MSI RS482M4-ILD

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: X-Man
This board would be perfect for the HTPC system I'm building but it apprently doesn't bundle the digital audio connector with the board, which is a pretty big lapse IMO.

$6 on ebay.

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: Sean Tracks

Originally posted by: rbV5
Another issue is that [..] in surroundview mode my Xpress200 graphics doesn't support the native resolution of my LCD at except for 16 bit color depth.

What resolution is that? (I'd like to be aware of any limitations of the on board graphics w.r.t. higher-resolution LCD displays.)

1280x1024 believe it or not:Q Its just my 17" LCD. It may be an issue with the MSI RS480 model, but my motherboard will only support 16bit color depth in surround mode at 1280x1024. Its perfectly fine in Primary mode, but surround mode has limited support. Its not an issue for me because I use the LCD for a browser while my X800XL drives my gaming CRT and my CRT RPTV.

Another issue I'm having is getting Gentoo 2005.1 installed. I'm a linux numbhead, so thats definately partly responsible as well, but its been a bit of a PITA and has taken some serious trial and error to get done (not quite there yet either)

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: RobsTV

Originally posted by: X-Man
This board would be perfect for the HTPC system I'm building but it apprently doesn't bundle the digital audio connector with the board, which is a pretty big lapse IMO.

$6 on ebay.

Yes, I know can easily acquire one, but it's remiss of MSI not to bundle one when their target market is homebuilt HTPC's.

 

[thubleau]

Actually the RS482M4 does have a slight problem with memory chips.
You must place your slower chips together in the first two sockets and then fill the next two with your faster chips.(that is even if they look the same you may find that even at 400MHZ there will still be a slight difference in clock speed from manufacturer to manufacturer)
Also it does not like three chips ,so you must have pairs also there is very little overclocking measures on this board.
Also note that you should use the failsafe defaults and then change your settings for quick boot,no logo screen etc. as you will find this will give you a faster speed than the optimum settings.
cheers

 

[L00PY]

And how is that different from most dual channel boards? Run chips out of sync and you lose dual channel gains. Run them at the higher spec speeds and you run the risk of the lower speed chips not being up to snuff and you've got stability problems. Sounds like fairly common sense procedures to prevent people from screwing up their system.

On a nice up note, I've noticed that some apps are using the onboard sound to upconvert my audio. When I play some stereo clips in Windows Media Player, when they render correctly and the pins connect, my receiver picks up a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal (3/2.1) over the S/PDIF connection. DTS and DD5.1 encoded tracks were being passed through correctly from the start, but it's nice to see that with a little work the hardware plays nicely with AC3Filter. I just have to get my codecs sorted out nicely and I think I'll be golden.

 

[thubleau]

Well, lets put it this way.
My computer spent four days off the road,had two motherboards fitted and two new graphics cards replaced and then the BIOS chip removed and re-programmed until the penny dropped and the technicians checked the ram and read the instruction manual before the problem was solved.
So,it's not unusual to get caught with a problem like this if you think all the chips are pushing out the same reading.
I would have preferred to stay with my first choice of board which was a DFI, only because of the overclocking ability, but now I have the MSI with 2 gig of ram and an Athlon 3500+ "clawhammer"
It runs ok for what I do but I still think the boot speed is too slow and maybe i should have gone with a Pentium for my Photoshop work.

 

[sanquar]

can anyone confirm how the component out into a Standard definition CRT TV is?
Is it clear enough to use the tv as a desktop monitor? What about DVD?

regards ,

 

[ND40oz]

Originally posted by: sanquar
can anyone confirm how the component out into a Standard definition CRT TV is?
Is it clear enough to use the tv as a desktop monitor? What about DVD?

regards ,

I wouldn't use a sd crt tv as a monitor with any computer, DVDs should be fine, home theater apps should work as long as the 480i resolution is supported, but you'd have some problems using apps like word and surfing the net.