Hi Thanks for reading.
I am wanting to purchase a new micro atx motherboard for building a home theatre pc. I have a 6th-generation Intel LGA1151 processor and would like a mobo which accepts this. Also a reliable board. My last mobo died and took the hard drive with it and I lost 8 TB of data, still smarting over that.
Also do you know of there is any advantage to purchasing a gaming board, they seem to use more power and have higher specs, but does it have any meaning for improving htpc. I heard asus mobos are good so am leaning towards them but will welcome any mobo recommendations. I have an asus stxII soundcard to reproduce the audio, and for the picture i am hoping to use the mobo's built in solution, do you know of any mobos with a good graphics adaptor.
So I need: 1. micro atx motherboard 2. 6th-generation Intel LGA1151 processor support 3. High reliability 4. Good graphics adaptor 5. Budget is £200
Many thanks.
I am wanting to purchase a new micro atx motherboard for building a home theatre pc. I have a 6th-generation Intel LGA1151 processor and would like a mobo which accepts this. Also a reliable board. My last mobo died and took the hard drive with it and I lost 8 TB of data, still smarting over that.
Also do you know of there is any advantage to purchasing a gaming board, they seem to use more power and have higher specs, but does it have any meaning for improving htpc. I heard asus mobos are good so am leaning towards them but will welcome any mobo recommendations. I have an asus stxII soundcard to reproduce the audio, and for the picture i am hoping to use the mobo's built in solution, do you know of any mobos with a good graphics adaptor.
So I need: 1. micro atx motherboard 2. 6th-generation Intel LGA1151 processor support 3. High reliability 4. Good graphics adaptor 5. Budget is £200
Many thanks.
6th gen is old, here 11th is being advertised.
LGA 1151 is i3
Gigabyte and MSI are considered top quality, then Intel Original.
Asus and Asrock are barely adequate.
Biostar is cheap, do not buy.
Change to an over rated power supply, 20% extra.
I varnish the track sides as protection from dust and damp in all my SMPS.
Find a lenovo i3 or i5, even i7 for sale. Superb build quality, upgrade the RAM and HDD, good to go, expect to pay less than 100.
And you should be looking at computer sites, not here.
LGA 1151 is i3
Gigabyte and MSI are considered top quality, then Intel Original.
Asus and Asrock are barely adequate.
Biostar is cheap, do not buy.
Change to an over rated power supply, 20% extra.
I varnish the track sides as protection from dust and damp in all my SMPS.
Find a lenovo i3 or i5, even i7 for sale. Superb build quality, upgrade the RAM and HDD, good to go, expect to pay less than 100.
And you should be looking at computer sites, not here.
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You want to retain the old CPU?
Then finding a matching board of good quality might be an issue.
My advice is that I need to test the CPU and board matching...happened to me, HP board blew, DDR3, the CPU would not work on the brand new board I got, so I got another CPU, E6550, C2D, for 3 quid.
The 2.93 Ghz, C2D, E7400, removed from the HP board, worked on a DDR2 board I had got for another friend, go figure.
Old CPU scrap price is about 1 quid for C2D.
Don't get tied down by that, and get a second hand Lenovo PC, they work well, strong build.
HP, Dell, Compaq...those are also good, though not as strong as Lenovo in terms of build quality.
Then finding a matching board of good quality might be an issue.
My advice is that I need to test the CPU and board matching...happened to me, HP board blew, DDR3, the CPU would not work on the brand new board I got, so I got another CPU, E6550, C2D, for 3 quid.
The 2.93 Ghz, C2D, E7400, removed from the HP board, worked on a DDR2 board I had got for another friend, go figure.
Old CPU scrap price is about 1 quid for C2D.
Don't get tied down by that, and get a second hand Lenovo PC, they work well, strong build.
HP, Dell, Compaq...those are also good, though not as strong as Lenovo in terms of build quality.
You may get poor quality or second level boards for old CPU, and those can have bad solder (!), bad caps, poor Mosfets, cheap connectors, flimsy build.
I have been that route, and my advice is to stay away.
Your data is important.
The work from home trend and the semiconductor shortage has pushed prices up by 50% since March, and even unlikely looking stuff is sold.
My accountant paid 300 quid for an ASUS all in one PC, no optical drive and E6400 CPU. Brand new.
I have been that route, and my advice is to stay away.
Your data is important.
The work from home trend and the semiconductor shortage has pushed prices up by 50% since March, and even unlikely looking stuff is sold.
