decent choice - I'm happy with my intel rigs though.

780g is (IMO) the best choice for integrated HTPC boards out there, but if you plan on getting a 4850 in the future I'd get the CPU/board combo & a lower grade card (3450) for HTPC duties the get the 4850 later.

& get the blu-ray drive as well. ;)
 
Grimley said:
AMD is still a decent choice - I'm happy with my intel rigs though.

780g is (IMO) the best choice for integrated HTPC boards out there, but if you plan on getting a 4850 in the future I'd get the CPU/board combo & a lower grade card (3450) for HTPC duties the get the 4850 later.

& get the blu-ray drive as well. ;)
Click to expand...

The 780g can't do multi channel HD audio over HDMI which the OP wants.

sastusbulbas said:
So can someone name the top HTPC motherboards to look at? With these options?
Click to expand...

I have a couple HTPCs with these all in one boards, first board is a Abit A-N78HD running a AMD 4580e and a LG blu-ray/hd-dvd drive with 2 gig of ram and Vista 32bit it plays everything and outputs 24hz with HD audio fine. Good combination at under £200 for the CPU/MB/RAM/Blu-ray & HD-DVD combo drive.

Second one is a Asus P5N7A-VM running a Intel E6600 with 4 gigs of ram and Vista 64bit this runs everything again however the speed of the processor with the extra RAM helps make windows feel a bit quicker so I use this via terminal services for downloads etc.

I went the other way to what you plan and the intel system was made up of bits left when I upgraded my main PC. I ran it with a normal motherboard and a ATI 2600XT and it worked fine until the MB and PSU failed so you could get away with a cheap MB and seperate grahics card should still be able to play Blu-ray/HD-DVD fine I have never seen even the 4850e run over 50% CPU usage playing back HD media and that was a 1080p trailer which wasn't being hardware accelerated by the graphics card. Playing a blu-ray disk I think it hovers around 15-20%.

Not sure how important power usage is to you but the AMD system playing back a blu-ray would use 47watts before I changed the motherboard my Intel system with the dedicated graphics card was pulling just under 200watts which is quite a big difference. I personally don't really base the purchase on power usage but some poeple find this important.
 
Dangerous Dave said:
Not sure how important power usage is to you but the AMD system playing back a blu-ray would use 47watts before I changed the motherboard my Intel system with the dedicated graphics card was pulling just under 200watts which is quite a big difference. I personally don't really base the purchase on power usage but some poeple find this important.
Click to expand...

For me it is quite important and I'm amazed at what you have written on the 47w used by an AMD system playing a BD disc. Could you give some more details of that system please.

As a rough guide I was reading...

http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3432&p=11

and I have found that my HTPC pulls around 85w at idle and around 95w when playing a 1080p movie. NO CPU power saving features have been applied though as yet.
 
Vimes said:
For me it is quite important and I'm amazed at what you have written on the 47w used by an AMD system playing a BD disc. Could you give some more details of that system please.

As a rough guide I was reading...

http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3432&p=11

and I have found that my HTPC pulls around 85w at idle and around 95w when playing a 1080p movie. NO CPU power saving features have been applied though as yet.
Click to expand...

Its a Abit A-N78HD 8200 motherboard with a 4850e processor with cool n quiet enabled, 2gigs of ram and Samsung 500gig drive HD and the LG blu-ray drive. The PSU is Enermax modular 400watt model which is suppose to be very efficient there are no case fans bar the PSUs one which is silent.

I was suprised at the power usage myself more at the difference from my other HTPC with a dedicated grahics card and MB although it has 3 HDs and two optical drives and a couple of case fans. I suspect my new intel 9300 board will be around 50 watts aswell but I only had the power meter on loan as someone had asked how much power the AMD system used.

Reading the article they have the 8200 board taking almost 100watts my one didn't even take that at boot up when power usage spikes. I can't recall what the exact idle power usage was but it was over 40watts as I was suprised that it didn't go up much when starting the movie.
 
Ok,

So what HDMI equipped motherboards have OC got which are capable of Bluray output AND multi channel audio via their HDMI output?

If it cannot do Audio over the HDMI can I not use a sound card?

What other options do OC stock which I should consider?

Steve
 
sastusbulbas said:
Ok,

So what HDMI equipped motherboards have OC got which are capable of Bluray output AND multi channel audio via their HDMI output?

If it cannot do Audio over the HDMI can I not use a sound card?

What other options do OC stock which I should consider?

Steve
Click to expand...

Good point looking now they don't stock either ! The two Asus 8200 boards under AMD AM2 Micro-ATX will offer what you are looking for.

You can use the 6 channel out on a sound card to output HD audio however the playback software downsamples the output as its not classed as secure path and unless you have a good sound card the preouts generally sound poor. There is only one sound card that can output HD audio via HDMI the Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 and its £130 although offers bit streaming and the software to playback blu-ray (its Arcsoft TMT). They have just fixed the card so it can pass through 24hz OK the original cards couldn't do this.

You can use the ATI 4xxx grahics cards for HD audio out of the HDMI port these are good aswell although I had trouble passively cooling my 2600XT the card worked fine and sat around a pretty normal 60c but the amount of heat it generated in the case was astounding like having a mini radiator.
 
One of the reasons I am undecided is that I may want a minimal but reasonable, quiet and powerful but cool PC with HDMI output for audio and movie use. But maybe build another PC later for only gaming. Though I am not sure if I want one box or two.

If the Asrock AGP combo board which OC had could have ran a sata optic drive I would have been tempted with that, running my HIS 3850 AGP with the HDMI dongle as a stop gap.

This PC is too noisy though, something quiet and efficient would be preferred for the media and general computing duties? Hence I am still wondering how useful and quiet the 9150e would be in a micro ATX case with an HDMI output into a plasma.
 
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