Good motherboard - MSI K8NGM2-FID?

[tsu3000]

Hello

I've been told that the MSI K8NGM2-FID is one of the best system board for a quiet and low power usage HTPC. Is anyone using this board? Are there any good boards out there that include everything I would need (eg S/P Dif, S-Video, built in VGA, Sound etc)?

Thanks in advance.

[McBainUK]

No expereince of one myslef but they seem to like it here.

[tsu3000]

Seems like the MSI K8NGM2-FID is almost impossible to get hold UK.

[McBainUK]

Seen it at scan.co.uk for £60 but out of stock at the mo.

Is this the trouble you're having?

[tsu3000]

Yes. Cannot seem to get it anywhere that is in stock for the price Scan are doing it for.

[bungle]

I am currently using this board for my GB-PVR backend and main computer. I got it with a new dual-core AMD. I watch recordings only via an MVP. I got the board thinking that when I got an HDTV tuner I might want to put it into another box and use it as my frontend, but so far that hasn't happened. So I haven't really tested the TV out functionality of it, just VGA to my CRT. However, USB and firewire seem to work fine - haven't tested the speeds. Also, it suspends and resumes beautifully (after I figured out my USB hub wasn't letting it sleep) - it takes about 1 second to sleep and 3 to come back. I had keyboard wakeup working, but now it doesn't. I see a fix for that in a later BIOS version, but I haven't applied it. I used the stock HSF from my processor in an Antec Sonata II case. If you use the BIOS to turn the fan down when the processor is cool it is very quiet. Mine's on one end of the living room so it needs to be quiet.

I think it may be hard to get because they have renamed it the MSI K8NGM2-NBP: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813130540. I read about this somewhere, but don't remember the details. I don't know if it is exactly the same or not. This model doesn't seem to have a TV out bracket. My FID does. It also doesn't seem to have a firewire port on the back, which mine does. If you don't need DVI you can get the Foxconn 6150K8MA-8EKRS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...813186086). It also has 3 PCI slots, compared to the 2 on the MSI. The MSI does have a PCIex1 slot, but unfortunately, and unexpectedly, the only PCIe tuner card available right now only has XP drivers, and I have 2k. I have a 150 now and thought about getting another, but that would preclude an HDTV tuner later unless I went USB or something.

[gEd]

[edit no 7!]

these people have the MSI K8NGM2-FID Skt 939 Geforce GFX PCI-E Audio SATAII GBLan

http://www.refreshcomputers.com/default....xtId=13114

£70.22 inc. Vat

3 in stock

they also have this

http://www.refreshcomputers.com/default....xtId=13115

breakdown of different board versions:

• K8NGM2-FID (GeForce 6150 + nForce 430)
[Onboard GbE LAN, IEEE1394, DVI connector]

• K8NGM2-IL (GeForce 6100 + nForce 410)
[Onboard IEEE1394, 10/100 LAN]

• K8NGM2-L (GeForce 6100 + nForce 410)
[Onboard 10/100 LAN]

[RedNick]

Until I read this, I was pretty settled on the ASUS A8N-VM CSM.

In the linked article at Anandtech it lists
CONS
- 5.1 channel audio (ADI AD 1986A)

Does this sound really suck?

Also, on both ASUS and MSI's websites, I can find no mention of TV or S-Video outputs. Are these available on both boards and is it via a bracket, does anyone know? If so, I may have to take a power drill to my Hiper Media Case !

Any help appreciated.
Cheers
Nick

[McBainUK]

Any good s754 mboards around with tv-out?

Can't seem to find any

Mark

[RedNick]

Indeed, as I won't need much grunt processor-wise, I would have liked to go with a S754 Sempron to save some cash. But this seems to be a non-starter.

I had hoped for some luck finding the Albatron KM51PV-754 but although this mainboard was launched (with much fuss) at the turn of the year, they do not appear to be on sale anywhere worldwide :confused:

Albatron did not even dignify my e-mail query with a reply.

I wanted this board for onboard Nforce 6150 graphics as you have onboard DVI output and TV out header. For S754, we are otherwise stuck with the Nforce 6100 or ATI Xpress200 integrated platform boards (of which there are numerous examples) which have no DVI.

However, some Xpress200 boards eg
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=3...w=detailed
have S-Video output if that is any use to you.