Mobo and audio

[Conquistador SW]

I was asked to build a HTPC. However, I never build such a PC and have a couple of questions:

I was looking at this motherboards:

ASUS M4A785G HTPC http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=uypox45wza0j3kz6 (84€)
Or:
ASUS M4N78 PRO http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=lco8LZWTqWIhdLmv&templete=2 (68€)

I was going to use this motherboard in combination with a Athlon II X2 250 and 2 Gb Ram as I am on a budget. This computer will be used with a Samsung 55 inch full HD and a home cinema set.
Now the questions:

1) Which motherboard will be better?
2) Is it possible to connect the home cinema set via S/PDIF (or RCA) and a TV via HDMI and have audio on both at the same time?
3) Next to the TV, there will also be a normal computer display (DVI). Is it possible to just clone the desktop on both screens, so that when you just want to use the TV or computer display you can just turn off one of them? Do the TV and the computer screen have to be the same resolution?
4) Will a Athlon II X2 be enough for smooth blu-ray playback or is it better to go with something else?
5) Do I need to install some specific software to watch blu-ray with audio over HDMI?

[individual]

If you wanted, i know some motherboards support multi-routing on their surround channels....as in...if you have a 7.1 capable mobo you can play a 5.1 movie and a stereo music file simultaneously, through different outputs.

If you want to watch blu-ray in a computer, through HDMI, you need a decent video card with HDMI audio through support (a small 2-pin cable that connects somewhere on the card, to deliver 7.1 channel audio)

My suggestions:

A mobo with at least 2 PCI gen 2 slots, one for a decent video card, say, a 3870 should do the trick nicely
a nice sound card, an Asus Xonar or Creative X-Fi range (if you have a seperate soundcard, I'm not sure if you CAN use the onboard one simultaneously with it)
2 gigs of ram should be fine.
I'm not a fan of AMD so I haven't bothered to look up specs, but if you go with AMD make sure it is the equivilant of a Core duo 2.2GHz at least.
one hard drive for the OS, completely OS only, nothing else, then at least one more hard drive for movies/programs/music, whatever you wish.

You can use two different screens of different resolutions, but it can sometimes be harder to set up. Most cards capable of 2 monitors will have software with hotkeys, to switch screens, turn off the signal to either screen etc.

What is your budget on this system to start with? will give me a better idea of what you can acheive, and help me, help you, decide haha.

NOTE: I'm assuming you are using XP media center? if you are using Vista or 7 then I would suggest 4G of RAM

[Conquistador SW]

Thanks for the reply!

My budget for the motherboard, video, memory and cpu is about 200€ (so not that much) That why I went with a AMD setup. Your suggestions look a lot nicer though :D. I would have liked to buy some Core 2 duo and dedicated videocard, but the budget doesn’t allow this unless I go with a Celeron E3200 or something. (this doesn’t have to be a high end multitasking/gaming rig or something. It just has to play some blu-ray movies and work as a storage computer for a couple of home video’s and a bunch of pictures.) The problem with the budget is the case (can’t be higher as 25cm -> expensive HTPC cases) and a blu-ray drive is also like 100€.

I have the hard drives covered: 250Gb for programs/windows vista or 7 and 1 Tb as storage.

In the end what I really have to know is whether the 785G chipset will be good enough to play back blu-ray movie in combination with a Athlon II X2. I have some indications (reviews ) it will be good enough, but I wanted to be sure and hear some user experiences.

As for the audio. I think I know how I want to set this up: the HDMI will only have to be able to transfer video while de s/pdif output of the motherboard will be used for audio via an amplifier. This should work?

[individual]

200€ is around 400 australian or 350 US, i think...hmmm To find a mobo +memory +cpu for that, is prettty hard but still doable..Ill have a look around for you and post back

[individual]

Well i found a setup with mobo/cpu/video card/RAM that should be all you need

Nvidia GT-240 1GB dedicated video card (my mums laptop has one in it, and it can play half-life 2 episode 2 @ 1650x1080 at full everything with no problems)
Intel Pentium Dual Core E6300 (2.80GHz)
Corsair 2048MB (2 x 1024MB) PC2-6400 800Mhz DDR2 RAM - 5-5-5-18
Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L - 4 SATAII ports, onboard 8 channel audio, mATX factor

that was about 380 AU all up, so should be right on 200€, and that will be able to play any bluray movie, at full 1080p, has Sony Phillips Digitil Interface (SPDIF) out.

[Conquistador SW]

He Individual, thanks for the suggestions!

Unfortunately this is somewhat over €200 here in the Netherlands (the prices here suck, especially for the videocard: €85) I wonder if a 9500GT would also work? I was looking at this model: http://www.club3d.nl/products/products_ending_page_7_with_id.cfm?product_id=172 for €50. (gaming really isn’t an issue)

The prices here are:
GT 220: €85
GA G31M ES2L: €46
E6300: €60 (could also get a E5300 for €50)
Some generic 667mhz DDR2 2Gb (2*1Gb): €40--------total : €231

That’s why I am still wondering whether the AMD setup will work, as it only costs:
ASUS M4A785G HTPC: €84
Athlon II X2 240: €57
Ram: €40-------------------------------------------total: €181

So the difference is €50 (quite a lot with this budget), but maybe it is worth it? If I go with the 9500GT I will stay under €200 so that would also be a possibility.

