[protocol77]

I have two HTPC's I am planning on giving one to my sister i will eventually build myself a second one so i can have one in my bedroom and one as my main htpc in the lounge room but for now i am trying to decide which one i should keep this is the boards i have in each of them


Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3 (mini-itx)
(dual-core 1.6ghz with radeon HD6310 graphics)

or

Asrock 880GMH-LE/USB3 (micro-atx)
(AMD Athlon X2 260 Dual-Core 3.2Ghz with Radeon 4250 graphics)


now they are both in a silverstone ML03 case

the gigabyte has a better onboard graphics but only has a 1.6ghz dual-core which has some noticeable sluggishness compared especially when navigating xbmc menus and running other more intense skins like AEON or AEON MQ2 or Neon

i am trying to decide if i should keep the gigabyte has better onboard as it has less power usage but less muscle or if i should go with the Asrock and simply upgrade the video card of course i would have to look at video card sizes as the Silverston ML03 case is a very thin case i couldn't even install a pci network card as the metal bracket that screws onto the case was too tall


what do anyone recommend as which to choose

[bluray]

keep the <Asrock 880GMH-LE/USB3 (micro-atx)
(AMD Athlon X2 260 Dual-Core 3.2Ghz with Radeon 4250 graphics)> it'll be easier for future upgrade or use it as is

[eskro]

agreed!

Keep Asrock 880GMH-LE/USB3 + Athlon X2 260

you can add this Low Profile video card
ASUS HD5450 512MB DDR3 64-Bit Fanless Low Profile ($36 + $0) (Windows OS only)

you can add this Low Profile WiFi card
ASUS PCE-N13 300Mbps WPA2 Band:2.4GHz ($25 + $0)

[outatouch0]

Depends on how much you love your sister

[protocol77]

thanks for the advice i will stick with the Asrock board i think the radeon HD 4250 onboard graphics might play blu-ray alright but if not i was looking at graphics cards as i mentioned above i need to get one that is low profile as i am hoping this means the metal bracket is also shorter than a regular graphics card as the case i have is a Silverstone ML03 which the height is only 105mm high which i think is around 4.13 inches so not very high

i am not sure if nvidia or radeon is best for a htpc i won't be using the machine for gaming just blu-ray and lower video playback

just need to find a graphics card that would fit such a small case or perhaps buy another case but has to be a max of 170mm which is the height of the shelf it has to fit into

[outatouch0]

On a more serious note. If you are going to end up tech supporting this for her... Give her the one that meets her needs best and runs the most bullet proof. Save yourself time and headaches that way

[eskro]

HD4250 onboard graphics does play 1080P...
However, i cant confirm how flawless it is in doing so,,,
If u go that route, make sure to set its shared RAM to 512MB in the BIOS settings..
oh yeah, if anything, u can then add a discrete video card..
again, a GT210, HD5450 or GT430 depending on what u need...

Have you checked all the microATX cases i linked users to?
they are listed in my little HTPC start'up guide,,,
Link -> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199
read if u feel like it or simply scroll down to the second post

[bluray]

You have a great mobo. If you throw one of these Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 or Evga GeForce GT 430 and Buffalo 1 TB USB 3.0. You'll have a powerful HTPC.

[eskro]

another great choice would be this GT430
ASUS GeForce GT430 1GB DDR3 128-bit Low Profile ($66 + $0 - $20 MiR)
currently at $46 after rebate!!

[protocol77]

another great choice would be this GT430
ASUS GeForce GT430 1GB DDR3 128-bit Low Profile ($66 + $0 - $20 MiR)
currently at $46 after rebate!!

thanks that is the second or third time someone has mentioned that Asus GT430 so it must be a good low profile card as i asked a local pc store here in Australia and they suggested either that one or the Radeon 5450 i think both come with a low-profile bracket as option in the box


so that might be the one to get i think for now i will test out the onboard 4250 graphics and see how it reacts to a full proper blu-ray one with a low of fast movement and action and then decide whether i need to get an additional card


BTW i have been keeping an eye on the temps of the cpu once it is in the case and in the cabinet where it sits and there is between 10-12cm at the back and about 15 cm on the side between the case the the walls of the cabinet and about 10cm from the roof of the case to the roof of the cabinet so has enough ventihalition i would think

however i am getting a cpu temp of around 45 celcius on idle and 50-53 on when i have been running a video for a while


now i think the Athlon X2 260 cpu has a max cpu temp of between 70 - 74 celcius

is the temps too high or something i should be concerned about i am planning on buying some small 80mm fans as there is room for 4 of them on the side case grill although to keep noise down i was planning on putting 2 of them in there instead of 4

on the Asrock board they have a feature called quite fan where there are levels of spin speed for the cpu stock cooler i think the highest is around 9 which makes a lot of noise but to get it silent i have to turn it down to about 5 which has the fans going at between 2200 rpm and 3200rpm i am thinking this contributes to the cpu temp raising to the temp it is


i just want to know if i should raise the fan speed and have a bit of noise coming from it or if the temp is safe enough i can leave the fan at that speed

i have noticed that the fan will speed up if i put more pressure on the cpu like when i am scanning a large group of files into xbmc i assume this is some sort of safety measure