I want to build up a new PC which can play full HD videos. Is it possible to get a MoBo with internal graphics good enough for this? I will need a MoBo which I can connect a 5.1 surround sound system to, and I am planning on getting a AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition CPU for this build. Thanks for any help.
full bitrate 1080p video will be laggy on any integrated graphics. 720p you'll get away with one of AMD's integrated chips as they perform the best. If you want an HTPC you will want a nice efficient CPU, which the X2 7850 certainly isn't. Go with something like a Gigabyte P31 board, a Pentium E5200 and a cheap PCI express video card like an HD4550.
I thought AMD were always better value for money when on a budget. What do you think of these XFX GeForce 8300 MoBo http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164480 XFX 9400GT GPU http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149112
Not necessarily in the long run - the 7850BE uses basically twice as much power as the E200 does. Avoid nvidia motherboards like the plague, they're exceptionally unreliable. The 9400GT is also much more expensive than the comparable radeon cards, and low-end geforces are much weaker at playing HD video. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512M...GDDR3-GPU-600MHz-80-Cores-D-Sub-DL-DVI-I-HDMI http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Giga...(x16)-DDR2-1066-667-800-SATA-II-SATA-RAID-ATX http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Inte...t-775-Wolfdale-Core-2x25-GHz-2MB-Cache-Retail This assumes you have a full ATX case. If you only have a microATX case then you should get this motherboard instead (the other components can remain the same) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Giga...(x16)-DDR2-1066(OC)-800-MHz-SATA-II-Micro-ATX
Thanks for the help. Im going to build this PC from scratch, so I'll get a ATX case. I plan on ordering my build from ebuyer. Is there any difference between these two: Force3D HD 4550 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151453 Sapphire HD 4550 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161559 Also, I dont't think the P31 has those three audio out sockets, which I have seen on other MoBos.
ALL mainstream motherboards have 5.1 surround sound. The P31s just have three ports rather than six, which means you can't use 5.1 sound and have a microphone plugged in at the same time. Of the two cards there, the Sapphire is a better brand and will have a better warranty. I chose Scan because they have a better product range for low-end boards like the ones you'll be using.
Thanks for the quick responses. Do you know if even budget MoBos will give good 5.1 sound, and will a more expensive MoBo give better sound quality.
even budget boards have 5.1 sound. Sound quality tends not to improve that much with more expensive ones that I've found.
Thanks, I really appreciate the help. I take it that the Intel E5200 supports 64Bit. Looking at HDDs is the more Cache the better, what do you think of the Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD103UJ? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143288
Yes it does. I avoid Samsung's 1TB drives as they were pretty dire initially (I think the HD103UJ was the worst affected). I recommend the WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS instead. It too has 32MB cache, is quite cheap and performs well.
When it comes to PC8500 RAM I tend to stick with brands with a proven track record at that speed - so I'd go with this instead http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166818
