Gigabyte's K8N51PVMT-9 makes for a good HTPC base

[Steve]

Gigabyte continue their epic mission to make their product names as undesirable as possible. That aside, the K8N51PVMT, which has a GeForce 6150 chipset on it and a micro-ATX form factor, looks like a candidate for HTPC/media center usage. Digit Life has a review.

On the whole, Gigabyte K8N51PVMT-9 qualifies for its mission and is worthy of being a base for inexpensive home as well as functional office PC as well as HTPC. In particular, BIOS Setup contains an option to choose a TV-set (connected to the integrated TV-Out) as a default monitor. You can use a model with HDTV support, video decoding in this format is supported on the hardware level. Thought-out set of integrated controllers provides everything necessary for the above mentioned tasks, but the motherboard is not overpriced (its bundle is not swollen, as it is usually the case with top solutions).

My only concern is that the PCI layout isn't compatible with the risers of the lovely LC-11M, otherwise I'd probably be trying to get my hands on one. Oh well.

[Jonny M]

No HDCP support.

Pointless.

[directhex]

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

[Jonny M]

Less space than a nomad?

I'm confused.

[directhex]

Less space than a nomad?

I'm confused.

never mind

[JPreston]

Nomads would surely have lots of space, wide open plains.

I think that's actually a quite neat board for it's purpose, onboard TV-Out and all. I've got a HTPC in a full size midi-tower case with an ATX board, separate graphics and sound cards. Wish they sold boards like that when I was building it, at least it's an option.