Looking for a powerful motherboard for a Media Center PC
Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 9:50 am
Ladies and Gents,
First, sorry for the length of this email, but I want to make clear my
intentions.
For the last couple years or so, I have been thinking about building a
multimedia PC, A.K.A. Media Center PC. I have been cautious because I want a system that will cover all my requirements AND that does NOT use MS Windows in any way or shape. I want it to be a Linux based Server.
Here are the server specs:
1. Must be Linux based.
2. The box will be a full high tower.
3. The power supply must provide enough power for all the devices and perhaps some external devices.
4. Need enough cooling power to dissipate anticipated heat.
5. A mother board with PCI-E connections. I was looking into the BTX
motherboards because of the cooling capabilities they provide. But I
might have OS support problems. It should also support DDR2, SATA2, 800MHz BUS, 802.11g WLAN, mutliple USB ports, one firewire port, 8 channel audio or better.
6. Either Intel or AMD processor of at least 3.xGHz
7. At least 1GB RAM
8. The box must have enough bays to hold a good number of hard drives
since I plan to collect lots of data. I would like to start with about
1000GB of disk space (3 or 4 sata2 drives?)
9. Two DVD-burners. I already have two 16x Dual-Layers (One Memorex and one Sony) burners. I burned at least 8 movies per week. I use dvd shrink under MS Windows, as it breaks the protection. I am not doing anything illegal. I purchase lots of movies and then I back them up
just in case the original gets scratched.
10. Enough USB2 ports to connect: Static digital camera, my digital
camcorder, mouse, keyboard (not necessary), three external USB drives
that I already have, USB printer that I already have. I want the USB
ports on the front, if at all possible.
11. Comm: Ethernet 10/100/1000 NIC, Wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth?,
12. Media adapter (e.g. Avermedia, ATI E-Home Wonder, Etc.) with
TV/DVI Tuner and FM Radio Tuner and connection for my cable-tv input.
13. Media adapter: TV-Out. In other words, I want to play a DVD on the Media PC and sent the output to the TV. Perhaps I am not using the
correct name.
14. A powerful graphics card such as nVIDIA GeForce PCI-E.
15. 6-Channel Audio.
16. I want to connect my Turn-Table, Receivers, TV, Cable Box
(PINNACLE PCTV pro?)
17. I want to connect X10 Firecracker device.
18. X10 Home Security to control surveillance cameras and to capture
security videos.
19. Connection for an all-in-one media reader: Smartmedia,
SecureDigital (SD), MMC, Microdrive, MemoryStick, CompactFlash, Etc.
Could anyone please make some suggestions?
Thank you for your time
First, sorry for the length of this email, but I want to make clear my
intentions.
For the last couple years or so, I have been thinking about building a
multimedia PC, A.K.A. Media Center PC. I have been cautious because I want a system that will cover all my requirements AND that does NOT use MS Windows in any way or shape. I want it to be a Linux based Server.
Here are the server specs:
1. Must be Linux based.
2. The box will be a full high tower.
3. The power supply must provide enough power for all the devices and perhaps some external devices.
4. Need enough cooling power to dissipate anticipated heat.
5. A mother board with PCI-E connections. I was looking into the BTX
motherboards because of the cooling capabilities they provide. But I
might have OS support problems. It should also support DDR2, SATA2, 800MHz BUS, 802.11g WLAN, mutliple USB ports, one firewire port, 8 channel audio or better.
6. Either Intel or AMD processor of at least 3.xGHz
7. At least 1GB RAM
8. The box must have enough bays to hold a good number of hard drives
since I plan to collect lots of data. I would like to start with about
1000GB of disk space (3 or 4 sata2 drives?)
9. Two DVD-burners. I already have two 16x Dual-Layers (One Memorex and one Sony) burners. I burned at least 8 movies per week. I use dvd shrink under MS Windows, as it breaks the protection. I am not doing anything illegal. I purchase lots of movies and then I back them up
just in case the original gets scratched.
10. Enough USB2 ports to connect: Static digital camera, my digital
camcorder, mouse, keyboard (not necessary), three external USB drives
that I already have, USB printer that I already have. I want the USB
ports on the front, if at all possible.
11. Comm: Ethernet 10/100/1000 NIC, Wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth?,
12. Media adapter (e.g. Avermedia, ATI E-Home Wonder, Etc.) with
TV/DVI Tuner and FM Radio Tuner and connection for my cable-tv input.
13. Media adapter: TV-Out. In other words, I want to play a DVD on the Media PC and sent the output to the TV. Perhaps I am not using the
correct name.
14. A powerful graphics card such as nVIDIA GeForce PCI-E.
15. 6-Channel Audio.
16. I want to connect my Turn-Table, Receivers, TV, Cable Box
(PINNACLE PCTV pro?)
17. I want to connect X10 Firecracker device.
18. X10 Home Security to control surveillance cameras and to capture
security videos.
19. Connection for an all-in-one media reader: Smartmedia,
SecureDigital (SD), MMC, Microdrive, MemoryStick, CompactFlash, Etc.
Could anyone please make some suggestions?
Thank you for your time