Details ... what board, chip, video card

Thanks,

Doc

AMD Athlon LE-1660
ASUS Motherboard M3A78-EM (as of 7/20/09 subject to change)
Supported: AMD AM2+/AM2
North Bridge: AMD 780G
South Bridge: AMD SB700
Onboard Video Chipset: ATI Radeon HD 3200
Memory: 4GB DDR2 SDRAM

Storage Devices:
1 Terrabyte SATA HD
1 Slimline DVD-RW Drive
(I had a blu-ray, but don't get me started on decoding Blu-ray in Linux...)

Onboard Audio:
Audio Chipset: Realtek ALC1200
Audio Channels: 8 Channels
Onboard LAN: 10/100/1000Mbps

Ports:

* PS/2: 1
* HDMI and DVI
* USB 2.0: 8 (though 2 are in use)
* IEEE 1394a (firewire): 1
* eSATA: 1 at 3Gb/s
* S/PDIF Out: 1x Optical
* Audio Ports: 6 Ports

802.11 g/b WiFi, up to 54Mbps
Capable of 1080p H.264 video playback



Now most of the technical jargon was taken off the MOBO's site, since so much is onboard. While I generally tend to stay away from onboard stuff (performance is usually worse), my goal here was to build the smallest, quietest, cheapest machine that could do 1080p. I think I'm going to add a PCI-Express video card, because while it will display 1080p, once every 5 mins it stutters for about 1/4 sec, which is unacceptable for me in a HTPC. It plays 720p flawlessly though, and for storage purposes, 720p are much smaller files. I output the optical out to my surround system, and the 52" gets video via an HDMI cord.

Side-note: If you're interested in a private, safe, hi-quality torrent community (HD content ONLY) send me a PM and I'll give you one of my invites!

Also I use a pretty neat wireless keyboard-mouse thinger, it's full size, will fit on your lap nicely, and is very easy to use.

Pic of the case and the key-mote!

Thanks for the info.

Last AMD board I used was the M2N (daughter's comp) and it just went belly up a couple of weeks ago. I need to look at whether it's the board or chip after I set up the new build (i7). I've moved to Intel setups a couple of years ago are they are easier to run Mac OS.

I have a couple of Gigabyte boards running AMD but they have AGP slots so I'm not going to update those.

If the M2N board checks out then I'll pop a chip in and probably try that board with a fast PCI video card. Come to think of it, I also have an M2N SLI board around somewhere that I could drop 2 video cards .... that should be good enough

Definitely want to setup a HTPC ... just need to see if I can do it with all the bits and pieces I have lying around.

I'll pick your brain when I'm ready.

Doc

Yeah man, feel free to ask - I went through alot of stupid mistakes while getting this up and running, I ran windows, ubuntu linux, and win7.

I atually have a m2n SLI board too - it's my work computer now, runs high def video great with the ATI3870X2 in it.

I've run Intel, then AMD, then Intel, now I've figured that all brands fail from time to time (especially if you light them on fire - long story), and I go with what will compliment the rest of my hardware best.

My current setup is an Asus AMD board...M-something Pro, with an AM2 quad core, 4 gigs of DDR2, another ATI3870X2 (cause I like it so much, and 5 video outputs are neat) and 4 terrabytes of storage.

The thing I like best about my setup are my monitors. I have 2x 19" Wides, but the cool thing is I bought 2 cheap wall mounts, and now they tilt up, down, left, right, so that I can slideshow something to a person, I can Game+Browse, I can R*Clinic and Facebook, etc, you get the idea. the 2 screens has increased my productivity by more than double. And I have outputs for 3 more, one of which I have set up for my PC based surveillence system.

Wow that was longer than intended, hope you're not asleep!

I just upgraded a couple of weeks ago form a Core 2 to the GAEX58-UD5 running a i7 920. Have done a mild OC from 2.6 to 3.2 GHx. The setup is proving to be twice as fast as the P5Q/E8400 that I replaced. Only have a 8800GT video card in it, so I wonder how it will fly with a better card.

Win 7 is running good but I had some problems getting Mac OS setup ... took me a week.

I like the Asus boards but I didn't have much luck installing Mac OS on the P6T so I returned for the EX58.

As for the 4 monitors ... that's what I like about OSX, you have 4 desktops to which you can flip back and forth ... not the same as 4 monitors but I'm getting too old to multitask.

4T ... Hmmm ... must watch a lot of movies.

Doc

It is REALLY nice to see that there are other complete geeks out here! LOL!

Want to have some fun stop by your local Staples or Office Depot and play with that HP touch screen for a while.
I know it's novelty until it breaks but playing Solitaire using your finger to move the cards instead of the mouse is a hoot!
If your into flight sims that have clickable cockpits I have seen the touch screen setup so a person touches the image of the toggle switch and it activates or flips to the other side, pretty cool.

I agree .... it's fun for some stuff but for day to day I'd still rather lean back in my chair and use my mouse/trackball/tablet.

Doc

Yeah I tested one of those out for HP, and recommended they sell it as a "kitchen PC" I mean the functionality is perfect, no keyboard, no mouse, get recipes quick while listening to some internet radio... they ignored me and marketed it as your EVERY PC. And it failed like OS2. I think I might get one for the kitchen just to prove my point.