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On Thu, 2008-07-31 at 09:25 -0700, Kevin Bailey wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
<PRE>
I'm putting together a new front-end and decided to go the
dual-core in a briefcase route this time. I'd heard decent
things about Linux support for the Intel chipsets so I
looked at those first.
It was easy enough finding a MB with a 945G chipset but
finding a cheap CPU was harder. The cheapest Core 2 Duo
that I could find was $120. I found this odd considering
that you can get an Athlon 64 X2 that runs cooler (45W vs 65W)
for half the price. Celeron DCs don't appear to have
enough oomph and Intel doesn't appear to make anything
in between.
So I started looking at AMD MBs with nvidia chipsets.
The trouble is, I have no idea which of these chipsets
are any good. Can the 6100 do HD ? If so, then I could
get a dual-core CPU and MB for around $80. Pretty nice.
If not, what would you recommend ? I don't mind not
having XvMC but want Xv.
Also, does AMD have anything like Intel's sDVO board ?
(Not that I can find any.) I'd like to run S-video for
now but go back to VGA in a year or two. If any of
these MBs have it built-in, that'd be great to know.
</PRE>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi there Kevin,<BR>
<BR>
I went down the same route really and I picked up the Asus M2N-DVI board with an AMD X2 5000.<BR>
<BR>
The Asus had the Nvidia 7050pv video chipset and the nForce 630a chipset. <BR>
<BR>
I was looking to upgrade to play Blu-Ray decrypted files (since direct playback isn't available yet!).<BR>
<BR>
It doesn't have sVideo out but I'm using DVI to HDMI and it is crisp and nice at both 720p and 1080i. The only problem I have with it is similar to other video cards -- with HDMI out I don't see the boot up of the box -- only after it starts X-Windows. Might be something with my TV though. Got around it by connecting the VGA out to my VGA in on the TV. That shows my boot up messages if I care to watch them, and gives a second desktop. No svideo out though.<BR>
<BR>
The board has on-board sound with an optional spdif connection. I tried using spdif out from this board with no luck so I went back to a tried and true sound card that works.<BR>
<BR>
I've installed the AMD64 version of Mythbuntu. Not sure if its this version of Mythbuntu or something inherent in the AMD chips but I do find problems when I copy large files for instance, my front end will stop until its done copying. I have a fast hard drive connected SATA at 3Gb/s so doubt that's the problem.<BR>
<BR>
All in all I'm very happy with this combination. I stuck in 2Gb and it moves along nicely. Does HD (MPEG2) nicely with no problems. Not sure if the 64-bit OS is worth it -- lose compatibility with some windows codecs and such so I'm unconvinced it is much better or faster.<BR>
<BR>
My two cents and ymmv.<BR>
<BR>
Norm
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