View Full Version : Help picking a motherboard for a AMD 5050E running Ubuntu and XBMC?
Im planning on building a HTPC with the following components:
ANTEC HTPC NSK2480 MATX SILVER 380W
CORSAIR 2GB DDR2 XMS2 PC6400 CL5 (2X1GB)
PALIT GEFORCE 9400GT SUPER+ 1GB DDR2 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDMI SILENT
AMD ATHLON 64 X2 5050E 2.6 GHZ SOCKET AM2 BOXED 45W
I've already got a similar HTPC with a AMD 4850 and a GIGABYTE MA78GM-S2H
But this time I want another motherboard. Can someone please help me pick a motherboard from this page?
http://www.dustinhome.se/lp_6161_2001.aspx
It needs to have at least 4 SATA ports, but 5 or 6 is better.
I want the LAN and AUDIO and stuff like that to work well in Ubuntu. I know that the motherboard I already have has some bugs, and I want to avoid problems like that....
Thanks for all the help..
/Söder
My ASUS M3N78-EM (http://www.dustinhome.se/pd_5010197666.aspx) works great with linux and xbmc. It's only bout 60 € so i doubt there's a better bang for the buck than this.
EDIT: You don't need a seperate GFX card if all you want is VDPAU and 1080p with xbmc on this board.
My ASUS M3N78-EM (http://www.dustinhome.se/pd_5010197666.aspx) works great with linux and xbmc. It's only bout 60 € so i doubt there's a better bang for the buck than this.
EDIT: You don't need a seperate GFX card if all you want is VDPAU and 1080p with xbmc on this board.
But, Ive read that the 8000-serie isnt as good as the 9000?
/Söder
Sure it isn't. It depends on what you want to do: For a dedicated HTPC using VDPAU and XBMC it's enough to play all 1080p i ever tried. If you're into gaming you'd better go for a seperate GPU (though the 9400 does not make THAT difference in gaming). Point is much lower power consumption and heat, thus less noise if you go for a onboard GPU. Another option would be an ION if you don't need the CPU power.
Sure it isn't. It depends on what you want to do: For a dedicated HTPC using VDPAU and XBMC it's enough to play all 1080p i ever tried. If you're into gaming you'd better go for a seperate GPU (though the 9400 does not make THAT difference in gaming). Point is much lower power consumption and heat, thus less noise if you go for a onboard GPU. Another option would be an ION if you don't need the CPU power.
Well, the ION was an option, but since I will have 4 hdd's, theres no need for a small piece like an ION.
And for noise, the 9400-card I'm planning to buy, is with passive cooling...
I will use this for gaming, ONLY as server and XBMC.
I will also only play .mkv's in x264, but I think I've read that the developer that fixed the VDPAU for XBMC said that a card from the 9000-serie was better then the 8000?
Or am I wrong?
/Söder
It's faster sure - but again: you simply don't need the extra power for your needs. With more noise i meant mainly more heat to get out of the case. So even a passively cooled card will result in your fans spinning faster, thus more noise and more power consumption.
My rig has 4850e on that M3N78-EM. it sucks less than 50 watts while watching 1080p h264 and is practically noiseless due to only one fan running at low speed.
EDIT: There was a bugfix recently in xbmc that finally made a huge performance improvement especially for the slower 8xxx and 9xxx IGPs. Since then i never came upon anything that didn't run smooth as butter on that 8300.
It's faster sure - but again: you simply don't need the extra power for your needs. With more noise i meant mainly more heat to get out of the case. So even a passively cooled card will result in your fans spinning faster, thus more noise and more power consumption.
My rig has 4850e on that M3N78-EM. it sucks less than 50 watts while watching 1080p h264 and is practically noiseless due to only one fan running at low speed.
Ok, will go for that. I can get the passive 9400 later if I need it. =)
Damned that I didnt bought this motherboard my self, instead of the motherboard with a shitty ATI-card. =)
/Söder
Sure, upgrade as needed. If you want to have a deeper look at my rig:
http://forum.silenthardware.de/index.php?showtopic=34761 (unfortunately in german)
Sure, upgrade as needed. If you want to have a deeper look at my rig:
http://forum.silenthardware.de/index.php?showtopic=34761 (unfortunately in german)
This is the final list!
ARCTIC SILVER 5
ASUS TRITON 75 S-775/754/939/AM2/AM2+ FANLESS
ASUS M3N78-EM GEFORCE 8300 AM2+ M-ATX
AMD ATHLON 64 X2 5050E 2.6 GHZ SOCKET AM2 BOXED
NEXUS DOUBLETWIN
FRACTAL DESIGN SILENT SERIES 120MM 15DB RETAIL
CORSAIR 2GB DDR2 XMS2 PC6400 CL5 (2X1GB)
ANTEC HTPC NSK2480 MATX SILVER 380W
Already got hdd's
/Söder
Another advantage of the integrated GPUs is lossless PCM over HDMI, which is getting closer to being a functional reality on Linux.
