HTPC The Home Entertainment PC – Part 2 Motherboards

Why you should consider it: Short-Media continues our five part series guiding you on the path towards Home Theatre PC or Home Entertainment PC (HEPC) enlightenment. In part One Micro-ATX PC cases were examined, how they looked and what they offered. In Part Two the Micro-ATX motherboard is reviews featuring the latest NFORCE2 technology. You’ll learn to see through the packaging and past the hype to clearly see how to arm yourself with the skills to know what delivers, what doesn’t and what to expect.

Part 2: The HEPC (Home Entertainment PC)

The computer is finding its way into the living room. This invasion brings
about horrifying visions of trailing cables as the PC crawls out of the primordial
soup of the home office. How can the fledgling PC compete against a world otherwise
dominated by components that are chameleons hiding behind names like home theatre
and game boxes?

The PC is itself becoming more of a chameleon whether it hides behind the disguise
of office productivity or of home entertainment center. Can the powerful PC,
supreme in its native office environment, survive in the jungle of your living
room? Does it have to be an eyesore shooting off cables like vines growing wild?

Home Theatre PC or HTPC is a popular term. Home Theatre implies that the PC
will be used to play back DVD movie content with a PC rather than a stand alone
consumer grade player. The HTPC isn’t a “set-top box” either. A set-top
box is a device which enables a viewer to become interactive with the television
set. Set-top boxes may appear to be similar to PCs but they aren’t.

Why a PC in the living room?

We wouldn’t be recommending dragging the tower out of the home office to stand
it beside the TV. We wouldn’t want to scar the decor either with a bland, beige
box noisily whirring away. The thought of cables trailing across the floor gives
us hives.

PCs are more affordable these days. There used to be a time when it was one
TV per household. Now two or three is common. The same can be said for the PC
and with the sheer amount of digital content some are accumulating it only makes
sense to incorporate that into the home entertainment center for music, games
and movies.

The HEPC (He-PC…no pun intended) combines Home Theatre quality DVD playback,
high quality audio, gaming, Internet and all the creature comforts of a traditional
PC into a unit that blends in with the living room or family room environment.
The HEPC offers the ability and advantage of storing large volumes of digital
video and audio. It has the benefit of connecting with other PCs in the household.
There also need not be cables strung everywhere ready to snag limbs as you pass
by like catch wires on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Assembling the HEPC isn’t complicated or expensive and the technology is surprisingly
good. In some cases it may be even better than what is presently sitting in
the home entertainment cabinet.

Short-Media continues our five part series guiding you on the path towards Home
Theatre PC or Home Entertainment PC (HEPC) enlightenment. In part One Micro-ATX
PC cases were examined, how they looked and what they offered. In Part Two the
Micro-ATX motherboard is reviews featuring the latest NFORCE2 technology. You’ll
learn to see through the packaging and past the hype to clearly see how to arm
yourself with the skills to know what delivers, what doesn’t and what to expect.

Section 2: The motherboard:
Micro-ATX has its place

Micro-ATX Socket A motherboards haven’t seen the light of day since the VIA
KM266 days and now a few chipsets later the Micro-ATX Socket A motherboard is
finding a foothold again with NFORCE2. The Micro-ATX motherboard is not much
different from its larger ATX counterpart. Micro-ATX was developed as a lower
cost solution to ATX while still retaining most of the ATX features and performance.
The most obvious difference is size and number of available PCI slots. OEM manufacturers
capitalize on Micro-ATX by reducing the overall system cost and/or increasing
profitability. Depending on configuration Micro-ATX motherboards can require
less power thus less expensive, lower wattage power supplies can be used. Micro-ATX
PC cases can also be smaller thus appealing to the space-conscious consumer.

The consumer is also fickle.

Micro-ATX hasn’t gained firm acceptance and this is most likely due to price
and perception. ATX motherboards carry the perceived value that they contain
more. This may or may not be true depending on particular brand brand and model.
The consumer still roots belief in the fact that bigger is better. Why buy a
sub-compact when a luxury vehicle can be had? The price point difference between
ATX and Micro-ATX is also very narrow so the lure of the “luxury ATX vehicle”
is that much greater.

