AM2 HTPC - mATX mobo, RAM rec's please

mrzed

Senior member
Jan 29, 2001
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Finally geting ready to make the move to dual core. The system will be running an HTPC in an NSK2400 (for now) case. Duties will be PVR, Music, and light gaming. Sticking with integrated graphics for now. CPU will be 3800+ X2EE.

My questions are:

Board: I want stable, cool, adjustable, undervolting and overclocking options if possible. I will not be doing really heavy tweaking, but I like to be able to OC lightly for gaming or encoding. Considering Abit NF-M2 Nview, but I also would not mind saving ~$35 to go with a cheaper (Asrock?) board. Quality is more important than getting the last mHz out of my CPU. Is the Abit good for all around quality, or is it just a tweaker's board? Recommendations welcome (DVI would be nice, but not essential, spdif out also welcome).

Memory: This is where I get really lost. Given my intended use, what is the sweet spot. DDR2 667 or is 800 worth the small premium? I'm not going to spend endless hours tweaking my latency settings. I just want something that works and does not bottleneck the system.

Also: 2*512 or 1* 1Gb? I can't afford the 2 Gb for now Does dual-channel make much difference with AM2?
 

MDE

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
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Dual channel makes a huge difference when you're using integrated graphics, I would stick with 1GB for now in your situation.
 

mrzed

Senior member
Jan 29, 2001
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Ah - good point. So 2*512 is looking likely. Any comment on how much memory speed matters to low/midrange AM2 tweaking?
 

secretanchitman

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
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Originally posted by: mrzed
Ah - good point. So 2*512 is looking likely. Any comment on how much memory speed matters to low/midrange AM2 tweaking?

not much...ddr2-667 would suit you just fine. also the 2x512MB would be good as you can also add another 1GB or a 2x512MB later when prices drop. its not like you have 100000 photoshop instances running...heh heh.
 

mrzed

Senior member
Jan 29, 2001
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Any mainboard opinions? The nView has all the features I want, but there are other boards friendlier to the budget that are mostly equivalent.