Dual displays with onboard graphics?

[DBCooper]

I'm looking at building an HTPC that can support dual monitors. One would be showing tv/DVR/HD playback, while the other could be in use for surfing the web or other tasks.

Is there an AMD motherboard that could do this with on-board only, no add-on graphics card? I'm not entirely opposed to adding a card, but I'm worried about additional heat and power usage. I'd like to avoid it if at all possible.

For reference, I'm looking at using an X3 440 CPU w/ 4gigs of ram.

 

[mosox]

From what I know you can use the AMD785G/790G but from what they say, simultaneous output for DVI-D and HDMI is not supported. So, one digital (DVI or HDMI) and one analog (VGA).

 

[DBCooper]

That corresponds with what I've been able to find out. I don't think there are any dual-digital output options.

I've narrowed my search down to a 785G, 790GX, or 890GX motherboard. Any opinions?

The 785G uses the HD 4200 graphics which offer DX10.1, the 790GX offers the HD3300 with no DX10.1 but at a faster 700mhz, and the 890GX which offers the HD4290 DX10.1 graphics at 700Mhz.

The 890Gx seems like the best futureproof option, but these boards are expensive and probably way overkill for my mainly HTPC machine.

Any opinions? Between the 785G and 790GX, most people appear to give the edge to the 790GX because of the speed difference. Right now, I'm leaning towards the faster 790GX, maybe with a sideport memory option.

 

[mosox]

Start with the case or you already have one? Then the mobo (ATX or mATX).

 

[jsrudd]

Just get a passively cooled discrete graphics card. They're pretty cheap and you could have dual displays.