[mythtv-users] Motherboard Recomendation

[Rei Toi]

Mark Gardner wrote:
> I've skimmed the archives and havnt' found an answer to my liking...
> so here's the question
> 
> I'm planning on building a myth Frontend/Backend box with some
> hardware i have around
> AMD 1200 Duron (could be Athlon if I need the power)
> PVR 350
> 512 DDR
> Will build either on SUSE 9.3 ( I work for novell ) or Fedora Core 
> 
> What i'm looking for is a motherboard that won't break the bank, but
> just works.  I had one with a VIA chipset that had a bunch of DMA
> errors :( But have had many good reports with nForce chipsets.
> Preferably the onboard sound should work....
> Onboard video a plus but not required...
> 
> 
> Thanks in Advance.
Hi Mark,

I use the MSI "K7N2GM2-LSR" motherboard which is currently $61.50 at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-477&depa=0

It has the nForce2 chipset and comes with the TV-out bracket (s-video & 
composite).

You can use the bios to reconfigure the 3 audio jacks (Line-in, 
Line-out, & Mic.) to be 4 or 6 channel audio; if your surround sound 
system requires this. (I haven't tried it; you *may* need to use their 
MS Windows utilities to configure this particular option.)

The board doesn't come with an S/PDIF bracket, but you can buy one (RCA 
& optical fiber) at CensusPC for $12.00:
http://www.censuspc.com/cart/product.php?productid=182&cat=46&page=2

Installing FC3 was fine, everything "just worked."  Also, installing 
Myth in accordance with Jarod's guide worked out very well.

I also have a PVR-350 and have tried both it's TV-out and the on-board 
nForce TV-out.  I like the PVR-350's TV output much better (on my 
standard def TV the picture quality is higher) but I have to admit that 
I didn't try too hard to see if I could tweak the nVidia video quality.

Having said that, X looks worse on the PVR-350 vs. the on-board nForce 
TV-out...  I use the PVR-350's TV-out anyway though, as my box is 100% 
dedicated to TV watching so I don't play games, etc. with this unit.

HTH

-Rei.