• AnyStream is having some DRM issues currently, Netflix is not available in HD for the time being.
    Situations like this will always happen with AnyStream: streaming providers are continuously improving their countermeasures while we try to catch up, it's an ongoing cat-and-mouse game. Please be patient and don't flood our support or forum with requests, we are working on it 24/7 to get it resolved. Thank you.

Asus...helping the HTPC BD/HD DVD crowd

I don't get it? What can that do that an HTPC with a BD/HD combo drive can't?
I mean, even the older Nvidia 6000 series pushes enough pixels to handle HD.

-W
 
I don't get it? What can that do that an HTPC with a BD/HD combo drive can't?
I mean, even the older Nvidia 6000 series pushes enough pixels to handle HD.

-W

Well, that motherboard has HDMI outputs, which is nice (also Quad monitor display/4 outputs).
 
Well, that motherboard has HDMI outputs, which is nice (also Quad monitor display/4 outputs).

It still means you're stuck using crappy onboard graphics, though. From the sounds of that chipset, it's sounds mostly like a G33 with DX10 support. And most 1st-gen DX10 cards are mediocre, anyway. When I built a new system about a month ago and it came down to something from ATI's HD2x00 line or the X1950 Pro, I went with the latter. And if most of the seperate cards aren't that hot, I doubt the onboard DX10 graphics will be particularly impressive.

IMO, you're better off picking up a board with the P35 or upcoming X38 chipset and getting a seperate graphics card.
 
It still means you're stuck using crappy onboard graphics, though.

I'm not going to study that motherboard closely right now as I'm very tired. However, it seems to me that a half-decent motherboard would allow you to disable onboard graphics if you want and allow you to add your own card.


IMO, you're better off picking up a board with the P35 or upcoming X38 chipset and getting a seperate graphics card.

As a gamer, it will be a cold day in hell before I ever use onboard graphics.

But I was responding to Clam's question. If the onboard graphics solution is good enough for HTPC users, then it does seem like an interesting piece of hardware.
 
HDMI outputs on a PC provide no advantage when it comes to HD-DVD or BD playback. As someone stated, you're stuck with crappy onboard graphics. Transmitting the audio via HDMI is a worthless feature unless you are feeding the output to a receiver, preamp/processor, or outboard HDMI switcher that has compatible HDMI switching. There is absolutely no difference in the video output between HDMI and DVI. Since most graphics cards don't handle audio, DVI outputs are perfectly fine. I feed the S/PDIF output from my motherboard to my preamp/processor and let it handle all of the audio processing chores.
 
I have an ATI 2600 and output my Blu-ray and HD DVD's from my PC thru that via HDMI with the audio to my amp which then passes the video thru to the TV. I find it a great advantage as I don't need to have yet another cable going up the wall to my screen. And I'm pretty much guaranteed the video and audio stay in sync as it's all handled by the video and audio chips on the 2600 card. But I do agree, at the moment onboard solutions aren't good enough to use
 
I have an ATI 2600 and output my Blu-ray and HD DVD's from my PC thru that via HDMI with the audio to my amp which then passes the video thru to the TV.

Are you already able to pass the new DD-True HD and DTS-HD audio formats ?

Regards
Marco
 
Wow, this brought up a lot of discussion. :D Yes, the thing about that board that impressed me was the ability to do quad video. You can stick 2 graphics cards in the thing(PCI-e, of course) and still use the HDMI and vga outputs from the mainboard in addition. That's pretty sweet. For *MY* purposes, having HDMI built onto the mobo means that I don't need an extra graphics card. This makes it silent and less power hungry for a PURE HTPC. That's what I was contemplating when I saw this board, anyway. If you want to use it for gaming, add an SLI setup with the NVidia cards of your choice, but, for a strict HTPC, which is what I want to build, this is great. No added expense of a graphics card for me, either.
 
As a gamer, it will be a cold day in hell before I ever use onboard graphics.

But I was responding to Clam's question. If the onboard graphics solution is good enough for HTPC users, then it does seem like an interesting piece of hardware.

Yes, exactly. You'd be an idiot to think this is great for gaming and that is absolutely NOT what I was getting at. Just a strict, no nonsense HTPC with HDMI built in for video and sound output. To me, that's perfect.
 
HDMI outputs on a PC provide no advantage when it comes to HD-DVD or BD playback. As someone stated, you're stuck with crappy onboard graphics. Transmitting the audio via HDMI is a worthless feature unless you are feeding the output to a receiver, preamp/processor, or outboard HDMI switcher that has compatible HDMI switching. There is absolutely no difference in the video output between HDMI and DVI. Since most graphics cards don't handle audio, DVI outputs are perfectly fine. I feed the S/PDIF output from my motherboard to my preamp/processor and let it handle all of the audio processing chores.

