New GA-MA78GPM-DS2H Motherboard

[Sven Nijs]

I had zero dramas with the ATI drivers and Vista 32 SP1 but installed Catalyst 8.7 first then ran the auto install driver cd provided with the MB.

I did have issues when using the TV guide registry edit which produced an error requiring a re-install and multiple restore points to isolate the culprit.

I'm also really disappointed with the quality of 'Live TV'.

If this is the best it gets then I'll be selling off the HTPC parts and buying a TiVo or something similar.

Rant over!
None of the above is the fault of the motherboard ( I presume) and so even if I do give up on this HTPC I'll keep the MB, CPU and memory

[krypto]

Originally Posted by Sven Nijs

I had no dramas with the ATI drivers with Vista 32 SP1 but did when using the the TV guide registry edit and am also really disappointed with the quality of 'Live TV'.

What do you mean? My VMC PQ both originally using the onboard graphics and now a HD3850, is way ahead of the built in tuner on my Bravia x-series

[Sven Nijs]

Originally Posted by krypto

What do you mean? My VMC PQ both originally using the onboard graphics and now a HD3850, is way ahead of the built in tuner on my Bravia x-series

At this stage it is no match for my Samsungs built in tuner.

EDIT: Managed to have a play now the kids have gone to bed and after a load of updates and reboots it doesn't seem as bad now. Just wish it filled the screen more (1" black band around the picture).
I'll persevere a bit with this and staying on topic, I have had no issue with the MB at all.

[odillo]

Originally Posted by Sven Nijs

At this stage it is no match for my Samsungs built in tuner.

EDIT: Managed to have a play now the kids have gone to bed and after a load of updates and reboots it doesn't seem as bad now. Just wish it filled the screen more (1" black band around the picture).
I'll persevere a bit with this and staying on topic, I have had no issue with the MB at all.

Have you tried to overscan on ATI CCC? It's just up 1 notch on the slider.

[BruceG]

Originally Posted by barroni

I have been lurking and reading the forums for a few months now I wanted to build a dedicate VMC and I did .
I want to fit a Hauppauge HVR 2200 on Friday to this point I have no problems hardware or software wise
This is what I built and have running as of the weekend ,today Harvey Norman delivered my 50 inch Samsung ..... GOD DAM ITS AWESOME and it all works
These are the components I picked and why

MB - Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H - Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H was not available at the PC shop I went to, so I got a GA-MA78GPM-DS2H
Case - Silverstone LC17 - Ebay it is to big but nothing gets hot, even running the standard cpu fan.
PSU - Corsair VX450 Ebay - It was cheap
CPU - AM2 5200 - A lot of people said you needed nothing better
RAM - 2GB Corsair DDR2 6400 - A lot of people said you needed nothing better
DVD - Pioneer DVR - I have no reason why I picked this
WiFi - Cisco Aironet PCI card - I had it for a long time I didn't want any more cables running round my rented house. The wireless is a little slow getting video started but it runs fine when started even with HD movies pulled from my WHS
Controls - DiNovo Mini - I read good things about this and I don't mind it to this point .I plug in a wired KB and mouse for serious work on the VMC
HDD - 80 & 320 gig SATA WD - Left over drives from upgrades. I have 3.5tb in my WHS no need for more storage . I will upgrade the hard disks in VMC with 2x 500gb drives I have in my WHS . I want to upgrade these with 1TB
OS - MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit with Media Centre - It looked liked the best choice .

I don't think there are any surprises with my build,just studied what other people have done and followed some tried and tested builds
With a quick count and including the Hauppauge HVR 2200 I would have spent between $900-950

Hope this helps someone else

G'day Barroni

I was in the process of deciding to use this mobo in the same case, so you have given me a bit more courage to move to the next step, more so since you appear to have done your homework for all your other components.

Thanks

BruceG

[MOFF23]

Originally Posted by MOFF23

Thanks heaps for the feedback, I have bought the parts as above and went with the Corsair HX520 PSU in the end. I bought MB and OEM from Stonebridge and the rest from U-mart, all up cost me just under $1500 including freight. I thought that was reasonable, but I guess too late if it wasn't... I'll post how I go (I am sure I will hit hurdles), being my first build and all..

Well I have completed my build and everything is working great, best buy I have made technology wise. Components are:

MB - Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H
Case - Thermaltake DH101
PSU - Corsair HX520
CPU - 4850e
RAM - 2GB Corsair DDR2 6400
DVD - Pioneer DVR-115DBK
WiFi - Linksys WRT610N Dual N Band Wireless Router
TV - Hauppauge HVR-2200
Controls - Harmony One
HDD - Samsung 1TB
OS - MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32 with Media Centre

The CPU fan is the noisiest fan at the moment so I will look at getting a quieter one (It is not that loud though). There is also a slightly longer delay when changing channels than with my inbuilt tuner in Panasonic Viera Plasma, but all the other features and benefits out way that. All in all really happy with the finished product.

[nimrod77]

Glad that it worked out well for you
Keep us posted as to how your satbility goes!
Cheers mate,
Nimrod

[barroni]

Originally Posted by BruceG

G'day Barroni

I was in the process of deciding to use this mobo in the same case, so you have given me a bit more courage to move to the next step, more so since you appear to have done your homework for all your other components.

Thanks

BruceG

Your going to be happy ,the girlfriend uses the system more than me and she made her first complaint last week.
The remote went flat after 3 weeks of use , she forgot to charge it up

[nimrod77]

Originally Posted by Sven Nijs

At this stage it is no match for my Samsungs built in tuner.

EDIT: Managed to have a play now the kids have gone to bed and after a load of updates and reboots it doesn't seem as bad now. Just wish it filled the screen more (1" black band around the picture).
I'll persevere a bit with this and staying on topic, I have had no issue with the MB at all.

Hey Nijs,
Have you tried adding these PQ fixes for your ATI video onboard??