[individual]

for full HD playback i would deffinately go a dedicated video card, and the 9500GT should do fine for what you need :)

[Donnie27]

He Individual, thanks for the suggestions!

Unfortunately this is somewhat over €200 here in the Netherlands (the prices here suck, especially for the videocard: €85) I wonder if a 9500GT would also work? I was looking at this model: http://www.club3d.nl/products/products_ending_page_7_with_id.cfm?product_id=172 for €50. (gaming really isn’t an issue)

The prices here are:
GT 220: €85
GA G31M ES2L: €46
E6300: €60 (could also get a E5300 for €50)
Some generic 667mhz DDR2 2Gb (2*1Gb): €40--------total : €231

That’s why I am still wondering whether the AMD setup will work, as it only costs:
ASUS M4A785G HTPC: €84
Athlon II X2 240: €57
Ram: €40-------------------------------------------total: €181

So the difference is €50 (quite a lot with this budget), but maybe it is worth it? If I go with the 9500GT I will stay under €200 so that would also be a possibility.

The AMD setup will work. I haven't tested it but it is supposed to do BD decoding without goasting and etc...., so will an E52 or 5300. No need to buy a Celeron for a similar price. The ATI/AMD 4650 will do the Blue Ray and Sound for it without any stupid 2 pin connection to the Video card. In fact the HDMI support is the only real reason to by the card.

[big poppa pump]

1) The AMD setup will work perfectly fine and will keep chugging along without any hiccups with any 1080p videos. You don't need to buy a separate video card for doing Blu-Rays. The Athlon II X2 250 has more than enough power to do this. Also remember that the CPU will hardly be under any load if you use the right codecs/software for Blu-Ray playback. Make sure that you use something that uses DXVA acceleration.

2) Get the 785G mobo.

3) You cannot do DVI & HDMI at the same time. You can do either DVI/VGA or HDMI/VGA.

4) Depending on the OS you are using, you might be able to output sound both via HDMI and SPDIF. However with Vista and Win7, you will be able to use only either one.

5) You need to have either Arcsoft TMT or Powerdvd installed to watch Blu-ray's on the PC.

[Donnie27]

1) The AMD setup will work perfectly fine and will keep chugging along without any hiccups with any 1080p videos. You don't need to buy a separate video card for doing Blu-Rays. The Athlon II X2 250 has more than enough power to do this. Also remember that the CPU will hardly be under any load if you use the right codecs/software for Blu-Ray playback. Make sure that you use something that uses DXVA acceleration.

2) Get the 785G mobo.

3) You cannot do DVI & HDMI at the same time. You can do either DVI/VGA or HDMI/VGA.

4) Depending on the OS you are using, you might be able to output sound both via HDMI and SPDIF. However with Vista and Win7, you will be able to use only either one.

5) You need to have either Arcsoft TMT or Powerdvd installed to watch Blu-ray's on the PC.

My computer is connected with the DVI to HDMI adapter. At one time it has a CRT connected as well. The only catch is that AMD and nVidia said they don't support TrueHD or DTS HD that my receiver supports.

Again, my LG 370 looks and sounds better than The tested AMD 785 and Intel G45 we played with. SO the Inteliots and AMDroids are wrong on this one. So are the, X-Fi, Xonar and other Fanboys

[bluestang]

The only catch is that AMD and nVidia said they don't support TrueHD or DTS HD that my receiver supports.

You might be interested in this article (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3411) then. Jump to Page 3 for the fix. Have fun! :up:

[Donnie27]

You might be interested in this article (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3411) then. Jump to Page 3 for the fix. Have fun! :up:

Interesting read but!!!!!


"""Cyberlink, everyone's favorite player software manufacturer, supports decoding both TrueHD and DTS-HD MA in software (although it appears that Cyberlink does downsample the 24-bit 48kHz LPCM output to 16-bit 48kHz, but at least you get 8 discrete channels even if you lose the bit-for-bit lossless accuracy of the original signal).""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_TrueHD
http://www.dolby.com/professional/technology/pc/dolby-truehd.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS-HD_Master_Audio


DTS-HD Master Audio is a lossless audio codec created by Digital Theater System. It was previously known as DTS++.[1] It is an extension of DTS which, when played back on devices which do not support the Master Audio or High Resolution extension, degrades to a "core" track which is lossy. DTS-HD Master Audio is an optional audio format for both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD.


Now just because it says one thing, doesn't mean it's doing what it says, sorry I missed your reply. As far as I know, 48Hz isn't enough bandwidth for the uncompressed version so it degrades or reverts back the the smaller Lossey instead of Lossless for bandwidth's sake. That's the reason HDMI was upgraded from 1.1 to 1.3. If it works with only 48Hz, I'm shocked and I think Anandtech might be wrong. HD audio doesn't need 7.1 as well and does a great Job in 5.1 mode. In fact, the 5.1 mode is what impressed me.

Also, if the sounds are processed by the computer instead of an outside source, all you need is 5.1 (or 7.1) analog inputs on any receiver or AMP (with enough inputs).