Filling the shopping list

When looking to build the Short-Media HEPC there is a shopping list:

Must haves

• 1 PCI slot for Wireless NIC
• Acceptable performance
• Space consideration
• Most current technology
• Independent headers for hard drive and optical device
• 4 USB ports
• On board video
• SVIDEO out for NTSC/PAL

Bonus features

• LAN
• On board audio
• Additional PCI slot for 3rd party audio
• AGP slot for 3rd party video
• Game port
• Additional USB ports
• FIREWIRE

There are two groups due to immediate and optional requirements. Budget is
still an important part of the HEPC equation as it is a luxury PC addition to
a household. The more it can do for less is better. The goal is to assemble
a system that strikes a satisfactory balance between price and performance and
retain the option of cutting towards the “bleeding edge”.

In the introduction we eluded to a nightmarish scene of RJ45 Internet connection
cables running down a hallway and one of the requirements of the Micro-ATX motherboard
was to have at least two available PCI slots; one to install a wireless NIC
and the other to provide for an optional audio upgrade solution. Micro-ATX motherboards
have 3 PCI slots so this leaves a third available for any reason whatsoever.
There isn’t the need for 5 PCI slots that larger ATX motherboard provide.

A big cost saver is on-board audio and video with the latter providing “acceptable”
performance. What is acceptable depends on perspective and this shall be covered
in-depth including a grounding in reality. Audio is of crucial importance with
the HEPC and at present only 3rd party audio solutions provide the best audio
quality and while ATX and Micro-ATX have very good quality audio solutions they
aren’t truly acceptable for high end listening enjoyment. The inclusion of an
AGP slot is a bonus for those who require bleeding edge gaming performance and
have the cash to support it.

USB ports are needed in spades. The HEPC has to support many wireless solutions;
at least four.

The question of size has already been addressed by the need to remain space
conscious. A bulky tower can’t be parked next to the home entertainment cabinet
and I know my other half wouldn’t put up with it for long. The trick was to
fill an existing space with a unit that blended in. “Oh my God” would
turn to “Hey that’s cool.”

Lastly there is the need to stay with current technology and while this is
impossible for no more than a few months it is good to have at least the most
current at the time.

The HEPC Micro-ATX solution: Chaintech 7NIF2 Summit

Specifications

The Chaintech 7NIF2 Summit Micro-ATX motherboard fills out the shopping list
and then some. It is built on “bleeding edge” NFORCE2 technology that
offers one of the highest performance platforms around. The inclusion of an
integrated nVIDIA NV17 (GE FORCE MX) GPU is an absolute bonus but a careful
perspective must be maintained in order to understand why. Overall the 7NIF2
is quite a hefty little package.

Touring the board.

The most obvious difference is size. In the following image the Chaintech 7NJS
NFORCE2 ATX motherboard is on the left and the Chaintech 7NIF2 NFORCE2 Micro-ATX
motherboard is on the right. They are the same width but the Micro-ATX form
factor is over 2 inches shorter. The boards are very similar otherwise.

The tour begins with the socket and works its way clockwise around the board.

Chaintech have thought well to include four mounting holes but always be cautious
of the capacitors and heatsinks. While we have not yet experienced any heatsink
mounting problems there is still the odd chance that there are cooling products
out there that may present fit concerns.

3 DIMM slots support up to 3 GB of PC1600/DDR200, PC2100/DDR266, PC2700/DDR333
and PC3200/DDR400 Dual Channel DDR modules.

Beside and towards center is the North Bridge heatsink and the only disadvantage
to this design is a proprietary heatsink fan unit. The novice will have to RMA
the motherboard if ever this fan should fail.

The RAM lifters appear to a little tighter to the AGP slot on both axis than
the larger ATX motherboards. Typically the horizontal line is well below the
maximum open position of the lifters.

This is not a problem unless a 3rd party video card is installed that has a
PC longer than 7.5 inches (190mm.) Even the ATI 9700 PRO is short of 7 inches.

“South” of the DIMM slots are the IDE/Floppy headers.

The front panel connectors and a the first of only two fan headers are also
visible but just above the blue IDE header left of the post beep speaker is
a red jumper.

The red jumper is the CLEAR CMOS jumper and next to it are the three chassis
open alarm pins are for connecting the chassis intrusion wire.

The NVIDIA MCP (Media and Communications Processor) chip is one area of complaint
that many other reviewers mention. The MCP is the value based product while
the “T” model supports a fairly hefty audio package and dual LAN connections
for networking through the motherboard itself. This is a choice for a motherboard
manufacturer based upon anticipating costs versus consumer expectations and
is not an easy decision when the global market is considered. The question is
to increase end-user costs by including a feature that may not appeal to or
be necessary to all or keep costs low and provide the option of allowing the
end-user to choose a superior audio option or router instead?

