onboard graphics

D

Dasimpson

Gawd
Joined
Jan 11, 2010
Messages
641
does any one know were i could find a list of on onboard graphics that work with windows 7 media center.
or maybe a motherboard that takes a low wattage cpu with onboard that works with w7mc dosent have to be to powerfull as it only running a basic freeview card and 700mb avi files from a server
 
If there's Windows 7 drivers for it, then yes that onboard video will work fine with MCE.

Just go with either a Core i3 CPU and a socket LGA 1156 motherboard with the H55 chipset, a Core i3 2100 CPU + a socket LGA 1155 H67 motherboard or an AMD Athlon II X2 EE CPU + socket AM3 motherboard with the 880G chipset for your low power HTPC.
 
Or try an AMD Zacate platform for low power but good enough for playing any files.
 
not heard of zacate iv been intel for years last amd i had was a athlone xp 2000+ lol ill read up more ty
 
On a related note, are there any motherboards that have on-board GPUs that are fast enough to play bluray content? Or do you need a card?
 
I have htpc with amd 785g mobo (onboard video) with an athlon II x2 cpu, and bluray is smooth with totalmediatheater 3.
 
working with MC is only 1/2 the battle... playing all your content is another story.

all modern graphics will "work" with MC but some will play all media
 
Good to hear, CookiePuss - I'd love to get a 1U rackmount chassis and throw it in my rack to use as an HTPC.. (currently using my old desktop mid-tower case, that's sitting beside my rack.. So non-aesthetically pleasing!)

Anyone here using a 1U-sized rackmount as their HTPC? (dont mean to hijack the thread - perhaps I should start another on this topic) Having a 1U chassis for each HTPC would be slick.
 
The big downside of 1U cases is they tend to be noisy due to the use of small fans. Also server cases tend to be far deeper than networking or AV equipment so you may have trouble fitting them in a rack intended for such equipment. Also any expansion cards will need to be on risers.
 
Regarding expansion cards, if the mobo has good enough onboard video for BluRay, I probably wont need any.. (now that I've said that, I'll find a need as soon as I buy one!)

As far as case depth you're right on - my Norco 4020 is pretty deep, and hangs off the back of my rac cage. Not a big deal, though.

Good point about the fans. I guess I'd need at least a 2U for a 120mm fan?
 
Rack units have a pitch of 1.75 inch. The equipment itself is slightly smaller than this to ease installation and removal.

1U systems use large numbers of tiny high speed fans. It's not just the case fans either, they require special CPU coolers too. 2U systems are likely to get away with a more conventional CPU cooler but the case fans will still be far smaller than in a desktop build.

A 120mm fan definitely won't fit in a 1U or 2U case and practically speaking is unlikely to fit in a 3U case (except possibly at the very front in an area with no drive bays). Even at 4U the rear fans are likely to be smaller than 120mm due to having to all the other stuff competing for back panel space.

If you want a shallow rackmount PC case (so it doesn't hang out the back of a rack not designed for servers) then you can get them from industrial PC vendors. For example http://www.adek.com/566-case.html
 
unwire said:
On a related note, are there any motherboards that have on-board GPUs that are fast enough to play bluray content? Or do you need a card?
Click to expand...

My htpc is a dual core amd with onboard ati 3450 (i think.... 3000 series for sure) and it plays back bluray just fine. Supposedly it supports hybrid crossfire so if i were to buy another 3450 i can cf them together. not really sure of the performance boost id get though.
 
jadams - that's good to know! Which model motherboard is it that you have?
 
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