Which M/B & CPU for new htpc

[babgvant]

The 320 (and 312) don’t have hard drive or power LEDs that connect to the board so you don’t have to worry about that.  IIRC, there are two USB cables (4 pins) and the power (two pins) cables that need to be connected.

The USB (one is for the IR/VFD the other is for the SD card slot) just plug onto internal USB headers; the power can go either way and if the USB devices don’t show up or the PC won’t boot just flip it around (connect them one at a time). It’s not going to do any permanent harm to put them on wrong.

[ferrytrip1]

I found the manual on the us website – the european one does not have it.  It is still not clear which connector goes to whaon the board.  If anybody has idents with cable colours it will help.

Thanks, Simon

[babgvant]

[quote=ferrytrip1]

I found the manual on the us website – the european one does not have it.  It is still not clear which connector goes to whaon the board.  If anybody has idents with cable colours it will help.

Thanks, Simon

[/quote]

Page 16 of the manual has directions for the cables (3 x USB, 1 x Power). 

[ferrytrip1]

Thank you.

I have the manual.  Its not quite right as there a 5 connectors in all – 2 separate USB to the right – no markings but assume red is power black is ground.  Center one has marking on, LHS, SD card has no markings, assume black is ground also.

I have read the review, it was that that convinced me this was the right case.

Thanks everybody for the input.

Simon

 

[ferrytrip1]

I have seen debate ov 32bit vs 64bit Win7.  Most that I have found indicates 32bit is just fine, but that comes from reviews from 2010.  Is the current thinking 32bit or 64bit?

 

Thanks

Simon

[oliverredfox]

I run x64 for everything.  I’m not certain how much RAM you are using, but if you’re doing 3GB or more, I wouldn’t even consider 32bit unless there is a specific program you plan to use that doesn’t play nice with x64.

[swoon]

Unless you have some very specific reasons to run 32-bit, go with 64-bit.

Like oliverredfox said, 32-bit will limit the amount of usable RAM in your system to ~3GB. In addition, let’s say you decide to upgrade to Windows 8 in the future. You most likely wouldn’t be able to upgrade without performing a clean install from scratch. There are some other reasons to run as well, but those are probably the biggest.

One reason to run 32-bit would be that you need to use a STB with something like the Hauppauge Colossus AND you want to use Firewire for sending commands to the STB. Currently, there is only a 32-bit driver available.

[mikinho]

Most people know I am a 64-bit fan boy.  I see very little reason to run 32-bit.  I do admit there are some reasons, such as FireSTB, but at the same time anything that isn’t 64-bit compatible at this point I don’t want on my HTPC.

There are three basic reasons for lack of 64-bit support: 1- free drivers that can’t afford the signing cost w/ 64-bit Windows; 2- legacy code that was written w/ a 32-bit only compiler that would require significant work to rewrite on a modern compiler; 3- lazy developers who either don’t bother to learn best practices for Windows or dislike Windows so take an idealistic attitude and use cross-platform support as an excuse for neglecting best practices.

I can sympathize with not wanting to afford code signing, I’m guilty of it myself for a few kernel-mode drivers I never made public due to SPC costs.  But otherwise if it isn’t 64-bit compatible I don’t care if I’m running 32-bit Windows or how cool it is–it has no place on a system I care about stability on it.

[Author]

Posts