My accountant paid 300 quid for an ASUS all in one PC, no optical drive and E6400 CPU. Brand new.
I've been using a ASRock > Z270M-ITX/ac for years without a problem, running a I5-6600K in a PC that was build as a 4K HTPC with some gaming ability (GTX1060 6GB).
Also been running an ASRock Rack E3C232D2I since 2017 in my NAS, no problems whatsoever.
For me at least Asrock (Rack) has been solid.
Also been running an ASRock Rack E3C232D2I since 2017 in my NAS, no problems whatsoever.
For me at least Asrock (Rack) has been solid.
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.
Does it matter if the cpu is 6th generation? it does the job, in task manager it runs at 22% so seems fast enough for htpc, are there any advantages to purchasing a more modern cpu.
Also i am wanting a motherboard with good graphics but have been reading that this is a function of the cpu, what does this mean? Is the graphics card integrated onto the cpu? How is this possible? I have a few pci-e graphics cards and they are quite large, how can they fit such a large card onto a cpu.
Also is a graphics card necessary as i take hdmi out to an external screen, so is it the screen that determines picture quality?
Does it matter if the cpu is 6th generation? it does the job, in task manager it runs at 22% so seems fast enough for htpc, are there any advantages to purchasing a more modern cpu.
Also i am wanting a motherboard with good graphics but have been reading that this is a function of the cpu, what does this mean? Is the graphics card integrated onto the cpu? How is this possible? I have a few pci-e graphics cards and they are quite large, how can they fit such a large card onto a cpu.
Also is a graphics card necessary as i take hdmi out to an external screen, so is it the screen that determines picture quality?
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If it works it works.. I'm happy still running my I5-66600K and Xeon E3-1280V5, and heck an I7 6700HQ in the laptop I'm using right now 
The I5-6400t info can be found here: Intel Core i56400T Processor 6M Cache up to 2.80 GHz Product Specifications
It has an IGP but it will struggle to do x265 for example. Just add a small GPU like a GTX1030 and you're good to go.
There aren't huge advantages to a more modern CPU, the only one for this application would be that you can skip the GPU if you use something like a Core i3-10105. It will be faster to of course, but if you don't need that...
The I5-6400t info can be found here: Intel Core i56400T Processor 6M Cache up to 2.80 GHz Product Specifications
It has an IGP but it will struggle to do x265 for example. Just add a small GPU like a GTX1030 and you're good to go.
There aren't huge advantages to a more modern CPU, the only one for this application would be that you can skip the GPU if you use something like a Core i3-10105. It will be faster to of course, but if you don't need that...
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Hmm, i think audio is not in brand...
I have learned recently, that its kinda power supply, how much filtering it consists.....hmmmm
Wires, how are they leaving motherboard connections (the angle of the wires). Translates into coupling effect.... its very important concept.
Motherboard socket and PSU socket, what material it contains, aluminum, brass, or some nickel plated copper ?
And if you gonna use PCIe or PCI sockets for external soundcard, you might want to make sure that PCI slots are made from atleast brass connections, or even better gold plated
The temperature flow in your CASE, how much air is pushed out, pushed in and temperature of a PSU unit also, how hot it runs.
You can get away with 100 dollar build and have very good sound.
I have learned recently, that its kinda power supply, how much filtering it consists.....hmmmm
Wires, how are they leaving motherboard connections (the angle of the wires). Translates into coupling effect.... its very important concept.
Motherboard socket and PSU socket, what material it contains, aluminum, brass, or some nickel plated copper ?
And if you gonna use PCIe or PCI sockets for external soundcard, you might want to make sure that PCI slots are made from atleast brass connections, or even better gold plated
The temperature flow in your CASE, how much air is pushed out, pushed in and temperature of a PSU unit also, how hot it runs.
You can get away with 100 dollar build and have very good sound.
I could talk forever on this subject - key starting points for good sound in a x86 system are:
1. Use a K series processor - massive difference compared to T or other lower powered option.
2. Use a gaming motherboard - particularly those with 2Oz copper and good quality VRM.
I have had good experience, and again sound wise, with Corsair PSUs - I presently use their SFX psu and it sounds very good (it's quite low ripple).
Also, don't forget NUC's DNHE grade NUCs are very good -also easy to add in a linear power supply at a later date.
1. Use a K series processor - massive difference compared to T or other lower powered option.
2. Use a gaming motherboard - particularly those with 2Oz copper and good quality VRM.
I have had good experience, and again sound wise, with Corsair PSUs - I presently use their SFX psu and it sounds very good (it's quite low ripple).
