Clean and sleek home-theater PC.
You can choose a motherboard for a home-theater computer several ways. Some general guidelines will help with selecting a custom motherboard. However, it is also helpful to have some specific components in mind while shopping. Additionally, there are some benefits to using Linux as the operating system for your home theater, which will require the selection of a motherboard that may be more compatible with Linux.
General Guidelines
A shiny new motherboard.
The most crucial components for any home theater are the video and sound options. Most motherboards provide more than adequate on-board options for these components, which makes them the top priority when selecting your hardware. Ideally, your new home-theater motherboard should have an HDMI connection, which will send high-definition video and quality sound to your television or projector. Additionally, it is helpful to include an optical output in order to connect your computer to a stereo receiver or high-end surround-sound system. Some other things to consider when selecting your new motherboard are the design of the case you will be using, future upgrades and networking options such as Wake-on-LAN.
Specific Motherboards
An unobstrusive home-theater system.
One option that many home-theater-computer users like is having the smallest computer possible. For this purpose, the Zotac GF9300-D-E is a great mini-ITX option. This motherboard has a Geforce 9300 GPU with HDMI, integrated WiFi, six USB ports and one eSATA connection. This motherboard packs all of the most common features needed by a home-theater computer into a tiny 7-inch-by-7-inch package. Its compact size allows the motherboard to be placed into a very small case, which more easily blends into living room decor than a standard ATX case.
Linux Home Theater
Choosing to use Linux as the operating system for your home theater can provide many benefits, such as the ease of future software upgrades, the integration of virtual gaming consoles and the ability to easily set up software RAID for vast amounts of storage. However, Linux can be a little finicky when it comes to video chipsets. For this reason it is best to stick with the NVIDIA Geforce 8000 and 9000 model series chipsets, which have the best support for Linux. This is because NVIDIA provides better drivers that support hardware-assisted video playback for Linux systems.
Tags: home theater, home-theater computer, Linux operating, Linux operating system, operating system