Best mATX motherboard with eSATA ?

[Luddite]

Hi, I am building a new HTPC system and looking for a really good mobo with eSATA capability. I need something that 1) has good fan control 2) not difficult to overclock 3) economical with power consumption.

I am partial to Asus Intel boards, and so far have looked at Asus P5N7A-VM, P5QL-EM, and also an Asus AMD M3A78-EM. But I am open to other suggestions.

I don't game, do video editing, encoding, or any heavy multi-media use. I am getting more into desktop publishing. Does anyone know if integrated graphics are adequate for Photoshop and Indesign?

Thanks in advance.....

 

[Luddite]

....anyone?

 

[coolVariable]

Stay away for AMD for sure, despite how much people say that they are great for HTPCs.

For a HTPC, I would get one of the Asus boards that already has the OCUR compliant bios.
(although there is a software hack out for that)

 

[heyheybooboo]

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H AMD 780G: $65 AR

Works just dandy for me - is a real power miser.

I don't know why you would want OCUR unless you have plans for cablecard - and a hacked OCUR most likely will only lead to problems (I have yet to see a 'hacked' cablecard from CableCo). Won't work without PID.

The DFI LP JR 790GX AM3 has a bunch of fan headers and DDR3 support but no eSATA (a bracket will fix that). I'm not sure if the Realtek 885 covers content protection.

BUT for your desktop publishing the ASRock A780GMH/128M 780G with sideport video memory might work best. It's a 'cutdown' 790gx for the most part with some great combo deals.