Also, don't forget NUC's DNHE grade NUCs are very good -also easy to add in a linear power supply at a later date.
Really?
If the PC runs the SW stably and you have a decent async USB DAC non of this matters. Or you have really f*cked things up.
Take a look at this one for example (I use it in my setup): Topping DX7 Pro DAC and Headphone Amp Reviewed | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
If the PC runs the SW stably and you have a decent async USB DAC non of this matters. Or you have really f*cked things up.
Take a look at this one for example (I use it in my setup): Topping DX7 Pro DAC and Headphone Amp Reviewed | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
Its the material behaviour in different environments.
Basically, if a client asks engineer:
Can i have a sound card or a sound system engineered ?
i think first thought for an engineer will be in which environment its going to be used.
Even some integrated lowest cost IC can sound much better then some super buper DAC ADC setup.
Thats a nice DAC indeed, i had many myself, but its not the DAC what makes its sound, its the "overall system".
I have stopped on this:
https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blaster-Audigy-Performance-Headphone/dp/B00EO6X7PG
60$ vs 599$
Now what really matters is the "END result", we can go in different directions in terms of amps plus some preamps/lineamps maybe.
You can spend alot but the result could be same
Basically, if a client asks engineer:
Can i have a sound card or a sound system engineered ?
i think first thought for an engineer will be in which environment its going to be used.
Even some integrated lowest cost IC can sound much better then some super buper DAC ADC setup.
Thats a nice DAC indeed, i had many myself, but its not the DAC what makes its sound, its the "overall system".
I have stopped on this:
https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blaster-Audigy-Performance-Headphone/dp/B00EO6X7PG
60$ vs 599$
Now what really matters is the "END result", we can go in different directions in terms of amps plus some preamps/lineamps maybe.
You can spend alot but the result could be same
Taiko Audio used to use 7700K in their old Extreme, this is apparently the best sounding CPU until they moved over to Xeon.
All of the other consumer CPU's (e.g. i5,i7) since then apparently haven't been as good.
Read building a DIY music server of Audiophilestyle. I can 100% concur that this is the way to best sound - it's all about latency and having large reserves of power.
All of the other consumer CPU's (e.g. i5,i7) since then apparently haven't been as good.
Read building a DIY music server of Audiophilestyle. I can 100% concur that this is the way to best sound - it's all about latency and having large reserves of power.
Is there an 'audiophile' OS an d certified 'parts' ( gold plated by virgin at moonrising)?
No there is not. And it is absolute non sense to think the more recent the better sound!
Bits being bits they doesn't care about any bling material or superstitions: zero and one they are and will stay.
The way an OS take care of audio is another matter as well as the quality of your psu or soundcard, but hey... i run a system under windows XP with old school pro soundcard and it sound as good as my main system with more recent OS and pro digital management loudspeaker system...
So in the end it depend on the way you optimised your OS and audio components, not at all about power ( i run 3 way FIR xover on a 2,2ghz mono core cpu with 4g ram ( 3 effectivly used as being 32bit os... ), or any audiofoolery components.
To the OP: i do this kind of things for years as i think that programmed obsolescence is a ( dangerous -for our planet and mental health) bad joke.
As long as a computer handle what you ask him to do it's ok for it's job.
No there is not. And it is absolute non sense to think the more recent the better sound!
Bits being bits they doesn't care about any bling material or superstitions: zero and one they are and will stay.
The way an OS take care of audio is another matter as well as the quality of your psu or soundcard, but hey... i run a system under windows XP with old school pro soundcard and it sound as good as my main system with more recent OS and pro digital management loudspeaker system...
So in the end it depend on the way you optimised your OS and audio components, not at all about power ( i run 3 way FIR xover on a 2,2ghz mono core cpu with 4g ram ( 3 effectivly used as being 32bit os... ), or any audiofoolery components.
To the OP: i do this kind of things for years as i think that programmed obsolescence is a ( dangerous -for our planet and mental health) bad joke.
As long as a computer handle what you ask him to do it's ok for it's job.
Bits are bits ofc, but they consist of currents, and those currents are pushed into ur audio system --> work is being done..... trough metal contacts and wires.
Wires and metals are magnetics, they couple and interact with each.
Have you guys seen magnet pushed down trought some aluminum pipe ?
Now, the question is how those currents are delivered into DSP and how they will leave from that environment.
I mean wtf seriously guys .....