Looking for a budget mobo (2 vga ports and 1 hdmi required)

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Im building my brother a system that will serve as his home office box with basic media center use in mind too. He uses Quark Xpress extensively and some does some Photoshop work too (he edits and does other stuff for a magazine). He doesn't play games, at least in the sense that we play games! A bit of Football manager occasionally but nothing in 3D.

I've been looking at the 630i onboard VGA motherboards as they are within his pricerange (~£50), also because they're the only obvious mobos with onboard VGA listed at scan.co.uk where all the other components are coming from.

While the 630i is capable of dual monitor output, I can't seem to find a motherboard that actually supports it with two vga ports.

Anyone know of one? Or perhaps a motherboard with a different chipset that would qualify for his needs?

The motherboard must:

• be Intel Socket 775
• have onboard graphics
• support dual channel DDR2-800 memory, will use 2x2GB DDR-800 memory
• have at least one HDMI out
• have at least two VGA out, whether its VGA or DVI that I can use adapters with
• be capapble of playing HiDef content smoothly
• work well with Vista64 and let him have the Aero interface

His setup is in his lounge, with two monitors on the desk and a large HiDef (1366 x 768) TV in the other corner. He'll either want to view both monitors or just the TV at any one time.

One last QQ: His TV has one HDMI input which is in use by the Virgin Box, is it possible to get a simple splitter to plug two HDMI cables in to this? I imagine that it isn't and I'll need to go for the more expensive switch box.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tabs]

This is the build as I had it priced up, before I realised the dual monitor problem, feel free to comment or suggest alternatives to any part:

Certain components we already have, such as HDs, monitors, some cabling + additional fans etc. so the list is complete in that regard.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

I haven't seen a modern motherboard supporting dual VGA outputs. VGA + HDMI, or VGA + DVI are the most common configurations. You'll need an adapter.

 

[tabs]

Forgive my ignorance but what sort of adapter? Would it split one VGA into two or...?

 

[Deeko76]

Check this board out although it doesnt meet all criteria, has HDMI+DVI:

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=584&l4=0&model=1929&modelmenu=1

Might be unlikely you will find a board with dual vga and HDMI onboard solution.

Also look at the Core 2 E7200 as your cpu choice with new wolfdale core. Its 45nm, higher FSB and more cache.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=778510

 

[Skrying]

You can check out this USB video adapter. It might be able to handle the needs of the system. It comes with a DVI to VGA adapter so depending what motherboard you pick you should be find. Generally speaking the motherboard will also include a DVI to VGA adapter for it's DVI port (generally, check what's included first). How this solution will all work together is a guess to me. If the motherboard can even output to both of its connections at the same time is another guess and integrated graphics will likely be pretty stressed outputting two large screens in Vista with Aero enabled.

I'm very doubtful you'll find a motherboard with 2x VGA and 1x HDMI. I'm very doubtful you'll find a motherboard with even 2x VGA in today's market.

 

[tabs]

Heh, In the last half-hour or so of looking I can't even find a graphics card that has 2xDVI(or VGA) and 1xHDMI.

I don't like the idea of him having to fiddle around unplugging and plugging in monitor cables and adapters every time he decides to take a break from work and watch some PC based TV content, or vice-versa.

The USB thing could be a winner, hadn't realised they were out there. Thanks for that, I'll have a browse.

 

[tabs]

Ooh, £65 seems to be the going rate for those. That's bumping up the cost of the PC outside of the target range of £300-£375.

I'll check out the possibility of a HDMI -> HDMI / (DVI/VGA) switch.

 

[Blazkowicz]

what's the point of that USB thingy? it's much better to simply add a video card to get more outputs (fanless 8400GS or HD3450)

but there really are mobo with dual output + HDMI now, µATX socket AM2 boards with the geforce 8200/8300 chipsets (very weird! : full ATX mobos have the integrated GPU and hybrid SLI support but no video output!)
The Asus M3N78-EMH HDMI does the job (VGA + DVI + HDMI), there's an equivalent Asrock. presumably you can display on two screens but not on three. They are the only ones available here.

Intel mobos should follow with geforce 9200/9300 chipsets (same GPU).
would you go with AMD, Phenom X3 8450 is pretty cheap.

 

[Skrying]

Assuming you can add another card, that you won't have to deal with driver problems as well.

 

[tabs]

So, I can basically go with the mobo I've got listed, and add a discrete graphics card?

Would Vista / nVidia drivers be happy ouputting an extended desktop with one monitor connected to the onboard and one to the board? Or would I need to get a board with 2xVGA and just use the mobo for HDMI?

I'm obvoiusly clueless when it comes to multiple graphics cards for multiple monitors. Are graphics drivers quite happy to work with whatever sort of gpu you throw in there? i.e. onboard coupled with PCIE, PCI + PCIE etc.

Thanks again.

 

[tabs]

..presumably you can display on two screens but not on three.

That's fine for not using 3 at the same time, as long as there is a proper switching mechanism between the HDMI and one of the VGA outs (be it hard or soft) rather than mucking around behind the computer unplugging cables and the like.

 

[thehulk]

Biostar TF7150U-M7 with 1 VGA + 1 DVI + 1 HDMI - http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/t-series/content.php?S_ID=305

 

[BRiT]

"We shall also note that due to a chipset limitation only one port, either DVI-D or HDMI, can operate at a time. It is curious that the board's BIOS Setup does not have a menu for choosing the port being used, so the selection mechanism remains unclear. " Review.

 

[swaaye]

Gigabyte's 780G has DVI+VGA, and both can be active, but the DVI is DVI-D. Can't use adapter.

 

[tabs]

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions.

I opted to go for the much simpler route of forgetting about the hdmi altogether and getting a cheap gfx card with two vga, one of which will be wired to a switch between tv and 2nd monitor.

I had a compatible mobo sitting around at home (nasty asrock thing) which will do the job.

Parts arrive tomorrow morning.

He's upgrading from an Athlon XP (which caught fire, hence the upgrade - lol) and 1 gig ram hehe. I dont think hes prepared for just how fast this machine will feel.

Cheers

 

[Davros]

it will fell exactly as fast as his old pc unless he's transcoding video or doing something that takes a long time

 

[ShaidarHaran]

Just so you know, some TVs have handshake issues when using DVI->HDMI adapters. The last two sets I've had have demonstrated this issue. The current set I have requires me to disconnect he HDMI cable from my PC before I turn the TV on, otherwise the power LED just blinks at me as the TV does nothing. Panasonic TH-42PZ80U (42" 1080P plasma)

 

[tabs]

it will fell exactly as fast as his old pc unless he's transcoding video or doing something that takes a long time

What a very strange thing to believe!

I've had much smaller upgrades than this one and felt the difference in everyday usage. Whether it be task switching, loading times, general responsiveness etc.

Extraordinary claim!

 

[Chris123234]

What a very strange thing to believe!

I've had much smaller upgrades than this one and felt the difference in everyday usage. Whether it be task switching, loading times, general responsiveness etc.

Extraordinary claim!

No kidding.