[mythtv-users] Critique on ASUS M3N78-VM FE (plus ASUS/MOBO Questions)

[John P Poet]

On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 8:36 PM, Jeff Holicky
<myth.myth_user at myth.sent.com> wrote:
>
> 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).
>
> 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
> Lower power consumption where possible since it will most likely be on most
> of the time
> 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.
>
> 1) MOBO - M3N78-VM
> 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:
>
> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/357383#357383  (post #10
> - Nico)
>
> <snip>
>
> I've just build an FE system on Newegg for less than $200 that would be
> fully HD compliant with this API:
> Western Digital Caviar WD800BB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive
> $35.99
> ASUS M3N78-VM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
> (DVI+HDMI+Optical audio)  $74.99
> Kingston ValueRAM 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
> Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2N5K2/1G $20.99
> AMD Sempron 64 3400+ Manila 1.8GHz Socket AM2 62W Single-Core Processor
> Model SDA3400IAA3CW $19.99
> Linkworld Black body/ Silver strip Steel 6280-01 Micro ATX Media Center /
> HTPC Case with 300W Power Supply $38.99
> Total: $190.95  ... Add a CPU Fan... Ugly and probably noisy.
>
> <snip>
>
> 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).
>
> I am starting to price out a similar set up:
> mobo - ASUS M3N78-VM
> ram - Kingston ValueRam (per QVL) - DDR2 800 PC2 6400 1GB
> video - ASUS EN7200GS 256 RAM (SDTV - I need this for S-VIDEO output) [I can
> actually get this; cannot find any low profile available]
> case - Antec NSK 1380 (350W CPU; 80 certified - uATX) - Quiet 80 PLUS
> Certified 350W P/S with universal input delivers quiet, stable power.
> - 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.
>
> CPU?
> 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.

If you want to go core 2, nVidia has just recently released the
9300/9400 series motherboard chipsets:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%20107172854&name=NVIDIA%20GeForce%209000

Review:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3432&p=1

Owners comments:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1067219
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1079923

Should work very well with VDPAU.

I don't have one of these motherboards, yet, but will probably pick up
the Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H when it becomes available in the US.


John
-- 
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