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Recommend a s939 m-ATX board for HTPC

T

trueimage

Senior member
Hey, I am thinking of rebuilding my HTPC using some components I already have.

One I want to replace is my motherboard. It must be m-ATX and s939.

I would also like it to have onboard sound with spdif and/or coaxial out, unless you think I should go with a separate card.

I do not want onboard video.

I would like to have "easy" overclocking. I mean if I pop in a cpu I want to be able to set the fsb from 200 to 250 and have it work, if the cpu can do it (which I know mine can). Not 1000 tweakable settings to make it work.

Any recommendations would be great.

Thanks
 
not many good overclock choices.

1. DFI RS482 is the best for OC.

2. Biostar TForce is the second best.

 
Your requirements...

Socket 939 - plenty of choices
no onboard video - AFAIK only 2 choices for mATX, assuming you need PCI-E 16x
mATX form factor - plenty of choices
onboard sound - all boards
SPDIF out - rare
overclocking - not very rare, but rare to be "good" and with voltages

All the following are mATX socket 939 boards with onboard sound and at least minor overclocking. All should be stable and perform nearly identical to each other. Your choice would be based on how much you value various aspects of your "wish list" and availability. I'll give brief notes on features. If I mention "fan" that means chipset has a fan on it, a potential source for noise. "Minor" overclocking means some RAM and HTT adjustments. "Good" overclocking means having voltages and I've heard reports of 300MHz+ HTT. "Average" overclocking means maybe voltages and maybe some middling HTT speeds (240-260MHz). Almost all of these boards have one PCI-E 16x, one PCI-E 1x and two PCI. First two boards don't have onboard video, the rest do but you can definately use a PCI-E video card in them just fine. IMO onboard video doesn't matter, just ignore it.

Foxconn NF4K8MC-EKRS
AFAIK the first (out of two) mATX socket 939 boards without integrated video. Uses Nforce4 chipset. Minor overclocking, Firewire, fan. Only 2 RAM slots. $73 shipped.

eVGA 131-K8-NF44-AX
AFAIK the second (out of two) mATX socket 939 boards without integrated video. Also, the only mATX board with SLI. Yes, SLI. Average overclocking, Firewire, fan,l SPDIF out (optical and coaxial), only 1 PCI (tough to run dual tuners). $82 shipped.

Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS
Average overclocking. 3x PCI slots but no PCI-E 1x. Firewire. $73 shipped.

DFI RS482 INFINITY
Good overclocking, Firewire, SPDIF out (optical). $90 shipped but OOS.

EPoX EP-9GF6100-M
Good overclocking, fan. $69 shipped but OOS.

BIOSTAR GEFORCE 6100-M9
Average overclocking. $66 shipped. Note that this is similar to the "Tforce" version below, but overclocking will be not as good.

BIOSTAR TForce6100-939
Good overclocking. $76 shipped but OOS. I have this board and it is very good. Runs my Opteron 144 at 2.7GHz on a 300MHz HTT just fine, may be able to do more but the fanless chipset heatsink gets pretty hot which worries me.

Here's what sets these boards apart, IMO.

SPDIF out - DFI and eVGA
Good overclocking - DFI, EPoX and Biostar
SLI - eVGA
 
The dfi is the best of the bunch, if you have good psu to run it (like an XClio Goodpower 500 watt for $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189005). Its a dfi, and I wouldn't reconmend running it on less than that (thats the best bang for your buck PSU available atm btw); if you have a 450 watt psu with the case that MIGHT be ok for a little while, and I udnerstand its difficult if your building a pc around an mATX case.

Otherwise, pick up the Epox. They might not be DFI, but they are pretty much the only other mobo company I trust, haven't had any issues with them. DFI's are arguably the best, they are just PICKY!
 
After these recommendations, I may just stick with the MSI K8NGM2-FID 6150 board I have and buy a 7600GT and a sound card with sdpif, and disable the onboard video and audio. My case will only have 300w or 400w p/s so the DFI is out of the picture. I thought there might be a decent true barebones m/b on the cheap. seems like a waste to use this MSI for so little. The 6150 doesn't seem to be playing my 1080i .ts files well, unless its another issue... 1GB ram and A64 3200+ @ 2400mhz, I doubt it.
 
Originally posted by: trueimage
After these recommendations, I may just stick with the MSI K8NGM2-FID 6150 board I have and buy a 7600GT and a sound card with sdpif, and disable the onboard video and audio.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan. :thumbsup:
 
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