am2+ advice for non-gamer - 790gx or not?

[bpbIP]

I am new to AMD builds and am looking for some advice on what motherboard to use. I plan to pair with a phenom II 940. I am not interested in gaming and will likely never use the system to play games; I am mainly upgrading to give myself a better rig for video encoding and something that will run Windows 7 better than my current setup can.

I am on a somewhat tight budget and since I have no intention of gaming I was considering going with a 790gx board and using the on-board graphics rather than using a discrete graphics card. I know everyone's first reaction is "don't do on-board graphics!" but keep in mind I don't plan to play games on the system. That being said, if anyone has any performance-based or budget-based reasons why this seems like a bad idea and has some suggestions for alternatives, I'd love to hear them.

Also, if 790gx seems like a good idea, does anyone have recommendations for a good 790gx motherboard?

Thanks!

 

[Alienwho]

Go for it man. You can get the ASRock 790GXH with onboard video from Newegg for $90. If in the future you feel you need a cheap video card you can buy a $30 ATI card and run hybrid crossfire and get decent graphics.

I have a 780G system used for my HTPC using the onboard video (HDMI) and I have absolutely no complaints.

 

[heyheybooboo]

A 780g motherboard with onboard 'sideport' IGP memory may be more to your liking and easily save $20-$30 over a 790gx.

 

[Sylvanas]

Go with something like the Biostar 790GX (from memory one of the cheapest 790GX boards). I say this over a 780g because the GX is simply better all round, it's faster, has the SB750 and has more complete support for newer CPUs- when the 780g was released only some boards were fully compatible with the 125w Phenom Quads.