So I got my HTPC :)

fobose · 26 Mar 2009 at 22:18

Couple of pics, and a question for anyone with a G45 board using HDMI.

I have connected this to a 42" plasma TV (Panasonic TH-42PX80B). However, windows Vista sets the resolution to 1280x720, but the desktop has gone over the edges of the screen on all sides (so the start menu / taskbar / close window button are mostly off the screen).

In the display settings, it does not list the TV's resolution of 1366x768, and if I change it to anything else, windows insists that 1280x720p is the "optimum resolution". Has anyone with a G45 chipset board, using HDMI managed to get 1366x768 resolution displayed?

I have changed the aspect ratio from value of "100" on both vertical and horizonal settings to "60" in the Intels graphics options, which appears to have fixed the problem making the desktop fit on the screen perfectly. I would still like to be able to have it running at the correct resolution though!

Any help would be greatful

EdGey · 27 Mar 2009 at 00:24

nice looking case i must admit, but cant help with your problem sorry

r0zvad · 27 Mar 2009 at 02:35

As above. That looks like a really clean setup. Can you not get a silver fascia for your drive?

fobose · 27 Mar 2009 at 07:09

r0zvad said:
As above. That looks like a really clean setup. Can you not get a silver fascia for your drive?

I thought black would go really well with the black/silver look when I ordered, but it doesn't look as good as I thought it would! I might try and find a silver fascia, or attempt to spray it. I will probably upgrade to a blu ray player at a later date and will opt for a silver one.

The supplied PSU is a right PITA. Its got 2x sata connections (4 would have been ideal) and it has atleast 6 molex (might have been 8) and 2 floppy drive connectors. There are only 4 drive bays in total! For some reason the power LED has a molex connector rather than the mobo header.

Sash · 27 Mar 2009 at 07:44

You might need a driver update. I know with ati card there is something called overscan and underscan which will allow you to change the zoom of the desktop to fit the screen. Try google overscan programs.

xb8browney · 27 Mar 2009 at 07:49

Sash said:
You might need a driver update. I know with ati card there is something called overscan and underscan which will allow you to change the zoom of the desktop to fit the screen. Try google overscan programs.

I was trying to think what that feature was called as I had to use it with my HTPC

superflyguy · 27 Mar 2009 at 08:21

Is the problem resolved now?

fobose · 27 Mar 2009 at 08:23

I think I have the latest Intel IGP driver as I went straight to the intel site for the G45 and IGP driver, rather than using the CD's drivers.

Changing the "aspect ratio" from a value of 100 to 60 in the Intel's IGP software seems to have changed the zoom on the screen as the desktop now fits in the screen.

Perhaps the 1366x768 res is only available when using a VGA connection.

RobK · 27 Mar 2009 at 12:33

Love the mini Ninja! What have you replaced the tri-cool case fans with? I have the same case and only use one of the fans on low speed and can barely hear it. The PSU fan is the noisiest bit, especially since I have two optical drives in mine and so I can't get the PSU cables out of the way like yours.

Sash · 27 Mar 2009 at 12:51

fobose said:
Perhaps the 1366x768 res is only available when using a VGA connection.

Shouldnt really matter since HDMI is a lot better than VGA. Not sure why it would do that, but that res should be good enough for a Sofa PC anyway, bigger desktop font = better for HTPC imo.

gt_junkie · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:05

Mine did this (using a flycreek board) - locked my res @ 1280x720 and had me scrolling round the screen.

In the end i managed to sort it but i can't for the life of me remember how. :confused:

Think it may have been some kind of 1:1 setting in the TV.

gt

Django x2 · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:09

I have the same board P5Q-EM HDMI?

Working fine at 1366 x 768 here.

dlknight · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:10

fobose said:
I have connected this to a 42" plasma TV (Panasonic TH-42PX80B). However, windows Vista sets the resolution to 1280x720, but the desktop has gone over the edges of the screen on all sides (so the start menu / taskbar / close window button are mostly off the screen).

Good choice of television there Fobose

I picked mine up awhile ago when they were on sale at several outlets.

I'm using mine with a Linux media centre running Fedora 10 and Mythtv, video output in Linux is configured to output 1080p using the Panasonic's built-in EDID mode.

One problem I did have was that my X Windows desktop overlapped the edges of the screen. After messing around in Linux for ages I found an option in the TV's menu for overscan (default is on), I turned this off and now my desktop fits perfectly to the edges of the screen with no overlap.

WhiteKnight

fobose · 27 Mar 2009 at 14:22

RobK said:
What have you replaced the tri-cool case fans with? The PSU fan is the noisiest bit, especially since I have two optical drives in mine and so I can't get the PSU cables out of the way like yours.

I replaced with some old Noctua 1200rpm fans that I had lying around, one is running at 800rpm via the Qfan control and the other has the supplied resistor cable on it, so its running at 600rpm. Very quiet indeed.

I did actually manage to get ALL the cables to go under the optical bay caddie, but when I changed the location of the drive I thought it would be better to just put the large bundle on top of the DVDRW.

RobK · 27 Mar 2009 at 15:25

Very nice

Mine looked like this until I added the second drive:

I was quite proud of it but now all the cables are everywhere

fobose · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:26

Very tidy. You can just see in my internal pic, where the second HDD would go I left a sata power cable incase I decided to put a large storage drive in (prob wont as I am streaming across network).

Your 4 pin CPU cable seems to be hidden under the mobo too? You can see where mine appears near the cpu cooler. It wasn't long enough to appear further up but I think it still looks better than having it going around the case.

mjones1 · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:31

Why don't you move the dvd drive up a place.

fobose · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:32

mjones1 said:
Why don't you move the dvd drive up a place.

It didn't sit right in the top 5.25" bay. It sat wonky (I did try to fiddle with it and screwed it in several times but no luck). So I tried it in the lower bay and it fit perfect first time.

RobK · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:51

fobose said:
Your 4 pin CPU cable seems to be hidden under the mobo too? You can see where mine appears near the cpu cooler. It wasn't long enough to appear further up but I think it still looks better than having it going around the case.

Yes, it was a pain to do as it only just reached but it looks nicer.

BTW there don't seem to be any silver bluray drives around at the moment either. I think it looks ok though.

fobose · 27 Mar 2009 at 17:02

I did have that sony bluray drive in my original spec (I thought it looked black and silver in the pics I saw of it on retailers websites). I ended up going for a cheap DVDRW instead to save £35.

I am still yet to install any codecs to make use of the onboard graphics. To be fair I haven't really looked in to what I need, I think I need ffdshow, I already have coreAVC too.

When I put the top bezel back in, it slightly bowed in the middle, as I had to bend it to get it to pop back in to its slot, which is a bit of a pain. You can see the bow slightly in my pic.