Which Motherboard?

[fell8]

I've narrowed my choices down to the JetWay A210GDMS-Pro or the Foxconn NF4K8MC-ERS.

This computer is being purpose-built for my work at a radio station. Portability is a prime factor, so it needs to be micro-ATX. The machine will play mp3s, rip mp3s and record digital "airchecks" of my show (cd quality), all at once. I am currently using an Nforce1 based computer for this, but there is a bottleneck somewhere (I suspect with the ATA) which leads to memory dumps when I try to do all three. By foregoing the ripping or recording I can avoid the crashes, but either way it's an unacceptable situation.

The MBs listed will allow separate channels for each drive (2x HDD, 1x optical), and offer NCQ for maximum ATA performance. They also feature dual-channel system DDR, should memory bandwidth turn out to be the culprit.

The price between the two is less than $10, but the Nforce4 board will need a video card which is $50 for a cheap one, $110 for a decent one. Also, the on-board sound on the Nforce4 can't touch the ULi M1573's HD sound, meaning another $30-$230 should I upgrade it.

On the other hand, the ATI RS480/ULi M1573 combo is a somewhat inferior performer to the Nforce4, and I've read that the ULi M1573 has had some early issues with it's NCQ. There is also the issue of Jetway being considered an inferior manufacturer to Foxcon (unfortunately, Jetway is the only outfit making a micro-ATX ATI RS480 MB with the ULi M1573 south bridge--everyone else uses the ATI SB400, which lacks NCQ and HD audio).

So what do you folks think? Is Jetway really that bad, or will it be OK? Does anyone know if the ULi M1573's NCQ is working properly now? Anyone know of another MB that would suit my needs?

Thanks alot guys!

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

If you want decent audio, you're going to have to get something other than onboard sound. What, I couldn't say. My father, who also uses his PC for his radio work, has a Darla, which works great--but it's also six years old. I don't know which audio cards work best, nowadays.

Also, the CPU is probably your bottleneck when you multitask. I can't see pumping money into the motherboard as helpful to your situation.

EDIT: Make sure you get a good CD drive, too. That may not be as important as the audio card, but a high-quality burner/ripper should come in handy at times.

 

[dew042]

You will want a VIA Envy 24HT based sound card for recording == M-audio Revolution, M-audio Audiophile 2496 M-audio Delta 410, Audiotrack Prodigy 7.1, Terratec Aureon 7.1

Here's the definative source for all things Envy: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=364771

The Audiophile 2496 is nice since it is just two channel and rca inputs/outputs onboard for easy connections for audio equipement.

dew.