It isn’t easy but for an HEPC (Home Entertainment PC) hardwired LAN isn’t needed
and the on-board audio will be bypassed in favor of 3rd. party PCI audio solution
that NFORCE MCP sound does a good job of competing with can’t match for options
and quality.

Left of the IDE header area along the bottom edge are the two USB ports for
USB 2/3 and 4/5. A smart card reader is also visible and while this may be a
bonus to some it is not for the HEPC system. Most times a smart card reader
would go onto the main household computer rather than an HEPC. Images can always
be transferred to the HEPC via the wireless link.

There are also two black jumpers, a green jumper and a blue post seat visible.

The black jumpers control enabling or disabling the USB ports. The green jumper
enables or disables the GREEN LED (standby LED) if any device supports it. The
blue based posts have the same function as the power indicator LED. Both show
the system’s power status and the only difference is that, according to the
manual, “this one is blue while the other is red.” Not being an electrical
engineer I’m going to hazard a guess that stock RED LEDs require less voltage
to initially illuminate and BLUE require more. The CN17 BLUE LED CONNECTOR would
be the “more” voltage connector required if a user wanted a BLUE LED
for a system power status LED.

Next to the USB and Smart Card reader connections is the COMM2 port, Wake on
Lan-Wake on Modem connections. Note that the 7NFI2 is very new technology. Only
made in February this is version 2.0. I wonder where version 1 went to?

The 7NIF2 features a S/P DIF (Sony Philips Digital Interface) connector and
one of the more controversial moves for a motherboard such as this.

Chaintech could have really filled out this motherboard nicely by opting for
6-channel sound or going with the NFORCE2 sound package but instead they chose
the CMEDIA9738 package which only supports 4-channel sound. Center and LFE (Low
Frequency Effects otherwise mislabeled the sub-woofer) are “virtual”.

The CMEDIA9738 audio package is a lower cost solution but audiophiles may have
been satisfied with the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround package that NVIDIA offers.
This may have made the 7NIF2 a more attractive product as I do have experience
listening to the NVIDIA Soundstorm package through an external receiver and
it is quite good. This may have been an issue of licensing costs versus manufacturing
costs. It’s interesting to note that a sub-woofer connection is available on
the PCB.

This is indeed an area of decision and hypothetically there may have been a
time when several Chaintech folk got together and discussed this decision quite
heavily. On one side of the coin is a double edged marketing sword. The attractive
option of NVIDIA Soundstorm may have been outweighed by the resulting increase
in end user cost. The positive to this may have been the compromise of providing
a basic sound package that meets the needs of 2-channel users and allowing audiophiles
to install their own choice of 3rd. party sound card.

Which would you choose for the mass market with a mass amount of preferences;
increased price to include a better audio processor or keep the product economical
and allow the user to choose their own sound package if they so desire?

The backplane has integrate LAN, game port, parallel port, PS/2 mouse and keyboard,
2 x USB, Line-out, Line-in and MIC and integrated Video (SVGA and SVIDEO out).

Behind the game audio ports are a black CD-IN, green Aux-IN and an auxiliary
CD-IN (white and hidden behind the black CD-IN). The black jumpers are removed
to connect a front audio device.

In the same area is a yellow jumper that controls CPU FSB speed of 100 MHz
or 133/166MHz (default).

The power connector is between the backplane and the socket. It would be preferable
to have it between the DIMMs and the socket to facilitate a more advantageous
routing of the cable. The black header below the power connector is for connecting
COMM PORT 1 and the jumper beside it is to enable or disable the resume from
standby via a USB keyboard or mouse. The jumper poking out at the top of the
power connector enables or disables the PS/2 keyboard or mouse wake up from
S3.

The 7NIF2 contents are sparse but why pay for what isn’t needed? Included is
a backplane guard, PCI COMM PORT bracket (if at all required), a floppy and
80-pin cable, the installation CD and manual.

In the bag that contained the floppy cable is one lonely motherboard standoff.
Why did Chaintech include just one plastic standoff? Are times that tough where
Chaintech is cutting back?

