Motherboard GPU chipset shootout!

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GunsMadeAmericaFree

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2007
1,359
332
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Ok, I'm down to the wire on picking a motherboard. I just purchased 3 AMD Athlon LE 1620 Processors, so I'll be using the AM2 platform, and buying 3 of whatever I get. I'm going to make my mind up on which motherboard to get by the end of the month. (January 2008 A.D.) I had been intending to buy an Asrock board, but haven't found one with the newer chipsets available.

The main thing I'm having trouble on is picking an onboard GPU. I thought I had made my mind up on the Nvidia 6150, but today did some reading and found out about some newbies:

New contenders:

http://www.fpslabs.com/news/la...t-to-launch-in-january
(ATI RS740 - about $40/$60, RS780 for $90/$120)

http://www.betanews.com/articl...rce_7_Chips/1190737131
(Geforce 7 onboard GPU)




What I was considering previously: (up until this morning, actually!)

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php...b46957688c02c01eae699d
(AMD 690G onboard graphics)

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...lay/gf6150-gf6100.html
(Nvidia 6150 onboard video)


I really would like the capability of adding an HDTV down the road, and hooking it up
without having to buy anything extra.

Anyone have thoughts on which chipset should win my dollar?

As far as use, I probably spend 75% of my time encoding mpeg2 to mpeg4. (h.264 using Nero Recode), watching TV on my TV tuner card, or watching recorded programs. 20% of my time is spent browsing the web and playing casual games. (essentially puzzle and older strategy titles) The other 5% is probably spent listening to MP3's.

For all practical purposes, this should probably be considered a Home Theater PC.

Thanks!
 
R

Replay

Golden Member
Aug 5, 2001
1,366
72
91
The 690G chipset looks good now, but new stuff is coming. I'm also looking for an AM2 mobo for an x2 4000 Brisbane chip.

http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20071231PD208.html

"AMD's RS780 and Nvidia's MCP78 IGP chipsets are scheduled to go head-to-head in the first quarter of 2008, however, performance of the MCP78S is reportedly below that of the RS780, while the higher-end MCP78U is causing issues due to its higher thermal dissipation giving AMD the advantage over the chipset battle, according to sources at motherboard makers."


Built up a Radeon Xpress 1250 system last month with an Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD, Celeron 440 "core-solo" OC to 3.5 Ghz. Plays Stalker or Battlefield 2 on 800x600 medium settings, Counter Strike Source at 1024 with high settings. Good sound, and video quality is excellent (10 bit color).

http://www2.abit.com.tw/page/e...EXT=Fatal1ty%20F-I90HD


 
R

renethx

Golden Member
Apr 28, 2005
1,161
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None of the newer chipsets will be helpful to improve your tasks (encoding and wathing TV/recorded program). What you need was a fast dual-core processor (too late!).

GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H is one of the best current mb for HTPC. Major improvements of RS780 (780G) over 690G are:

- Support for AM2+ and HyperTransport 3.0
- PCI Express 2.0
- Local frame buffer (dedicated video memory)
- UVD (hardware acceleration for VC-1/H.264 decode)
- Hybrid CrossFire (works only with HD 3450/3470)
- New southbridge SB700 (6 SATA etc.; RAID 5 is not supported yet)
- 65 nm process (less power consumption)

while RS740 has very limited features:

- AM2+, HyperTransport 2.0
- PCI Express 1.1
- No UVD, local frame buffer, or Hybrid CrossFire

I don't recommend RS740 for HTPC. It's just a new chipset for low-end office machine.

GeForce 8200 and nForce 730a (MCP78S) is cheaper than RS780 with less 3D performance, but will be very good for a future HD HTPC.

- Support for AM2+ and HyperTransport 3.0
- PCI Express 2.0
- PureVideo HD Gen 3 (hardware acceleration for VC-1/H.264 decode)
- Hybrid SLI (works with any card)
- 6 SATA, 12 USB 2.0
 
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