That's just it, though. I DO plan on getting a new receiver to handle audio through HDMI, and that's why I think this would be a nice board to build an HTPC with. One cable, as adbear mentioned, versus several. And since it's JUST an HTPC, I don't care how good the graphics are as long as it handles HD video and audio formats. You can't do uncompressed audio through S/PDIF. HDMI is definitely the way to go for that, IMO.
 
Actually, most mainboards with the Intel G33 and G35 chipset that feature onboard HDMI have this functionality. So also, the G33 based barebone from Shuttle.

F
 
Actually, most mainboards with the Intel G33 and G35 chipset that feature onboard HDMI have this functionality. So also, the G33 based barebone from Shuttle.

F

Interesting. This was the first board I'd seen with this functionality. I guess I'll have to do some more research. It'll be a few months before I'm ready to build a new HTPC, but, this is definitely something I want to look into.
 
HTPCs are capable of playing HD/BD for a while.
AMD 690G chipset is probably the best at the moment
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3072&p=17
but Intel is catching up fast.

I think Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H is the best implementation
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128056
It even has Realtek HD 889A sound and plays DTS Audio!

Read here what it can do as an HTPC board
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=924348

Diogen.

Holy Snikes!!! I wasn't aware any of the AMD boards had HDMI out like that. HMMMM, and for that price, I may have to go shopping here shortly. I'd need a case(I like the one they recommended), the mobo, a proc, and some memory. With the newegg deal going on, yea, I think I'm going to consider this as an early Xmas present. We'll see. It'll still end up costing me about 400 bucks or so when all is said and done, but, it'd be a really nice upgrade to my HTPC.

EDIT: Ok, I pulled the trigger. Newegg had a special on 2 gigs of ram that'd work for that machine, so, I got the case, the mobo, the proc (4200+), and 2 gigs of DDR2 800 for 320 something delivered. My wife is going to shoot me hardcore for this but that's just an incredible deal and I'll now be able to play my HD DVD's in 1080p using this thing. So, I DEFINITELY thank you for that suggestion as it was a really good one.
 
Last edited:
I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Now just wait for this to be in supply and drop a bit in price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=27-136-133
and there will be nothing left the HTPC won't be able to do... :)

Diogen.

That's an interesting drive. :) I MAY wait for a combo blu-ray/hd dvd burner but we'll see. Having a blu-ray reader at the very least would be useful simply cause I have to rip images from my PS3 right now. But, yes, I'm quite excited. Just realized I don't have another spare optical cable right now which massively sucks, but, that's ok. I'll deal with it at some point this weekend. I can't wait to watch Transformers again in 1080p instead of 1080i that I get on the 360. The parts should be here Monday or Tuesday so I can build it next week. WOO HOO.
 
Holy Snikes!!! I wasn't aware any of the AMD boards had HDMI out like that. HMMMM, and for that price, I may have to go shopping here shortly. I'd need a case(I like the one they recommended), the mobo, a proc, and some memory. With the newegg deal going on, yea, I think I'm going to consider this as an early Xmas present. We'll see. It'll still end up costing me about 400 bucks or so when all is said and done, but, it'd be a really nice upgrade to my HTPC.

EDIT: Ok, I pulled the trigger. Newegg had a special on 2 gigs of ram that'd work for that machine, so, I got the case, the mobo, the proc (4200+), and 2 gigs of DDR2 800 for 320 something delivered. My wife is going to shoot me hardcore for this but that's just an incredible deal and I'll now be able to play my HD DVD's in 1080p using this thing. So, I DEFINITELY thank you for that suggestion as it was a really good one.

I tought that the 690 chipset only did DD or DTS on the HDMI (basicly the same he can sent on the SPDIF)? As far as I know, only the Intel G33 and G35 actually allow 8-channel LPCM on the HDMI together with the video...

F
 
Last edited:
I tought that the 690 chipset only did DD or DTS on the HDMI (basicly the he can sent on the SPDIF)? As far as I know, only the Intel G33 and G35 actually allow 8-channel LPCM on the HDMI together with the video...

F

We'll find out. At this point, I don't have any audio solution that uses HDMI yet. When I do, if it doesn't allow uncompressed audio, then I'll simply get a video card at that point that allows it and shut off the internal one. This will be a great solution for me for now.
 
I tought that the 690 chipset only did DD or DTS on the HDMI...
Regular DD/DTS or the lossless version of them?

The onboard Realtek 889A audio chipset does regular DD/DTS very nicely over optical digital out (onboard).
As I mentioned above it even does DTS Audio (i.e. bypasses kmixer in WinXP; Vista doesn't have kmixer).
Lossless bitstream DD/DTS seems to be HDMI only by design (regardless of motherboard/chipset).
Decoded analog out seems to be fine using latest PowerDVD.

Diogen.
 
Back
Top