Best micro-atx mainboard for a HTPC?

[Remco]

Hi,

I'm thinking about building a new HTPC, and i think the Silverstone LC11M is a nice one. But this one needs a micro-Atx (mAtx) mainboard.

What is the best mATX mainboard, or chipset for a HTPC? It'll contain a PVR350, so should i stay away from Via? I think i'll put a Sempron in it, so it has to be socket 754.
The only chipsets i can find are:
- ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Chipset
- VIA KM800
- nForce3 250 (but these ones are hard to find)
Which one is the best?

or should i stick with Socket A and search for an nForce2 board?
or should i save a little more money and search for a 939 with nForce4

Thanks.
Remco

[capone]

I had that case...loved it, but needed to change machines in a hurry.

I used a biostar board. It wasn't perfect, but had nForce and AC3 audio, and if you're clever, a s/pdif pins you could connect to so you could connect via optical or coax to receiver w/.

Other than that, it's unremarkable, and the nVidia HW conflicted w/ earlier drivers for the 150/remote.

[malcolm]

Hi,

I'm thinking about building a new HTPC, and i think the Silverstone LC11M is a nice one. But this one needs a micro-Atx (mAtx) mainboard.

What is the best mATX mainboard, or chipset for a HTPC? It'll contain a PVR350, so should i stay away from Via? I think i'll put a Sempron in it, so it has to be socket 754.
The only chipsets i can find are:
- ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Chipset
- VIA KM800
- nForce3 250 (but these ones are hard to find)
Which one is the best?

or should i stick with Socket A and search for an nForce2 board?
or should i save a little more money and search for a 939 with nForce4

Thanks.
Remco

Personally I'd give the Sempron (with it's limited cache) a miss, get hold of an nForce2 socket A board while you still can, and get a Barton chip, preferably a mobile. Yes the Sempron offers an upgrade path to a skt 754 AMD 64, but that is really overkill for a PVR. The Skt A may have limited life left, but I can't see the skt754 getting support for very much longer.
Try this mobo:
http://www.rlsupplies.co.uk/products/pro...sp?id=4678
You could use the on board gfx, but if you want tv out it has an AGP slot anyway.

[daphatty]

If at some point you intend to watch HD content from your PVR I'd advise you to get a motherboard with no less than an AGP 8x slot. I'm having one hell of a time getting HD quality content to play through my 4x slot even though my video card is more than adequate.

My 2 cents...

[Remco]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm going to try to find myself a nForce2 with Soundstorm.

Remco