Which Mobo for best onboard GFX ?

Sneaky Peaky · 3 Apr 2008 at 13:30

For a media PC project, no room for a full size PCie card but want the option of being able to play the occasional game possibly..

Thks
Peter

Uriel · 3 Apr 2008 at 13:47

Sneaky Peaky said:
For a media PC project, no room for a full size PCie card but want the option of being able to play the occasional game possibly..

Thks
Peter

Anything with an AMD 780G. Gaming will still be limited but it should handle something like HL2 OK. Really low power requirements, especially if paired with an energy efficiant Athlon. They can do hybrid crossfire with the HD2400 / HD3400 series cards which will give a small boost over the descreet card on its own, if you want to upgrade a little.

Edit: Anandtech review: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3258&p=1 - there are other reviews with more gaming benchmarks but I can't post because of competitor links.

These should do: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-269-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=807
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-115-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=807

If you want something with an Intel CPU, you'll have to wait for the 8200 series or 8300 series to get something that may be equivalent power wise

Sneaky Peaky · 3 Apr 2008 at 13:49

Sorry - should have said - intel board, what's the best option there currentl before 8200/8300 ? Any idea when these are due ?

HeX · 3 Apr 2008 at 13:59

All other intergrated GPU's pale in comparison to the 780G, it really is the only half decent onboard GPU.

Personally i'd sacrifice the Core2 to have the 780G if I wasn't going to be able to use a propper add in GPU.

Uriel · 3 Apr 2008 at 14:03

Ditto. I wouldn't consider any other currently available integrated option for gaming. Especially for a media PC. It will cope with HD media playback using anything but a low end sempron.

If you insist on Intel, wait for something better to come out.

pastymuncher · 3 Apr 2008 at 14:06

Unless you already have the Intel cpu i really would'nt go for Intel for a HTPC rig. Not if you want onboard graphics anyway. If you really must have Intel you are stuck with one of Intels hopeless for games onboard chips or a not much better Nvidia 7150 chipset, neither of which can compete with AMD's 780G.

Uriel · 3 Apr 2008 at 14:12

I looked around for release dates for the NVIDIA / Intel 8200 / 8300 boards. Nothing yet but probably won't be long. Even so, the 8200 reviews I've seen seem to show it to be a little slower than the 780G for gaming. Multimedia is about on par.

Sneaky Peaky · 3 Apr 2008 at 14:17

Should have done my research better, was trying to reuse my current AGP card/ram with the asrock 4coredual-sata2 board, intel core duo e4700 and Thermaltake Mozart SX Slim media case.

Halfway through the build last night I foud out the Mozart case will only support pci-e on the riser card :bugger:

Thanks for the info - if I did decide to stick intel and forget the gaming for the minute which board would you recommend ?

Uriel · 3 Apr 2008 at 14:53

If you want to do any gaming at all with onboard, go with something that has ATI or nVIDIA on board. Make sure that any board you get has PCI-E in the right place to use the riser card on your case.

Other than that - you could go for an Intel Chipset board with a low end PCI-E card using the riser. A Half height HD3850 would do the job better than any onboard chipset.

Edit: There's no such thing as a half height HD3850. I meant HD3450...