Board with on-board everything

[DrunkenMaster]

I'm trying to build a cheap system with on-board everything. I want something with ethernet, great sound and gameable Video (Portal and HL2 playable at 1024x768 fine) and Mpeg2 or 720p/1080 acceleration (if possible) and a 56 K modem. I don't care if its ATI or Intel - though I plan on upgrading the computer at some point in the future so I would prefer Intel. I want to get an upgradable board on which I can add better video and sound in the future. I'm getting a Sonata 3 case. If OB sound sounds really crappy, then I'll buy a sound card.

Edit: oops no modem necessary.

Edited May 16, 2008 by DrunkenMaster

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Good luck getting a good on board video.

[DrunkenMaster]

Good luck getting a good on board video.

Don't need fancy video. People seem to be able to play Crysis on an OB ATI x1250 anyways :rolleyes:. I barely have time to game. I will probably only play Portal and mostly some budget older games which are DX 9 at best. I have a console anyways.

[gaurav]

You'll find difficulty in finding on board modems on any decent motherboard. And on board video will always be sub-par.

You can't play HL2, I think it requires Shader Model 3.0 and T&L (don't quote me though) which just won't be there!

[+shift. MVC]

Generally you won't see any difference between onboard sound and using a sound card unless you're an audiophile :p

[episode]

Yup, good luck with finding an onboard modem.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I don't think i ever saw onboard Modems except on laptops. That would be your only choice.

[elnino11]

consider amd 780g. its by far the best on-board IGP. if u don't overclock it will serve u good.. however most don't take higher end phenoms. so upgrade path intel is better. upcoming 45nm phenoms may be supported though. i think amd has better platform and better energy efficiency too. u may want to search for more info. good luck!

[CrashG]

Generally you won't see any difference between onboard sound and using a sound card unless you're an audiophile :p

I'm using the onboard HD Audio. It's not quite as rich and warm sounding as my Audigy 2 Platinum, but it sounds fairly good though. Finding good onboard video is going to be the biggest challenge. You may need to look at getting a 8600GT or something.

[shakey_snake]

Generally you won't see any difference between onboard sound and using a sound card unless you're an audiophile :p

Most "audiophiles" probably can't tell a difference either.

They may want to think they can, but they most likely couldn't properly ABX a difference.

[DrunkenMaster]

My luck changed a bit lately. I've found a great deal on a refurb Dual-Xeon 2.4, 2 GB ECC Ram, dual U320 SCSI drives - there's a decent warranty and I have some "spare parts". I'm buying a Powercolor HD 3650 for about $100 as my video card. I won't need to buy a new computer for a few years, and I'm getting a better bang for my buck with this puppy.