My Build - Selecting an MB and CPU

[itschris]

My Mozart Case is on the way. So I figured out that better get a motherboard to put in it. To be honest, I'm so far out of the loop on the current stuff. I've been reading quite a bit, but there's so much to get your hands around between boards.

Here's what I think on a board. I"ve read really good reviews about this one. Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 I believe P55 is for Intell CPU's only (See? I'm not even sure about that). I know Intel is more costly than AMD, but I'm having a more difficult time finding consensus on boards.

I'm open to just about anything... AMD or Intel. I'd rather have an ATX board over a micro. I just think they have more room and better architecture. I'm going to be getting a Radeo 56XX card when they come out, so onbaord graphics really aren't critical.

Feel free to recommend and discuss. I need some help.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

My first "HTPC" was bought at the begining of 2009. It has a Gigabyte 780 or 790 AMD 2 Athlon 2.7-something GHz speed. I think it has 3 PCIe and 3 PCI slots + HDMI.

Anyway, it was not compatible with the Asus Xonar HD soundcard.

Because of this alone, I did not buy a Gigabyte MB for my Mozart HTPC (bought later in 2009). I went with Asus MB.

Another member here has a MS-7093/ MS-7184 Motherboard, and he believes it may not be compatible with the new Radeon HD5770 card he just bought.

So I would verify to make sure that someone else has a Gigabyte MB that actually works with the Radeon 5xxx cards.

But I'm here to report that my Asus MB works with the Radeon HD5750 card.

 

[jinjuku]

Here is my vote:

AMD 65W TPD Phenom for $89 Hey it is Quad Core for less than $100.

Mainboard would be the Biostar TA790GXE for $99

This has two PCI-E 16X, two PCI-E 1X, two legacy PCI. Triple stage power circuit for the CPU. Has 128MB side bus memory for the integrated Radeon 3300 (so you can wait and get the Radeon 53XX for $50 that is passively cooled).

Six SATA II connections.

Fan/Heatsink: Rosewill RCX-Z940-LX I have one of these and can not hear it.

There you have my $0.02

 

[itschris]

Can you give a quick rundown of the lingo and what to look for? For instance, I've read a lot about integrating the northbridge on MB's. What is all that about? Also, any CPU explanations would be helpfull too.

AcuDefTechGuy - I must have read about 50 reviews last night. The ASUS board seems to be the universal favorite. I'm not looking to save $20 here or there for a compromise. If ASUS costs a bit more, but is pretty much leans more to the gold standard, then that's the way I'd like to go... and that's true with just about all of the pieces I want to get.

I was initially looking at Biostar, but there seems to a lot of negative reviews on their boards and especially their customer service. Gigabyte seemed to be sandwhiched in between ASUS and Bio as far as overall satisfaction and hassle factor. I used to use ASUS boards back in the day when I had my computer company. They were the most expensive back then too, but I had few problems.

The probelm is... There's 50 mb's... 50 CPU's... all seem to have one or more things different about them with differing capabilities and differing uses. I can't seem to hone in on what I really need.

Here is my vote:

AMD 64W TPD Phenom for $89 Hey it is Quad Core for less than $100.

Mainboard would be the Biostar TA790GXE for $99

This has two PCI-E 16X, two PCI-E 1X, two legacy PCI. Triple stage power circuit for the CPU. Has 128MB side bus memory for the integrated Radeon 3300 (so you can wait and get the Radeon 53XX for $50 that is passively cooled).

Six SATA II connections.

Fan/Heatsink: Rosewill RCX-Z940-LX I have one of these and can not hear it.

There you have my $0.02

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I pretty much based my Mozart HTPC purchases on the "failures" of my first custom-built HTPC (Gigabyte MB, AMD CPU).

You know how "picky" computers can be. I mean they seem to have minds of their own.

If I have sucessful confirmations of certain MBs + ATI Radeon 5xxx, I would stick to those.

I guess I could have picked another Gigabyte MB, but I did not want to take a chance. I don't think you would want to either, especially with new Radeon 56xx cards that are not even out yet!

You might check other forums that talk about the Radeon 5xxx cards and see what MBs people are using.

I could have picked another AMD CPU, but I wanted to try something different.

I guess when you have something "failed" the first time (Asus Xonar crashing on Gigabyte/AMD HTPC), you tend to shy away like 180 degrees.

Of course, that is just MY OWN personal experience.

You could try the Asus AMD + AMD Quad-Core CPU and tell us all of your great, literally COOLER experience (as oppose to my really, really literally HOTTER Intel Quad Core experience)!

 

[jinjuku]

Can you give a quick rundown of the lingo and what to look for? For instance, I've read a lot about integrating the northbridge on MB's. What is all that about? Also, any CPU explanations would be helpfull too.

