Best onboard video?

[ddrueding]

What motherboards offer the best onboard video? What are they comparable to?

I've been out of this game for too long now, I really don't know what is out there.

 

[Will Rickards]

Some google stuff:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2147&page=7
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/gigabyte/GA-G33M-DS2R/b4.htm

So onboard basically sucks.

 

[ddrueding]

Yeah, I know onboard sucks. But for this application (HTPC), an expansion card isn't an option. What I am looking for primarily is smooth video playback and gaming at low resolutions (below 1024*768) output over VGA. So I'm really looking for the best of the worst.

Thanks for the links. Looks like the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R is the winner.

 

[Bozo]

I use all Intel boards at work. They all have Intel's onboard video. For what we use them for they are fine.

Bozo :joker:

 

[ddrueding]

Just for grins I tried the onboard video on a board I had sitting around (Gigabyte GA-945GZM-S2) with a 2 Ghz C2D and 1GB RAM.

It can handle DVDs fine, and 720P with minimal issues, but 1080i stuff falls apart.

For my needs, I suppose this could work. I'll just need to downsample the higher-res stuff to the resolution of the display.

 

[Stereodude]

It can handle DVDs fine, and 720P with minimal issues, but 1080i stuff falls apart.

What were you expecting? It's built in graphics... Why are you trying to do the HTPC thing without a dedicated graphics card?

 

[ddrueding]

What were you expecting? It's built in graphics... Why are you trying to do the HTPC thing without a dedicated graphics card?

That is actually better than I was expecting, and good enough. HTPCs are supposed to be small and silent; that is much easier to do without unnecessary components. It already has a tuner card, and adding a video card would increase the cooling needs significantly, making it that much harder to cool silently.

 

[Stereodude]

It already has a tuner card, and adding a video card would increase the cooling needs significantly, making it that much harder to cool silently.

Harder to cool quietly on the cheap, not necessarily harder to cool quietly.

 

[ddrueding]

Harder to cool quietly on the cheap, not necessarily harder to cool quietly.

I would argue that it is still harder to cool, even after the budget has been maxed. This system already is loaded with Dynamat extreme and has the quietest 120mm Scythe S-Flex 800rpm fan soft-mounted internally with ducting. The 2.5" SATA hard drive is acoustically insulated and soft-mounted as well. The PS is a modded Seasonic 330W. No matter what, an external video card is going to impede airflow and add heat.

 

[Stereodude]

And you can hear that? Dynamat isn't going to do squat to make it quieter. It will only reduce or eliminate the resonance of the metal case.

 

[ddrueding]

And you can hear that? Dynamat isn't going to do squat to make it quieter. It will only reduce or eliminate the resonance of the metal case.

Nope, I can't hear it; that is the point. The Dynamat is to make the optical drive as quiet as possible. And it is pretty darn quiet.

 

[Mercutio]

You're doing it wrong.
There's lots of ways to make a quiet home theater setup but I think you're pursuing the wrong avenue.

1. You're playing back movies. Storage does not need to be local for that. Capture is a different story, but these days a crappy little 2TB array will last years if you're reencoding to an MPEG4 format.
2. If your content includes H.264 or anything in 1920x1080, you need a video card. Specifically, you should probably look at an ATI x2x00 or an nvidia 8600.
3. Antec NSK2400/Fuzion. It's a quiet, roomy starting point with excellent airflow, and it's the same 19" formfactor as other home theater parts.
or
3. Build a PC into a wooden cabinet. Get some flat pack and a Dremel. Set the PC well away from anyplace where you can hear it. You can go nuts with rubber mountings, dynamat, exotic fans or even watercooling. You'll have all the room in the word. Run long cables. Buy an external DVD drive (the XBox HD-DVDs are down to $170 and include five movies) if you need that function in your appliance.

I have built these and I am so tool-incompetent that I don't even try to hang my own pictures.

4. Nero DriveSpeed = Optical drive that doesn't make noise

 

[udaman]

Yeah, I know onboard sucks. But for this application (HTPC), an expansion card isn't an option. What I am looking for primarily is smooth video playback and gaming at low resolutions (below 1024*768) output over VGA. So I'm really looking for the best of the worst.

Thanks for the links. Looks like the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R is the winner.

Umm, for smooth video playback, I think you need to do further reading .... http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/gigabyte/GA-G33M-DS2R/b8.htm

From the same site <1/2 the cost of the GB G33,

ASRock 4Core1333-FullHD ATi RS600/SB600
seems the better integrated video option by that measure with the ATi RS600

Better features (note it's name 'FullHD'), connections for that type of HTPC, DDR2 800Mhz support, etc....BIOS support for overclocking of the CPU:diablo:

Might try your question over on silentpcreview...probably been done on that site many times/many threads, isn't there a fanless discrete ATI GPU you could use?

Edit, on same site above, CPU utilization is quite low for 1080p, so no, should *not* require discrete GPU, but just the same, for gaming you'll do better with discrete GPU's

 

[timwhit]

I built a friend's HTPC in the Antec NSK2400, it worked great except that this video card was too tall, so we had to bend the top panel of the case around it, just something to think about.