Quite the opposite. One standoff is needed for the lower right corner of the
motherboard beside the IDE and floppy headers.

Notice that along the bottom edge of the previous image is a corner mounting
hole. It doesn’t match up with any standard motherboard mount positions yet
the corner of the motherboard should still be supported in this area when the
optical, hard drive and floppy device ribbon cables are connected. The standoff
is for this purpose. Nice of Chaintech to think of that.

BIOS

Chaintech impressed us with their 7NJS
BIOS flexibility and the 7NIF2 continues with only one option lacking and
that is voltage adjustment.

A new option is POST CODE which displays during the boot phase.
The drawback is the manual doesn’t have POST CODE errors and their meanings.
This feature can be of great benefit when diagnosing problems but is utterly
useless without an included explanation.

There are two AGP settings that are of interest in ADVANCE CHIPSET
FEATURES; FRAME BUFFER SIZE and AGP APERATURE SIZE. Both do the same task of
making system memory available to either the on-board VGA or an AGP card.

Novices can use Chaintech’s predetermined performance settings
via the SYSTEM PERFORMANCE setting.

Or they can switch to expert and have greater control.

CPU FSB can be set from 100 MHz to 200 MHz in 1 MHz increments.

Memory frequency can be set BY SPD, SYNC and a percentage of
FSB as shown by the next two images.

The EXPERT setting for memory timings allows for further tweaking.

PC HEALTH STATUS has been somewhat stripped down allowing for
only SHUTDOWN TEMPERATURE whereas we are typically used to seeing fan monitoring
control features.

The FREQUENCY/VOLTAGE CONTROL will disappoint overclockers but
the HEPC isn’t meant to be overclocked thus generating high temperatures. The
lack of voltage control is the prominent missing element. Remember that this
PC may be run off a 200W Micro-ATX power supply so there may not be a heck of
a lot of extra voltage to play with.

Overall the 7NFI2 BIOS is very flexible offering more fine tuning features
than many ATX motherboards. The missing options amount to voltage control.

PC on the TV

Many hope that using the SVIDEO out of the graphics card to a standard television
will result in the same sharp image that is seen on a computer monitor. This
just isn’t true and the explanation is rather complicated and riddled with variables.
The basics of why will now be covered using a very broad brush in an attempt
to offer an explanation and guide.

We all have a television set in our homes. Sometimes two or three. There are
essentially 2 types; standard and HDTV (1080i & 720p). Standard TV has a
maximum of 525 lines of resolution (485 active) with a maximum resolution of
720×486 pixles. HDTV (1080i or 720p) has 1125 lines of resolution (1080 active)
with a maximum resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. 720p has 1280×720 pixels progressive.
Not all HDTV televisions or monitors will display at the maximum pixel resolution
either.

Just because a store may advertise a TV as “digital ready” does not
mean that it is a high definition TV. You’ll find that 1080i is more plentiful
than 720p but a true HDTV should be able to support all three formats; standard,
1080i & 720p. “HD-ready” and “HD” or “HD-capable”
televisions are both high definition but HD-ready has the reciever/decoder built
in while the HD-capable television is a monitor and the reciever/decoder has
to be added as a set-top box and, in some cases, speakers. My recommondation
would be an HD-capable monitor with an external receiver/decoder. There may
be other teminology that describes HDTV but an HDTV has the receiver/decoder
built in while an HD monitor does not.

Where we are now

Computer monitors and television sets may look the same in the fact that they
both display an image but there the similarity ends. Computer monitors can have
very high resolutions and refresh rates while televisions can only display a
fixed resolution and refresh rate that is much lower.

What does this mean? It means that even the crappiest computer monitor that
you can find that displays 640×480 pixels has better resolution than most televisions.
Standard televisions also deal in interlaced video at a fixed 60 Hz refresh
rate while the graphic card output does not. All this boils down to a conversion
process from PC to TV called scaling and the signal takes quite a beating in
the process.

How much depends on the particular graphics card and the particular television.
Typically more expensive televisions do a better job of handling a PC converted
signal. I have found that ATI Technologies has an inferior desktop to TV image
than the less expensive competition.

Sadly there isn’t a definitive guide to what GPU/standard television combination
has the best desktop image by price range? Desktop clarity such as surfing the
web or using a word processor is a bit of a crap shoot for clarity. Standard
TV owners will most likely be disappointed with desktop imagery but some may
have better success. The desktop on a TV will not match the sharpness and clarity
of computer monitors.

