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<title>Critique on ASUS M3N78-VM FE (plus ASUS/MOBO Questions)</title>
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<br />I am close to going ahead to build my first front end and wanted to ask a number of questions from the "collective" (aka MythBorg).<br /><br />My criteria - cheap $300-400CA; some future proofing for future HD; for some rooms - small/attractive; very quiet; no HDD/CDR; no networking boot unless I must<br />Lower power consumption where possible since it will most likely be on most of the time <br />I will be playing SD mostly today with future HDTV functionality; not sure how many FEs today - a perfect world would be 5 - but I might also buy a MediaMVP to test that out in one room.<br /><br />1) MOBO - M3N78-VM <br />I originally was looking at the P5E-VM HDMI ($150CA) which had all the bells and whistles I wanted, but felt the premium to get HDMI out was not worth it (could get a cheaper MOBO and buy an HDMI card after) and found the P5KPL-CM (P5K) which had some basic features I needed. Then I read the following post (by Nico) on a prospective machine:<br /><br />http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/357383#357383 (post #10 - Nico)<br /><br /><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><snip><br /></font></font><ul><li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black">I've just build an FE system on Newegg for less than $200 that would be fully HD compliant with this API: </font></font></li><li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black">Western Digital Caviar WD800BB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive $35.99 </font></font></li><li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black">ASUS M3N78-VM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard (DVI+HDMI+Optical audio) $74.99 </font></font></li><li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black">Kingston ValueRAM 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2N5K2/1G $20.99 </font></font></li><li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black">AMD Sempron 64 3400+ Manila 1.8GHz Socket AM2 62W Single-Core Processor Model SDA3400IAA3CW $19.99 </font></font></li><li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black">Linkworld Black body/ Silver strip Steel 6280-01 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with 300W Power Supply $38.99 </font></font></li><li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black"><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2" color="black">Total: $190.95 ... Add a CPU Fan... Ugly and probably noisy. </font></font></li></ul><snip><br /><br />I saw a few posts on the M3N78-VM and decided to review further - esp since I can get it. I had eliminated (for whatever reason) the AMD boards, and found this board was an excellent middle of the road board - HDMI/DVI but not too pricey ($100CA). Plus it has some smarts to boot into a LINUX mode that allows you to connect to the net if the system fails to carry on past the BIOS and not boot (cool).<br /><br />I am starting to price out a similar set up:<br />mobo - ASUS M3N78-VM<br />ram - Kingston ValueRam (per QVL) - DDR2 800 PC2 6400 1GB<br />video - ASUS EN7200GS 256 RAM (SDTV - I need this for S-VIDEO output) [I can actually get this; cannot find any low profile available]<br />case - Antec NSK 1380 (350W CPU; 80 certified - uATX) - Quiet 80 PLUS Certified 350W P/S <span class="pr_name5" id="pr_name5">with universal input delivers
quiet, stable power</span>. <br />- Because the video card I cannot go low profile. The only alternative to this would be maybe a MINI-TOWER IN-WIN case at 1/2 the price but 2x the size. Case comes with a 120mm fan - implies quieter than the 80mm plus with the 80 PLUS rating in the long run it might be a better decision to bite the bullet and get this. Sadly it makes the system about $50 more than it could be.<br /><br />CPU?<br />Right now I am having problems with the CPU. With Intel I might have gone with a low power Core 2 Duo E4500 (~65W). AMD is a problem - though above the set up quotes "AMD Sempron 64 3400+" I am having a problem getting that (I don't do mail order). One computer company I went to only could get SOCKET AM2 - Sempron LE-1300 - but I can't find much on them cpu mark wise. From what I read, anything over a P4 3.0GHz should play HD without problem.<br /><br />Please refer to this site: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html <br />If I wanted to ensure that I could play any HD video in the future with this box (1080p/i) - am I right in assuming any CPU over the P4 3.0GHz - CPU mark 466 should be perfectly fine? Or should I raise the bar and go higher - if so - what would you suggest as a minimum? (the cpu benchmark site is more for me to hear suggestions on a minimum - then I can see what I can buy that are better). Obviously I still want a CHEAP CPU - and not go too far higher than the minimum.<br /><br />FWIW<br />- A dated but still good CPU power usage link: http://www.processor-comparison.com/power.html<br />- Also dated video card usage page - http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000662.html<br /><br />MEMORY?<br />I think 1GB is plenty - but again if I want to future proof - is it better to get 2GB? <br /><br />Jury still out on cost - but seem to be stuck in the $400CA range. <br /><br />Board questions:<br />1) USB BOOT - I have asked a generic question below. Whoever has this board (M3N78-VM) - can one use a USB KEY (1-4GB) to boot? (Has anyone tried this?)<br /><br />2) NETWORKING - I noticed in the ASUS specs, that they do not refer to
manageability with the M3N78-VM. No mention of networking - PXE etc.
