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Please help me choose a motherboard for my HTPC

Z

Zim

Golden Member
I currently use a Shuttle SG45H7 mini PC as my HTPC. The problem is that now I want to add a PCIe digital cable card tuner and apparently a limitation of the Intel G45 chipset is that I can't use HDMI and the PCIe slot at the same time. So now I'm looking to build a new machine but I'm having trouble finding one that meets my requirements...

- It should fit in a HTPC case, most of which are micro ATX.
- It should be able to support some form of HDMI output (onboard or otherwise) AND provide simultaneous use of a PCIe slot (x1 and up). This seems to rule out the intel Gxx chipsets.
- It should have an LGA775 socket so I can reuse my e5300 CPU.
- It should use DDR2 memory so I can reuse my memory. Preferrably 4 slots. However, I see some cheap DDR3 on sale so this isn't a huge issue.

Any suggestions?
 
whats your budget?

ZOTAC IONITX-F-E NVIDIA ION
A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel
image-3067296-10440897

Western Digital 3.5″ 1TB Caviar Green
ir
Sony Optiarc 24X SATA DVD Burner
image-3067296-10440897
Moneual LAB Y603B Black w/300W Power Supply
image-3067296-10440897
 
It looks like there are quite a few full ATX HTPC cases, so I'll probably go that route.
 
Zim said:
I suspect that one has the same issue. The PCIe slot is meant for a graphics card only.
Click to expand...

The slot on that board is not exclusively for a graphics card. You can plug in whatever type of PCI-e card you have and it will work. You can plug in a x1 card into a x16 slot no problem.
 
tomt4535 said:
The slot on that board is not exclusively for a graphics card. You can plug in whatever type of PCI-e card you have and it will work. You can plug in a x1 card into a x16 slot no problem.
Click to expand...


I think what he is saying is Intel has their IGP set so if anything is in the 16x port it turns off the Intel IGP.

If mear a Microcenter get a amd setup deal. Board + CPU for $100 or so. Get one that has the 4200 graphics, what I have in my HTPC right now.
 
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