Lol, let's play this, or that. I appreciate your input
Lol, let's play this, or that. I appreciate your input
I own two motherboards that many might see as unfortunate issues. Both have identical RAM and CPU, and I plan to configure them similarly for an HTPC setup. Motherboard 1 is M-ITX, lacks analog sound and front panel USB ports, but includes a WiFi/Bluetooth card with working HDMI and digital audio, plus a USB3 hub. Motherboard 2 is M-ATX, completely missing channel 1 RAM because of damaged pins, yet functions perfectly and has front panel USB headers. Assuming identical pricing, memory, and storage, which option would you choose—being limited to single-channel RAM or losing analog jacks and sound?
you're not looking for max performance as an htpc system. so the single channel ram really would not bother me at all.
if you have a media server type thing for the pc to connect to, then the front usb missing also is not a big deal.
however, if you expect to manually transfer files to it regularly, then the front panel usb would be a must to me. if the usb3 hub can replace this need, then you're back to a coin toss for me.
if i had to nitpick, i'd wonder why the ram slot is missing pins and be worried there might be other damage to it you don't know about. with it being mostly a coin toss, i'd go with the first choice simply to avoid any unknown issues with the rest of the second board.