z68 != HTPC motherboard

[jonny13]

So, I needed to update my HTPC and figured a Z68 with the 2500K was a perfect combo. I settled on the GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 board. There are two huge issues I have though with this setup.

1. There is huge overscan with my TV. I've had 2 previous boards using Intel graphics and an AMD and nVidia card and none of them had problems. I've checked online and none of hte solutions work to correct it.

2. Then there is the issue where if you change the TV over to another input and come back, there is no video anymore. The only way to get it back is to restart. Again, neither of my previous 4 setups have done this. I can't believe that modern equipment has regressed to the point that it's behind even 6-7 year old technology.

Did I just get a bad board or is this the norm for the x68 boards? I'd rather not spend money on a standalone card as the whole reason for waiting this long to upgrade was to wait for the x68. I don't game, but do convert a ton of video was was interested in the Intel graphics for that as well as overclocking the 2500k. Any thoughts?

 

[Vette73]

Try swaping out the board. If not then its probably the standard Intel drivers causing it. No matter how good intel says they are, their drivers always never live up to their claims.

 

[mosco]

as much as I would like an i3-2100 as a HTPC, the intel drivers are just not ready for prime time.

You are better off getting a cheap Radeon 5450 or something.

 

[jonny13]

So, if I can't use the Z68 for video, is there any point in spending $25-30 more for a Z68 than just getting a P67? I wanted to use the Z68 for video encoding, but if they can't even get an HTPC board to work as an HTPC, then I can't imagine how buggy the video encoding is.

 

[Vette73]

^

Swap board first. But if you get more than 1 doing the same could be a driver issue.

Encoding is supposed to be ok from reviews.

 

[jonny13]

^

Swap board first. But if you get more than 1 doing the same could be a driver issue.

Encoding is supposed to be ok from reviews.

I got an RMA from newegg, but need to call to get them to ship an advanced replacement. So, hopefully I"ll get that before the weekend and can try out the new board. I can't believe no one else has the Z68 and can comment on either of my issues. Hopefully it's just a bad board.

 

[Vette73]

^

I have seen people have video issues with the H67 boards so not impossible to have a bad board or even CPU.

 

[Zargon]

So, I needed to update my HTPC and figured a Z68 with the 2500K was a perfect combo. I settled on the GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 board. There are two huge issues I have though with this setup.

1. There is huge overscan with my TV. I've had 2 previous boards using Intel graphics and an AMD and nVidia card and none of them had problems. I've checked online and none of hte solutions work to correct it.

FWIW I have yet to have no overscan issues on a 1080p display, but nvidia and ati cp software has an easy slider bar for it.

 

[jonny13]

FWIW I have yet to have no overscan issues on a 1080p display, but nvidia and ati cp software has an easy slider bar for it.

Yeah, I used to have some overscan with my older Intel onboard video board, but got that fixed and my last three nvidia and ATI cards worked perfect. Set it to 720P and it went edge to edge. Even with the overscan slider in the Intel drivers, it doesn't come close.

 

[jonny13]

Well, the new board came and does the same thing. The input switching issue doesn't occur in the bios screen, so it's definitely not a hardware thing and is driver related. So, looks like these boards just aren't up to the HTPC task until Intel pulls their head out of their *ss and fixes their drivers.

Seriously, what good is a HTPC when you can never switch it off that input. Oh well, back to the discrete card for me.