Another advantage of the integrated GPUs is lossless PCM over HDMI, which is getting closer to being a functional reality on Linux.
Hello! =) Wasnt it you that told me to pick a card from the 9000 serie instead of the 8000 serie?
Thanks for the info about the PCM over HDMI info...
/Söder
EDIT: Here is the link!
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48316
sparkyhall
2009-07-04, 14:13
Can someone confirm that you can allocate 512MB of RAM for the iGP please as the manual I downloaded for the M3N78-EM states only 256MB.
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Confirmed.
I only bought 2x1 GB sticks for this motherboard. Is that enough?
/Söder
uncertainty
2009-07-04, 17:41
I only bought 2x1 GB sticks for this motherboard. Is that enough?
/Söder
I have an AMD X2 4800+ and 2GB works fine for me running with the latest AEON skin....
as long as you got 2 sticks for dualchannel mode even 2 x 512 would enough.
Can someone tell me the differences in the 8300 on the motherboard recommended and the 9400 I already got. What does the hardware bug in the 8000 serie do?
/Söder
What hardware bug? Your 9400 is faster in gaming and stuff, but has WEAKER vdpau acceleration and sucks a lot more energy.
What hardware bug? Your 9400 is faster in gaming and stuff, but has WEAKER vdpau acceleration and sucks a lot more energy.
This bug:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48316&page=2
motd2k that told me, when I asked about what card to buy.
What do you mean with WEAKER vdpau acceleration?
/Söder
Exactly what motd2k told you in that post. Please re-read - and you'll find answers to any of your questions.
Exactly what motd2k told you in that post. Please re-read - and you'll find answers to any of your questions.
I dont understand..?
"8400gs will do VC1 in hardware, but its got a hardware bug. Steer clear."
Does this only mean the 8400? Not e.g. the 8300 or the 8000 serie?
And why did he recommended me the 9000 serie? Is the 8000.
I dont understand. Please explain.
Thanks.
/Söder
Ok, once and for all:
I dont understand..?
"8400gs will do VC1 in hardware, but its got a hardware bug. Steer clear."
Does this only mean the 8400? Not e.g. the 8300 or the 8000 serie?
And why did he recommended me the 9000 serie? Is the 8000.
8400GS is NOT 8200/8300. 8400GS is a plugin card previously based on G84 (NO vdpau at all), but virtually all cards sold nowadays have the G98 on board which features FULL acceleration for h264, vc1, mpeg2. however there's a hardware bug with that chip. It cannot display/accelerate some weird resolutions which really nobody cares of.
8200/8300 have the same issue. Have a look at the nvidia readme i linked below.
He recommended the 9xxx because it's simply equally priced as the 8400. IMHO the 8400 is the better card for a htpc because it uses less power, thus less heat and noise and has full acceleration (that's really completely unimportant, read motd2k's post again). as there's no onboard gpu (igp) from the 9xxx series for AMD you either have to stick to 8200/8300 or plug in a card or move over to intel.
Further readings (yes i googled FOR YOU)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units
http://us.download.nvidia.com/freebsd/185.18.14/README/appendix-g.html
Ok, once and for all:
8400GS is NOT 8200/8300. 8400GS is a plugin card previously based on G84 (NO vdpau at all), but virtually all cards sold nowadays have the G98 on board which features FULL acceleration for h264, vc1, mpeg2. however there's a hardware bug with that chip. It cannot display/accelerate some weird resolutions which really nobody cares of.
8200/8300 have the same issue. Have a look at the nvidia readme i linked below.
He recommended the 9xxx because it's simply equally priced as the 8400. IMHO the 8400 is the better card for a htpc because it uses less power, thus less heat and noise and has full acceleration (that's really completely unimportant, read motd2k's post again). as there's no onboard gpu (igp) from the 9xxx series for AMD you either have to stick to 8200/8300 or plug in a card or move over to intel.
Further readings (yes i googled FOR YOU)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units
http://us.download.nvidia.com/freebsd/185.18.14/README/appendix-g.html
Thanks. I just didnt know what to google for, and I'm glad you did it for me. =)
/Söder
Thanks. I just didnt know what to google for, and I'm glad you did it for me. =)
/Söder
That has been the last time i swear.
@Haggy, thanks your information. It was extremely helpful to choose a new motherboard for my htpc setup. This leaves room in my budget to take my girlfriend somewhere nice AND have a few beers while I build the htpc :D
Cheers mate - you're welcome.