Is a micro-ATX mobo good enough for a HTPC?

[ironk]

I mean, i see many HTPC cases that only support micro-ATX mobos. My problem with this is simply the lack of PCI slots. I haven't seen many m-atx mobos that have more than 2 PCI slots. Does this work out? I mean, you figure that one slot will be automatically used by a TV-capture card, and now you're left with one more. That one might get used up by another TV-capture card if you wanted dual tuners. So, thats it. You've used up all the PCI slots. What if you wanted to put in a sound card (and didn't want to use the onboard audio) or some other PCI device?

Obviously, i could just go with a full ATX mobo/case, but then what exactly is the point of having all these m-atx cases/mobos? How do you guys get it to work? Or are there m-atx mobos that have more than 2 PCI slots?

 

[renethx]

Perhaps many consider compactness as an important factor of HTPC and they seem to be satisfied with onboard video/TV out/sound, so don't need more than 2 PCI slots. (I have GeForce 6150 boards in mind, the dominating mATX motherboards among HTPC users.)

Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS has 3 PCI slots, but lacks onboard DVI/HD audio and comes with only an S-video out bracket, so is not appropriate for HTPC.

 

[Zap]

PCI-E 1x TV tuner

There will be more in the future, plus you can get USB devices.

 

[Heidfirst]

you can also get dual tuner cards

 

[R3MF]

mATX is fine.

the only shame is that modern mATX AM2 boards don't put the graphics in the first slot with makes life harder for case makers that need to provide riser cards.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

My last HTPC was a shuttle sn45g SFF, even smaller than mATX. It had Soundstorm so no audio card required, I used a personal cinema, so vid card and tuner were 1 card, and I used the PCI slot for wireless LAN. Thanks to the proliferation of USB devices, you can add jyst about whatever else you need.

For my upcoming HTPC though, I'm just migrating a present skt754 ATX setup to this

 

[R3MF]

i dunno if you have already bought the case, but the newer gen Silverstone chassis's with 80mm case fans are cooler and quieter....

 

[R3MF]

i am looking at a Silverstone LC11-M, which is why i have the problem with new AM2 mATX boards as the riser card provided will not work in them.

in anything shifts me to conroe over AM2 it will be the lack of 16x/PCI/PCI/1x expansion configs.

 

[ironk]

man, selecting a case is a PITA. Some come with PSU's which are proprietory, others are just too expensive. Anywhere on the web where they do a roundup of htpc cases below $100?

I really liked the Antec Overture II, however it has a proprietory PSU which just make it useless since if the PSU dies, you have to buy their $80-90 PSU which is almost the same cost as the case itself.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: R3MF
i dunno if you have already bought the case, but the newer gen Silverstone chassis's with 80mm case fans are cooler and quieter....

I'll be taking the 2x60mm out, the Sempr0n I'm using is very cool running, even overclocked, and it'll be in a wifde open component rack.

Originally posted by: ironk
man, selecting a case is a PITA. Some come with PSU's which are proprietory, others are just too expensive. Anywhere on the web where they do a roundup of htpc cases below $100?

I really liked the Antec Overture II, however it has a proprietory PSU which just make it useless since if the PSU dies, you have to buy their $80-90 PSU which is almost the same cost as the case itself.

I'd suggest just buying a case and adding the PSU yourself. Unless you intend to HD game on it, you likely won't need a big, expensive, PSU. I don't like the open face look for HTPC either, you get stuck matching or painting drives, and it looks chaotic to me. It has the advantage of no door to break though.

 

[R3MF]

Originally posted by: ironk
man, selecting a case is a PITA. Some come with PSU's which are proprietory, others are just too expensive. Anywhere on the web where they do a roundup of htpc cases below $100?

I really liked the Antec Overture II, however it has a proprietory PSU which just make it useless since if the PSU dies, you have to buy their $80-90 PSU which is almost the same cost as the case itself.

sfftech has just reviewed the new Antec Fusion case.

 

[Zekey]

Or, Ironk, since you want under 100 dollars, check out the Antec NSK 2400 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129014) It's cheap, and quiet, and the PSU is top notch. Antec has good CS, so I wouldn't worry about not getting a replacement PSU if it happens to die.

 

[fatpat268]

i'm having the same problem

I suppose you could go with a dual tuner card like the hauppauge pvr 500, but I've heard that its picture quality compared to the 350, 250, and even the 150 isn't that great.
You could go for an all in wonder to satisfy the video card and tuner in one slot, put another tuner in the second slot, and sound card in the third, and depending if your mobo has it or not, a pci-e 1x card in the fourth slot. Too bad not many cards use pcie 1x though.