advice on Motherboards please ?

[iamlofi]

Im currently putting together a HTPC with Silverstone LC03v case and tagen 430w power supply.

Now the next problem is what motherboard to put in.

the setup im looking for is going to be

AMD 64 939 based.
1 gig ram
2 hard drives 100gb and 250gb
2 x Win TV Nova -T cards

now the problem lies what motherboard to have and also gfx card. This machine will be playing some games but not main function im looking for relitivly quiet also

any advice on motherboard that will fit everyhting in would be great !

 

[jinky32]

i don't know much about these things, but I lust after this
http://***********/84e7d

 

[mjn]

i don't know much about these things, but I lust after this
http://***********/84e7d

I use this board in my main PC, but its a bit of an overkill for a HTPC.

 

[comdw]

I've been researching 939 boards for my first HTPC and pretty much settled on the Abit AN8 Ultra. It's passively cooled unlike most nForce 4 motherboards which are too noisey for HTPC use without changing the HSF yourself.

Asus also do a passively cooled A8N called "SLI Premium" but as mjn points out its probably overkill for HTPC, unless you are planning on doing alot of gaming too.

 

[Triggaaar]

Snap. I use the delux in the above link as well. It's not passively cooled like the Premium version. It did make building the PC a breeze though. But there are plenty of cheaper versions if you want to save a few, although I don't know which ones. If you can't be bothered fitting a northbridge heat sink, go for a passively cooled MB, like the Asus premium.

 

[iamlofi]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=230491

this one?

only problem with that is that there isnt enough PCI slots ! im going to need a minimum of 3 really

2 x tuners
1 for future upgrade. . . hdtv / sound card etc

 

[mjn]

The picture looks like it has 3 PCI....

 

[iamlofi]

Manufacturer: Abit

Form Factor: ATX

CPU Socket: socket939

Front Side Bus (FSB): 2000MHz HyperTransport

Chipset: nForce4 Ultra chipset

Memory Type: 4 x Dual DDR 400 Max 4GB

AGP type: PCI Express x16

USB2.0:

Firewire:

Audio: - 7.1 Channel S/P DIF In/Out

LAN: - nVidia Gigabit Lan

SATA:

Onboard IDE/RAID: - Raid 0, 1, 0+1

VGA onboard:

SCSI:

PCI Slots: 2 PCI, 2 PCI Express x1

Back Panel I/0:

Internal I/O Connectors: USB header, Firewire header

Other Feature(s):

Accessories: Audio Card


//edit

this is from Abit website so it has!


Internal I/O Connectors
- 1 PCI-E X16 slot, 2 PCI-Express X1 slots
- 3 PCI slots, 1 x ABIT Audio slot
- 1 x Floppy Port supports up to 2.88MB
- 2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 Connectors
- 4 x SATA 3G Connectors
- 3 x USB headers, 1 x IEEE1394 header



any advice on a good but cheep ish PCi E gfx card thats quite ?

 

[Triggaaar]

any advice on a good but cheep ish PCi E gfx card thats quite ?

How cheap?

 

[iamlofi]

arround the £100 mark i think

 

[gazzer82]

I would send a Gforce 6600gt, you can pick one up for juts under £100 if you look around. Although you can get a Gforce 6600 for less and it would be more than enough for a HTPC, plus you can get passively cooled versions!!

Also it supports the Purevideo features if you install the correct drivers and the nvidia purevideo decoder.

Cheers

Gareth

 

[iamlofi]

i was looking towards the 6600. what is a good 6600 standard thats passivly cooled (can games be played on them)?

 

[gazzer82]

This one on savastore looks pretty good. http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10283097&pid=207

Cheers

Gareth

 

[gazzer82]

Sorry and yes you can play games on them. Especially the 256mb version, the card is also has full directx 9.0 support!!

Gareth

 

[iamlofi]

looks good actually !

how hot do these things get with them been passivly cooled ?

is this one any good ?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=164948

 

[Triggaaar]

That one in your link is what I'm using (and where I bought it - they seem to have knocked £8 off in the last month, which is nice for you) - lots of people here use it, do a search to see. It's excellent.
It was rated highly in Toms Hardware Guide (2nd fastest 6600 after a LeadTek extreme, which cost more, and wasn't passively cooled).

 

[gazzer82]

Yeah if you can stretch to the extra £7.50 i would deffinatley get one of those. It also supports SLI so if you ever get serious about your gaming you can chuck another one in there, as long as your motherboard supports is!!

You will need to get some decent cooling though, try to stick to one or two bigger fans with a lower RPM as this will reduce noise, just make sure you have a decent airflow through the case to keep everything cool. Especially is you Mobo or Processor are passively cooled also.

Cheers

Gareth

 

[iamlofi]

in the silverstone case it has 2 x 60mm on the back

im putting 80mm at the front bottom and there is a 120mm one in the power supply

What is best for the AMP chip? was looking at a zelman ?

will this keep it cool enough ?

 

[Triggaaar]

in the silverstone case it has 2 x 60mm on the back

These will make more noise than the larger fans, and move less air. If you want a silent (or very quiet) PC, I'd change them for 80 or pref 120mm, if there's somewhere to fit them

What is best for the AMP chip? was looking at a zelman ?

will this keep it cool enough ?

Zalman is one of the top brands of quiet coolers, and will do the job nicely. Don't make the mistake I did, and build the PC without installing the cooler, as you have to take the MB back out to fit them.

 

[iamlofi]

just got the

AN8 ultra
64 bit 3000
1gb ram
6600GT passive
300gb SATA HDd

400 quid as they are all on Today only on scan !

(cant tell its pay day can you !)

I just need to find someone who sells good fans !

anywehre that will sell zelman CPU coolers for AMD and silent 80mm Case fans for the bottom of a LC03v

thanks

 

[Triggaaar]

400 quid as they are all on Today only on scan !

Wow, good shopping. Are you a girl?

 

[iamlofi]

i take offence to that !

no girls that i know buy hardware ?

 

[Triggaaar]

i take offence to that !

I trust you are kidding

It was just too good a shopping find for a guy.

And there are plenty of girls on here who build PCs - but I didn't think you were one of them.

 

[mjn]

I just need to find someone who sells good fans !

www.quietpc.com or www.overclock.co.uk