First, let me explain my setup. I will be living in an apartment this coming school semester. This apartment has two bedrooms and a living room. In my living room, I will put my existing stereo system, which includes a sony receiver, cd changer, dvd player, 6 speakers, etc. I am looking to put together a computer that will sit with this stereo equipment that will be used to play DVD's, divx type files, and will be networked to my computer and my roommate's computer to play our mp3's on this main stereo. Ideally, this computer will be built using a MicroATX motherboard since size is very much a consideration.

I've been trying to find out information on exactly what motherboard to buy. My sony receiver has a dolby digital decoder and an optical input that is currently hooked up to my DVD player. I would like for this computer to play DVD's and have the same digital sound that I have now with my standalone DVD player, if that is possible. The motherboard that I am currently looking at is the ASUS A7N8X-VM since it has option of having a TV-out and it has an optional spdif connector. The website says it uses the C-Media 8738 audio controller. If I bought this motherboard, could I just hook the spdif into my sony receiver and get the 5.1 Dolby Digital from DVD's? I dont really know exactly what to look for right now, so I'm hoping someone here can help me out. Thanks for the replies.

I'd definately take a look at the Shuttle cases, they are small and powerful. I expect by now they've solved their noise issues, failing that you can always search for suggestions. (try Hexus.net forums?)

http://www.spacewalker.com/

Ruairi

I have a Shuttle Mini-PC and it's simply PERFECT : Powerfull, reliable and with a very low noise level.

Worth to take a look at them

check out http://www.mini-itx.com/store/hush.asp

they're silent fanless machines based on via epia boards. would look sexy next to any hifi system

Thanks for the suggestions. I did look at the shuttle motherboards, and the one that I would buy would be the MN31N microATX motherboard. The only problem with this mobo is that it has dual vga ports instead of a TV-out, like the ASUS. I guess I don't really know exactly how all of the dolby digital stuff works, but since this shuttle motherboard has the nForce 2 IGP +MCP-T chipset and a Realtek ALC650E audio controller, it should pass the digital stream to my receiver? My receiver has a blue light that comes on when it is decoding the dolby digital stream from my dvd player. Would this light come on when i play dvd's through a dvd-rom through the spdif output on this motherboard? I dont know if i'm making sense, but if I am, thanks for any information you can provide.

I've got the SN41G2, and it the best. (It has an nForce2 chipset and appears to be similar to the one you're considering)

It's pretty quiet with an Athlon XP in it 2400+

I also know what you're talking about passing through the dolby digital stuff through to the receiver. I prefer having my receiver do the 5.1 decoding as well.

On my board, there is an Optical SP/DIF out in the front, and I have two DVD programs that can pass that signal through with no problem.

HOWEVER.... The nForce chipset can do Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding ON THE FLY. This confused the heck outta me when my receiver claimed it was getting a Dolby Digital signal, even though I was playing a DTS track. If you find this to be the case look around and see if you can disable this setting.

I have no idea if the MN31N will do the same, since as you've pointed out, it has a RealTek controller. But you can always get a sound card that's listed at the bottom of this page.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I saw that page before and it said that the CMedia 8738 was a good controller for the digital stuff. That is why I was looking at the ASUS motherboard. But this motherboard has the MCP rather than the MCP-T chipeset. Does this mean that it will just pass the digital stream through the spdif and my receiver will do the decoding? I guess thats the main thing that I'm confused about.

Short answer. Probably yes.

I imagine it would be easier to build something that passes through 5.1 sound, rather than decoding it.

But just because it has an MCP-T southbridge doesn't necessarily mean that it CAN'T pass it through. My machine has the MCP-T and it passes through just fine.

I would dare say that most cards can pass through that signal. The problem is that sometimes you have to jump through some really annoying hoops to do so, and the documentation is not always clear on that matter. Since I haven't personally had to deal with the A7N8X-VM, I can't say for sure, but I would bet on it.

Incidentally, I WAS considering this board very carefully as a Home Theater PC, but I sprang for the Shuttle because it was smaller and had everything else that I wanted.