AcuDefTechGuy - I must have read about 50 reviews last night. The ASUS board seems to be the universal favorite. I'm not looking to save $20 here or there for a compromise. If ASUS costs a bit more, but is pretty much leans more to the gold standard, then that's the way I'd like to go... and that's true with just about all of the pieces I want to get.

I was initially looking at Biostar, but there seems to a lot of negative reviews on their boards and especially their customer service. Gigabyte seemed to be sandwhiched in between ASUS and Bio as far as overall satisfaction and hassle factor. I used to use ASUS boards back in the day when I had my computer company. They were the most expensive back then too, but I had few problems.

The probelm is... There's 50 mb's... 50 CPU's... all seem to have one or more things different about them with differing capabilities and differing uses. I can't seem to hone in on what I really need.

Biostar is fine. It simply isn't an enthusiasts mother board. Since you aren't going to be doing any rampant overclocking I am sure it will be fine. Asus makes some really awesome product...

Far as the 'North Bridge'. AMD a long time ago integrated the memory controller onto the CPU die. This obviated the need for the traditional 'North Bridge'.

In the Typical North/South Bridge setup: North handled Memory and Bus, South handled peripheral and audio. Now with the Memory controller on die there is only one major chip on board. Various benefits: Lower cost mainboard, less components to individually cool, better memory latency.

CPU's deserve a dedicated thread but I would refer you to Anandtech and Tomshardware for better clarification.

When it comes to HTPC my main motivator is TPD (Thermal output) then price/performance.

Suffice it to say a Quad Core CPU for $89 at 65Watt TPD is going to be hard to beat considering that you can play back as well as quickly encode(if you choose to do so).

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Has 128MB side bus memory for the integrated Radeon 3300 (so you can wait and get the Radeon 53XX for $50 that is passively cooled).

My previous Gigabyte had the integrated Radeon 3400(?) HDMI. It did not work out well for me. These cards (read the manual) say that the HDMI audio is only 2.0, instead of 5.1 or 7.1!!!

My experience with passively cooled cards is that they get a lot hotter than the ones with fans, which makes sense. On that Mozart case, the only place for a 120mm fan is the Front, which requires the removal of the metal 3.5" cube compartment (used for Additional HDDs, etc.).

I think my 120mm fan could have cooled a passive-cool card, but I would not pay any extra $$ for the passively-cooled cards.

I got rid of the 80mm fan and the two 60mm fans because I think they just made NOISE and not effectively cool anything.

Yeah, I think AMD CPUs would be better for the heat issues.

 

[jinjuku]

My previous Gigabyte had the integrated Radeon 3400(?) HDMI. It did not work out well for me. These cards (read the manual) say that the HDMI audio is only 2.0, instead of 5.1 or 7.1!!!

I thought the 3300 allowed 5.1 bitstreaming?

I have never had a problem running passively cooled lower end cards.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I thought the 3300 allowed 5.1 bitstreaming?

I have never had a problem running passively cooled lower end cards.

It allowed 5.1 bitstream via Optical output, but not HDMI, which is retarded.

I wondered if the this MB integrated card screwed up my experience with the Asus Xonar HD soundcard?

I never had a problem with passively-cooled card either, but I noticed the TEMP is like 10 - 15 degrees Celsius highter than the fan-cooled one.

 

[itschris]

Okay... I'm pretty sure now that I'll go with an ASUS board and an AMD CPU.

Here's where I'm struggling. I don't which one to get or why. I can't seem to find any resource that explains all the ins and outs. From what I have learned over the past couple days of semi-effective research... I think this might be a good choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

I think it has everything I need. Do I need HDMI on the motherboard if I'm getting a 5XXX Radeon card? If I don't... I'm thinking this board..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

Pros... Cons... oversights?

 

[jinjuku]

Since you are adding a vid card get the one w/o onboard video. It has a good bit more expansion.

Make sure you get a Phenom II vs the one I linked to earlier...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Okay... I'm pretty sure now that I'll go with an ASUS board and an AMD CPU.

Here's where I'm struggling. I don't which one to get or why. I can't seem to find any resource that explains all the ins and outs. From what I have learned over the past couple days of semi-effective research... I think this might be a good choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

I think it has everything I need. Do I need HDMI on the motherboard if I'm getting a 5XXX Radeon card? If I don't... I'm thinking this board..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

Pros... Cons... oversights?

You don't need HDMI on your MB. When I bought my MB, I made sure it did NOT have HDMI.

My Gigabyte had integrated HDMI, and it did not work out for me.

For one thing, you have to turn OFF the integrated HDMI graphics before your Radeon 5xxx cards will work.

If your MB do not have integrated HDMI graphics, you don't have to worry about it.

Keep it simple.

That 2nd MB looks fine. The important thing is that PCI-2 Express slot (long blue) on the Far Left. This is for your Radeon 5xxx card. If the card sits to the Right (old PCI slots), it would interfere with the HDD slot if the Radeon card is too long.