Owners of HD sets will benefit the most since the image clarity at 800×600
or even 1024×768 will be very good. It still will not match the precision of
a computer monitor but it will be more than acceptable for casual use. Owners
of TV sets (HD or standard) with PC VGA or DVI direct input may also have greater
success as the scan converters that are built into those sets are usually of
higher quality resulting in a clearer picture.

Two VGA outputs were compared on a standard 27″ Zenith TV. From here there
is only up in quality but desktop clarity is severely lacking in most if not
all VGA cards at the SVIDEO level. Those are not bad pictures. They are good
pictures of a poor desktop display on a standard NTSC TV.

Xabre 400

Chaintech 7NIF2 IGP

In both cases default font size at 800×600 is very hard to read. Internet surfing
is all but out but that is not to say that it will be that way on every TV.
Some sets equipped with DVI or VGA inputs will be better and HD sets will be
near perfect at certain resolutions.

PC DVD movies on a TV

Happily DVD playback from a PC to a TV, even a poor one, is very acceptable
and the image quality is about 80-90% as good as a consumer stand alone DVD
player. The one thing that will be noticed with PC DVD video to the TV is saturation
of signal. This depends on two variables; the GPU scan convertor and the playback
software. It is worth the extra dollars to purchase a 3rd. party DVD software
player that has greater control over the video settings. Such choices would
be WinDVD
and PowerDVD.
WindowsXP has built in DVD support through Media Player but it is more troublesome.
We noticed that DVD file loading and chapter scanning was slow and the software
would not allow an exit to desktop or on screen display for the TV.

Side by side with a computer monitor the DVD image may look slightly “washed
out” or have subtle banding in the colors. Other than that the image clarity
is very good and the reason for it is a closer resolution match to the TV.

Gaming on a TV

PC Games are extremely good on even a low end SVIDEO-IN equipped TV. Again
how the image looks for color will depend on the GPU source and how it is adjusted.
PC games seen on a NTSC standard TV aren’t as crisp in detail compared to a
SVGA monitor. If I were to personally hazard a guess it would be between 90-95%
as good. In simple terms you’ll enjoy PC gaming on a TV especially when it is
plugged into a Surround Sound system.

Finances or Frame rate?

The HEPC mission statement is to assemble a PC capable of digital audio and
video playback with the highest fidelity possible that is Internet/network ready.
That is first and foremost. High performance game play is secondary.

An integrated GPU cannot compete with performance gaming video cards. It isn’t
designed to do so. Here comes one of the first decision crossroads with a motherboard
sporting an integrated GPU. The choice has to be made between “acceptable”
game play and “Damn the torpedoes! Give me frame rate or give me death!”.
The path chosen may either save or separate you from a few hundred dollars.

Luckily the 7NIF2 has an option to support either decision by integrating the
GeForce4 MX GPU and making an AGP 8X slot available for a 3rd. party video card.

Then where is the line for “acceptable” game play? Flashback to two
years ago where the barrier was 100 frames per second in Quake III at 1024×768@75Hz.
The acceptable margin was between 60-80 FPS for that benchmark. 3000 3DMARK
points were fantastic! Hardware sites raved about the high numbers and improved
game play. Yes times have changed but remember that we are no longer tied to
GPUs that result in efforts to swing around in an RPG only to have the screen
redraw at an achingly slow pace while an opponent promptly toasted our butts.
For the most part today’s IGP (Integrated Graphic Processor) can deliver relatively
smooth and enjoyable game play for the casual user. Hardcore, frame hungry gamers
will change GPUs and their money faster than their underwear.

This being said the 7NIF2 IGP will deliver relatively smooth and enjoyable
game play and only when the detail settings are cranked up through the roof
will the frame rate noticeably bog down depending on the game. I play a game
every blue moon and for me that is enough.

Benchmarking…keep perspective

The Chaintech 7NIF2 Summit test system.

• AMD 2600+ 333 FSB
  Processor
• Chaintech 7NIF2
  motherboard
• GeFORCE4 MX IGP (performance setting enabled – vsync disabled – all other
  settings at default)
• 2.03 NFORCE2 driver pack
• NVIDIA 43.45 video drivers installed
• CMEDIA9738 audio drivers installed
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical Mouse
• Globalwin WBK38 HSF
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 updated
• BIOS setting OPTIMAL with RAM in SYNC

The CHAINTECH 7NJS test system.

