[Solved] Gigabyte Vs Asus for HTPC Foundation

Forum Systems : New Build [Solved] Gigabyte Vs Asus for HTPC Foundation

I "think" I have my search for a mobo down to the final two choices. I don't know enough to move ahead comfortably and would love some advise in steering me to the correct one or an even better one if you have a suggestion.

There are just enough differences between the two to have me vexed, like DDR2 Vs DDR 3, Radeon 3000 Vs Raedon 4200. Like I say, I don't have the smarts to know how big a difference these things make.

I intend for this to be a combination PC and HTPC. Gaming is not a desire, nice quality audio and video to my 42" Visio HD TV is the real goal. Overclocking not so much, but I do like to play around sometimes.

If you can offer advice on either board and maybe offer up suggestions on a solid CPU in the $50-$85 range that would be great too.

Here are my two candidate boards with the details I thought might be the "difference makers":

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128394
DDR2 1200 (OC) / 1066 /800 / 667
Onboard Video Chipset
ATI Radeon HD 4200
Audio Chipset
Realtek ALC889A
Audio Channels
8 Channels

Rear Panel Ports
PS/2
1
Video Ports
D-Sub + DVI
HDMI
1 x HDMI
USB 1.1/2.0
6 x USB 2.0
IEEE 1394
1 x IEEE 1394a
eSATA
1 x eSATA 3Gb/s
S/PDIF Out
1 x Optical
Audio Ports
6 Ports
Audio Channels
8 Channels

ASUS M4A78LT-M $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131672
DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066
Onboard Video Chipset
ATI Radeon 3000
Audio Chipset
VIA VT1708S
Audio Channels
8 Channels

Rear Panel Ports
PS/2
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
Video Ports
D-Sub + DVI
HDMI
1 x HDMI
USB 1.1/2.0
6 x USB 2.0

Audio Ports
6 Ports
Onboard USB
Onboard USB
6 x USB 2.0

Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

Reply to dougf4

Best answer

here's how I look at it:
overall the ASUS is a better brand.
in this case the Gigabyte if you think DDR2 will be fine and I like better than the ASUS option.
the ASUS is DDR3 but the difference will be minimal and I run a DDR2 1066MHz unit with a phenom ii cpu.
so if not getting a dedicated gfx card then go with the better chipset, 4200.
also I have a better response from the Realtek audio

Message edited by malmental on 01-03-2011 at 08:34:49 PM

------------------------------ A+, Net+, MCDST, DSCE (Dell)
Reply to malmental

Both motherboards are a bit dated. You'd be better off getting a newer 880G chipset motherboard with DDR3.

That said, I run both Asus and Gigabyte motherboards in my systems, with the ATX version of your Gigabyte board in my HTPC (GA-MA785G-UD3H). It has been a very good HTPC board with one small niggle: it boots slow for some reason. By slow, I mean there is a 25 sec delay after the "Starting Windows" screen where it just sits. This is only when running AHCI mode not IDE, but it is only a small problem since my HTPC is in S3 sleep when not fully on and wakes up in like 2 sec. It makes my total cold boot time ~40 sec with an SSD. I don't know if the US2H version of the board has the same problem, but it's worth mentioning and looking into if others have had similar experiences.

Reply to rwpritchett

Best answer selected by dougf4.

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What level would you consider this?

By austinwillie_95, 21 minutes ago:

It won't handle high end games that's for sure. And for $800 you would be better off just...

[Solved] Gigabyte Vs Asus for HTPC Foundation

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