 

[itschris]

Perfect. Thanks a ton guys. I'm getting there.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Oh, I tried the radeon 5750 card on my 2nd HTPC with the Gigabyte MB and it worked great.

So I can confirm that the Radeon 5xxx card works with Gigabyte and Asus MBs.

 

[itschris]

Oh, I tried the radeon 5750 card on my 2nd HTPC with the Gigabyte MB and it worked great.

So I can confirm that the Radeon 5xxx card works with Gigabyte and Asus MBs.

I have to say it's great having our own personal 'test kitchen" around here.

If I get a chance, I'm gonna order a MB today. Do you see any reason to get one over the other? If I go with ASUS, I know that I'll order that 2nd one I posted the other day. If I go with Gigabyte, I'll need some help choosing the best board.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Here is an alternate MB:

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-MA770T-UD3P-AMD770-4DDR3-1600-Motherboard/dp/B0029ZA6T4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1262799991&sr=8-2-fkmr1


And Matching Quad-core CPUs:

Don't get this one since it's faster than mine, and we just can't have that:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00275G0VE/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

This one is a little slower so it's okay:
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-620-2600MHz-Retail/dp/B002MAPTFW/ref=pd_sim_e_4

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-630-2800MHz-Retail/dp/B002MAPS3K/ref=pd_cp_e_1


Blu-Ray drive:

http://www.buy.com/prod/lite-on-ihos104-4x-blu-ray-drive-double-layer-bd-rom-dvd-r-rw-4x-bd/q/loc/101/211273646.html

http://www.amazon.com/LITE-Blu-ray-Internal-Optical-iHOS104/dp/B002EE996Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1262801282&sr=1-1

 

[itschris]

My plan all along is to not only have a faster CPU, but a floppy disc worth more of drive space!

Here is an alternate MB:

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-MA770T-UD3P-AMD770-4DDR3-1600-Motherboard/dp/B0029ZA6T4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1262799991&sr=8-2-fkmr1


And Matching Quad-core CPUs:

Don't get this one since it's faster than mine, and we just can't have that:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00275G0VE/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

This one is a little slower so it's okay:
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-620-2600MHz-Retail/dp/B002MAPTFW/ref=pd_sim_e_4

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-630-2800MHz-Retail/dp/B002MAPS3K/ref=pd_cp_e_1


Blu-Ray drive:

http://www.buy.com/prod/lite-on-ihos104-4x-blu-ray-drive-double-layer-bd-rom-dvd-r-rw-4x-bd/q/loc/101/211273646.html

http://www.amazon.com/LITE-Blu-ray-Internal-Optical-iHOS104/dp/B002EE996Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1262801282&sr=1-1

 

[itschris]

That MB is about $30 cheaper than the ASUS I was looking at. If there's no real advantage to the ASUS, then I'll just apply those funds to the faster CPU.

Here is an alternate MB:

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-MA770T-UD3P-AMD770-4DDR3-1600-Motherboard/dp/B0029ZA6T4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1262799991&sr=8-2-fkmr1


And Matching Quad-core CPUs:

Don't get this one since it's faster than mine, and we just can't have that:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00275G0VE/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

This one is a little slower so it's okay:
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-620-2600MHz-Retail/dp/B002MAPTFW/ref=pd_sim_e_4

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-630-2800MHz-Retail/dp/B002MAPS3K/ref=pd_cp_e_1


Blu-Ray drive:

http://www.buy.com/prod/lite-on-ihos104-4x-blu-ray-drive-double-layer-bd-rom-dvd-r-rw-4x-bd/q/loc/101/211273646.html

http://www.amazon.com/LITE-Blu-ray-Internal-Optical-iHOS104/dp/B002EE996Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1262801282&sr=1-1

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

That MB is about $30 cheaper than the ASUS I was looking at. If there's no real advantage to the ASUS, then I'll just apply those funds to the faster CPU.

Just make sure you buy it from amazon just in case anything is "not compatible" in the end. If so, you can easily return them to amazon with free shipping.

Buy.com also gave me free shipping with items that are "not compatible".

"Faster" quad-core CPU is like 2.6 GHz ($100) vs 2.8 GHz ($130) vs 3.2 GHz ($170).

$30 more gives you a 0.2 Ghz faster speed.
$70 more gives you 0.6 Ghz faster speed.

I think my CPU is a quad-core 2.83 Hz speed and it was $288. I would have gotten the quad-core 3.2 GHz for $170.

 

[habman6]

Be careful, 'Hz' is not the only determinate for processing speed. You must also look at cache, and FSB. You will often find that a dual-core will be faster than a quad-core because of these parameters.

To 'itschris' - ASUS in my opinion is a much more reliable board than Gigabyte. I have experience many problems with Gigabyte, and many of their models turn out to be lemons. Also, I would stick to intel over AMD.