• AMD 2600+ 333 FSB
  Processor
• CHAINTECH 7NJS
  Zenith motherboard
• ATI 9700 PRO Video Card
  Catalyst 3.2 drivers (Default settings w/VSYNC disabled)
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• LG 40x CDRW
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical Mouse
• Globalwin CAK4-76T HSF
• AMK SX1000
  modded PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1

The ASUS A7N8X Deluxe test system.

• AMD 2600+ 333 FSB
  Processor
• ASUS
  A7N8X motherboard
• DFI
  Xabre 400 Video Card
• 2 x 256 MB Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• LG 40x CDRW
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 Hard Drive
• Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical Mouse
• Globalwin CAK4-76T HSF
• AMK SX1000
  modded PC case (window, fans, cables, loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1

Programs used

• 
  Sisoft Sandra 2002
• MadOnion
  3DMark 2001 SE
• Quake
  III Arena
• Commanche
  4
• GL
  Excess
• Serious Sam Second Edition
• SpecviewPerf 7.0
• Unreal Tournament 2003 flyby benchmarks

All tests were run at default video card settings with VSYNC disabled. Bios
was optimized for system but not tweaked for any performance settings requiring
specialized knowledge of overclocking. In other words the BIOS settings were
standard as far as anyone can set the time and date, ensure the ram is 2 or
4 way interleave and at CAS 2 and AGP is chosen as the first boot video card
(8x). The BIOS settings were kept as close to conservative or default value
or as otherwise specified. The ASUS A7N8X memory settings were set to OPTIMAL
and AGGRESSIVE as disclosed. Memory was kept at DDR333 settings for synchronous
timing with the 2600+ 333FSB processor. Individual performance will vary with
any particular or specific timings or tweaks enabled by you.

1024 MB page file moved to D: partition. Temporary Internet files moved to
K: partition at end of drive. OS installed to C: and programs installed to
E:. All programs were benchmarked with a monitor setting of 1024×768@75Hz.

All motherboards were test “right out of the box”. No special
BIOS timings were set except for the time and date, boot order and health monitor
features. The BIOS was purposely kept to the factory conservative settings to
provide a base comparison. From there it’s only up. The purpose was to allow
for the base comparison on the novice level easily obtainable.

For all tests an AMD 2600+
333FSB processor and two sticks of Corsair memory were used.

These may result in lesser or greater scores dependent on variations in system
components and settings. Avoid smoking and excessive amounts of alcohol. Wait
at least 12 hours after scuba diving before flying or driving over 1000 feet
above sea level. Void where prohibited by law. No animals, especially my cat,
were harmed in the making of these benchmarks.

3D Mark 2001 SE

Commanche 4

GL Excess

Quake III high quality

Serious Sam

UT2003 Flyby

Sisoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic

Sisoft Sandra CPU Multimedia

Sisoft Sandra Memory Benchmark

Specviewperf 7.0

SpecviewPerf still grounds itself in the manipulation of 3D graphics
on a business application level rather than on a gaming performance level.

Benchmark conclusions

The 7NIF2 GeFORCE4 MX IGP performs fairly well at lower screen resolutions
but really begins to show a performance hit at resolutions of 1024×768 and above.
Look to a 3rd. party GPU for extreme gaming performance but for the casual gamer
the 7NIF2 IGP presents a more than acceptable solution without the cost of a
high performance video card. In many benchmarks the 7NIF2 IGP keeps pace with
a the SIS Xabre offering at AGP 8x.

There was only one “glitch” encountered during the benchmark tests.
Code Creatures would not run due to a hardware error “can’t run benchmark
missing DirectX 8 hardware (pixel shader 1.1 or higher)”

An anomaly was that the mouse got “mushy” at higher screen resolutions
in Serious Sam. It appears that the processor was having to take over some of
the work of the IGP.

The reality is that the 7NIF2 isn’t meant to compete with gaming cards otherwise
an AGP 8x option wouldn’t be included. The 7NIF2 presents the best of both worlds
in a Micro-ATX package and for the time I personally spend hunkered down in
front of computer playing a game it does just fine. Expect games to slow down
at higher resolutions especially with details maxed out. For a Home Entertainment
PC the IGP delivers “acceptable” game play and if more is required
then trundle down to the nearest store and shell out as much as you can stomach
for the best AGP card that can be had.

