Motherboard video

[CaneFan]

I haven't built a box in a while so I a little confused by the motherboards with integrated video. Do these boards require a video card? If not, what are the pros and cons to building a box using the integrated video instead of an AGP video card?

I am interested in building a box to hook up to my tv to use as a video recorder/home theater component with a tv tuner card.

 

[Vette73]

Onboard video means it has a video card built into the North bridge, so no need for a Video card. The Pro is most are cheaper and has a all in one type style. Cons are the onboard video uses the main systems memory and will not be as good as a stand alone 3D video card.


The 2 all in one boards to look at are the....

Shuttle MN31N
and
Biostar M7VIZ

Newegg.com has both of these boards

 

[CaneFan]

Do you have a recommendation for a standard ATX motherboard, rather than a micro-ATX? I'm thinking about pairing it with an AMD Barton 2500.

 

[ponyo]

LEADTEK Motherboard K7NCR18D-PRO II nForce2-GT if you want standard ATX. It even has Soundstorm.

 

[CaneFan]

I saw the review for that board last night. It look like it will meet my needs, now that I understand the video piece a little better. I was only planning on 256mb memory, but it sounds like I will really need at least 512mb if I skip the AGP video card and want to record MPEG video off the tv tuner card.

Thanks for all the info.