P5K specs mention it. Both manuals are the same as the specs online -
and offer no more. <br />When I reviewed a cousin (M3N78-CM) it does say manageability - must be an oversight. (Manageability ... PXE). Anyways, can anyone confirm that the M3N78-VM supports PXE?<br /><br />3) AUDIO DRIVERS - the P5K has Linux drivers (Asus) for audio under the downloads. When I checked the M3N78, there are no drivers. Both use the same AUDIO chip.<br />Can I simply use the drivers for the M3N from the P5K or do I need to go somewhere else (if I need alternate - where from?)<br /><br />4) LAN DRIVERS - I am not seeing any drivers at all for this -VM unit. The -CM cousin merely suggests "Gigabit LAN" but this is different and again no drivers for this board.<br />"2 x Realtek 8111C Gigabit MAC Atheros F1 Gigabit PHY featuring AI NET 2"<br />The manual talks about AI NET 2 and nothing else. Any thoughts on where I would get drivers?<br /><br />5) Similar Intel boards?<br />Does anyone know of a similar Intel board - around the same price point with HDMI and the SLI video etc? I might look into that and get the E4500 (maybe).<br /><br /><br />General ASUS questions:<br />a) I want to aim at booting via a USB KEY. Yet no where does it say that all ASUS motherboards do this [no spec or documentation]. I want to know if there is a general consensus that ASUS boards after a certain point (Socket 775 / Socket AM2+) should automatically be able to boot from USB Keys (1-4GB). This is a rather CRITICAL question - I really want to eliminate HDD / CDRs and networking booting options. I posted a message in the ASUS board to no avail at this point.<br /><br />b) Memory (more any MOBO really). I am interested in knowing how well MOBOs work with various memory choices. I haven't built a computer from scratch since the Apple ][+ days (soldering the chips to the board I mean and burning the EPROMS). I am always worried that if I buy a MOBO and memory separate, that there is a chance that the machine may not like it and there I am pissing away time and money at trying to fix it. (Prefer to have someone else build the machine and worry about conflicts such as this).<br />ASUS offers their QVL (Qualified Vendors List). Nico showed Kingston Value Ram - yet that RAM was not part of the QVL (specs are not the same). I have found the QVL version of Kingston RAM for about $10CA more - not a big deal. But I was wondering - how finicky are the boards with memory used that are not listed in the QVL? If I am building from scratch, am I better off following their guidelines, and reduce or eliminate any conflicts (system hanging etc) - or damned if I do and damned if I dont? Please offer some thoughts on this. I am inches away from the big jump - building it myself piecemeal would save money overall.<br /><br />Thanks to everyone that is able to assist at reviewing and offering any help. Also thanks to Nico - who I emailed originally - he suggested it was better to get more eyes to review the specs and offer suggestions - and I agree - education for all!<br /><br />Cheers!<br />jeff<br /><br />
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myth (at) stocks (dot) sent (dot) com
(email for direct response)
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