Fidelity, Fun and Finances

The Chaintech 7NIF2 delivers nearly all the features of larger ATX motherboards
for a sub-$100 USD price. This includes video. The major differences are lack
of SATA or PATA/SATA Raid, 1394 (FIREWIRE) and full Dolby Digital 5.1 or 6-channel
sound. Who needs it? The HEPC is meant to deliver a PC capable of digital audio
and video playback with the highest fidelity possible that is Internet/network
ready. That is first and foremost. High performance game play is secondary.

The small form factor allows for a PC case choice that is compact and can fit
into most any existing stereo cabinet. Low power consumption even with extra
peripherals can be handled by 200 watt power supplies.

The financial value is easily seen as the 7NIF2 is the latest in NFORCE2 technology.
The fun is present even with the IGP for the casual gamer. Integrate SVIDEO
out means the 7NIF2 can directly feed an SVIDEO-IN equipped TV without the purchase
of additional hardware.

Chaintech should have included an extra PCI USB bracket for 2 additional USB
ports in the rear. The HEPC is totally wireless except for the video and power
connection. USB ports a plenty are a must.

There is a simple answer for what to look for in a motherboard suited for the
HEPC. It is really quite simple. There should be support for a 3rd. party AGP
8x video card if the user desires high-performance game play. There should be
enough PCI slots available to install a wireless NIC and a 3rd. party audio
card. Motherboard audio is getting better all the time but PCI based audio cards
still retain the crown for high-end audio quality and performance. The need
for USB ports has already been mentioned. This is not a workstation or the main
household PC so FIREWIRE isn’t important neither is RAID. The HEPC will need
a large enough hard drive to hold the OS, games, audio and DVD software plus
enough space to hold whatever Megabytes or Gigabytes of digital audio and video
the user has.

The fact that the 7NIF2 has integrated video plus SVIDEO out is a welcome bonus.
Those who would like more gaming performance can take advantage of NFORCE2 technology
and an AGP8x port by installing a third party video card. This state of the
art HEPC motherboard is less than $100 USD. ($155 CAD) If the HEPC owner feels
they want to step up into the world of full on gaming a video card can always
be added later when the desire occurs or finances allow.

Listen up

The last element is audio. Truthfully the 7NIF2 presents a less than adequate
solution for high-end audio. It does, however, present a 4 channel audio solution
with “virtual” center and LFE but unfortunately Chaintech did not
include a bracket, S/P DIF or analog, to plug in the rear speakers. Chaintech
should have provided for this otherwise stuck with simple stereo sound. The
CMEDIA9738 audio processor is a value component and as such is lean. We did
manage to utilize a S/P DIF bracket from the Chaintech 7NJS and the result was
only 2-channel digital sound. 4-channel sound is only supported through an analog
bracket. DVD movie audio was sent to the receiver as Dolby Surround 2.0.

DVD movie image quality is very good but not as “rich” as seen on
a PC monitor or from a DVD stand alone player. Stand alone DVD players are very
inexpensive and the HEPC comes close so the decision may be one of financial
reasons. A couple of hundred dollars saved may mean an improvement in another
component. With a bit of picture fine tuning a HEPC user could happily watch
DVD content from the PC fed to the TV.

At this stage the main requirement of the HEPC is to provide the highest quality
audio possible in an affordable package. Many have Gigabytes of MP3’s that we’d
love to play back through larger, beefier systems. There is DTS, Dolby Digital,
SACD (Super Audio CD) and DVD-A to consider. The audiophile is on the doorstep
of the next phase of audio that could make our precious CD collections sound
like worn out cassettes of Dance Mix ’82.

There may be the desire to encode those precious LPs that some of us are hiding
in dark closets at better than CD quality.

Some of us may be in a position where a financial choice has to be made between
a DVD player or a better game card. Why not have both and enjoy DVD movies in
DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 or even 7.1?

Others may invest in a nuclear powered AGP video card and want to be immersed
in positional audio with all kabillion voice effects on without taking a hit
to the CPU. Be warned that in the frenzied state of fragging or flying a WWII
mission it is easy to upset the neighbors as this system will be hooked up to
a high-end home theatre receiver with a sub that causes seismic disturbances.

The question is where is audio going and what delivers now and for the future?
Those answers will be in the next chapter of the HEPC guide.