 

[Will Rickards]

I'm building with the NSK2400 and the GB GA-G33M-DS2R. I'm bringing over my ATI X300 video card instead of using the onboard. One day I'll probably upgrade the video card.

 

[ddrueding]

Merc, the destination is really low res...I don't think any 1080i content will ever be displayed. 720P content played just fine. Thanks for the tip on DriveSpeed.

udaman, thanks for the tip on that motherboard. It looks promising, except for the manufacturer (IIRC, the budget branch of ASUS).



Here are the parts currently in this build (from my spare parts bin)

Silverstone HTPC Case
Intel C2D 2Ghz
1GB DDR2 800Mhz
WinTV-PVR250
Fujitsu 80GB 2.5" SATA HDD (7200RPM)
Samsung SH-S183 SATA DVD-RW
Seasonic S12-330W

Connected via network: 2TB Buffalo TeraStation


This machine is going into a component stack that is already in a wooden cabinet with an insulated door (vented out the back).

 

[udaman]

Merc, the destination is really low res...I don't think any 1080i content will ever be displayed. 720P content played just fine. Thanks for the tip on DriveSpeed.

udaman, thanks for the tip on that motherboard. It looks promising, except for the manufacturer (IIRC, the budget branch of ASUS).



Here are the parts currently in this build (from my spare parts bin)

Silverstone HTPC Case
Intel C2D 2Ghz
1GB DDR2 800Mhz
WinTV-PVR250
Fujitsu 80GB 2.5" SATA HDD (7200RPM)
Samsung SH-S183 SATA DVD-RW
Seasonic S12-330W

Connected via network: 2TB Buffalo TeraStation


This machine is going into a component stack that is already in a wooden cabinet with an insulated door (vented out the back).

Typical of dd and almost all posters, who do their usual short one or two line posts, they never give enough info to make an informed reply---same with his 'hypothetical' low-light camera desires...for some reason the actual intent of using the camera was too embarassing or private to mention the intented use, like it was for his own amatuer pr0n he's going to post on pr0notube.com, lol. You all could save us wasted posts and time by taking a few short moments in your train of thought and more throughly listing your specifics and biases from the get go.

Wha...you think I like writing super long posts or something? :rotfl:

Asus makes some of the Apple laptops, Apple has passed Dell & HP and are getting close to industry heavy weights Intel & IBM in total paper worth. Not everything Asus makes is bad, if you have a bias against some manufacturer state it up front. If you have a bias against using something, CPU, GPU, particular hard drive/optical drive for whatever your reasons etc. don't make others *waste* their time writing replies about something you (but only you) already know you don't want.

I only mentioned that particular manufacturers setup as an example of one that is using a superior GPU as far as video performance which has been mentioned as desirable by dd, the Ati R600 (take a look at that link again comparing R600, 945 & 965 integrated graphics and the poor conclusion dd came to just because of his known bias for GB products after very quickly perusing that link, not going to the following page in the article I linked to...find another MB with Ati's R600 on the MB of your choice/price range then), there was no mention in the OP of need for quality/reliability or for that matter price range, or anything that would *not* be considered unless it met some unlisted parameter.

Cdinfo will have your most reliable info on what brands of optical drives to consider. Eh, but don't just go type in a one line post, asking for the quietest opital drive, you know you have other parameters/built in biases...so list them in the OP.

 

[Stereodude]

Merc, the destination is really low res...I don't think any 1080i content will ever be displayed. 720P content played just fine. Thanks for the tip on DriveSpeed.

You don't plan to ever watch HDTV?

 

[Mercutio]

Asus makes some of the Apple laptops, Apple has passed Dell & HP and are getting close to industry heavy weights Intel & IBM in total paper worth.

Asus is IIRC the second largetst OEM these days (Gigabyte is number three I think). It is big enough that it recently split into three distinct companies to cover its various business interests, including white-box hardware and component manufacture.

They are the manufacturer for a lot of laptops, not just Apple.
But Apple's MacBook line is also well known for some pretty spectacular flaws, particularly overheating video hardware and batteries.

S*ny is another huge company well known for OEM hardware. Just like Asus, a lot of what they make isn't particularly trustworthy for a whole lot of reasons. Ask anyone who has had a $400 DVD Burner or, say, four Playstations in a row break on them.

Sometimes, there are very, very good reasons for name brand prejudices.

 

[ddrueding]

uda,

Where the hell did that come from? I'll tackle it line-by-line, but I understand why so many people block you.

The information I was after when I started the thread was listed at the top. As with most projects, it develops over time. As new information was available, I posted it. As suggestions were made, I commented on what I perceived to be their usefulness/applicability. This system was not built when I started the thread, I just threw it together out of spares to see if it would hold up. If you are going to be so sensitive about any negative comments regarding your suggestions, why do you make them in the first place? I like the looks of that R600 chipset, and may give it a shot despite not preferring that manufacturer.

 

[ddrueding]

You don't plan to ever watch HDTV?

Not this user. They already purchased one of these (Max Res 852x480). And have said it is to last them many years. If they change their mind, they can upgrade their HTPC as well.

 

[Bozo]

New drivers for Intel video:

http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2007/08/gaming_on_integrated_graphics.html

Bozo :joker: