Asus recently announced two products which look to be geared directly towards the HTPC market: The M4A78-HTPC Series motherboards and the Xonar HDAV 1.3 Slim Sound Card.
The M4A78-HTPC Series motherboards are the world’s first motherboards with an Independent Audio Power Connector. As power delivery is a key determinant of audio quality, high-end receivers often utilize separate power channels or analog/digital signal separation to ensure high sound quality. The M4A78-HTPC Series are the world’s first motherboards to be equipped with revolutionary ASUS Absolute Pitch Hi-Fi technology which dedicates an independent audio power connector solely to audio components. This effectively reduces electronic noise, ensuring purer sound quality. Additionally, the gold-plated RCA stereo audio connectors are compatible with amplifiers without requiring additional connectors—making it simple to link PCs to home theater equipment. Furthermore, the M4A78-HTPC supports DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC™ Technology for true high-definition home theater entertainment, delivering an exceptional surround experience through the most common PC audio setups—stereo speakers or headphones.
M4A78-HTPC Series Specifications
| Model | M4A78-HTPC/RC | M4A78-HTPC |
| CPU | AMD® Socket AM2+/AM2 Supports AM3 Phenom™ II |
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| Chipset | AMD 780G/SB700 | |
| System Bus | Up to 5200MT/s; HyperTransport™ 3.0 | |
| Memory | Dual-Ch, DDR2 1066/800/667, Max. 16GB | |
| Graphics | Supports: – Hybrid CrossFireX™ – HDMI/DVI/RGB – Full HD 1080p |
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| Audio | – 8-ch HD Audio Support | |
| Storage | – 1x PATA controller up to 2 devices – 5x SATA ports with RAID 0, 1, and 10 – 1x external SATA |
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| Expansion Slots | – 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 – 2 x PCIe x1 – 1 x PCI |
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| Accessories | Includes a remote control | Does not include a remote control |
The Xonar HDAV1.3 features Protected Audio Playback Systems (PAPS) and full Advanced Access Content System (AACS) certification. Without both certifications, typical PCs must down-sample Blu-ray audio into DVD quality (48K/16bit). Utilizing ArcSoft’s Total Media Theater, the ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 is capable of decoding Blu-ray movies and takes full advantage of lossless digital audio formats such as Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™ for professional, high-fidelity sound at 24bit, 96–192Khz. The PCI-based Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim is also designed from the ground up, and is built for next generation HTPCs. Equipped with the proprietary AV200 audio processor and certified HDMI1.3a connect, it is capable of delivering the highest quality 7.1 channel 192K linear pulse code modulation (LPCM) audio and high definition video through the HDMI port.
Specifications
| Items | Description |
| Processor and Interface | |
| Audio processor | ASUS AV200 (Max. 192KHz/24bit) |
| Bus Compatibility | PCI 2.1 specification compatible |
| HDMI | HDMI 1.3a, HDCP1.2, DVI 1.0 |
| Video Specifications | |
| Video Resolution | – DTV Resolution: up to 1080p – PC Resolution: up to UXGA |
| Color Depth and Range | – Up to 48-bit/per pixel color depths (RGB or YCbCr) – Broader xvYCC color space standard |
| Audio Sample Rate and Resolution | |
| HDMI1.3 Playback Formats | – 7.1 channel LPCM 192KHz/24bit – Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreaming |
| S/PDIF Digital Input and Output | 192KHz/24bit |
| I/O Ports | |
| HDMI Ports | – HDMI-Out Type A x 1 – HDMI-In Type A x 1 |
| Digital S/PDIF | Coaxial/TOSLINK combo |
| Front Panel Header | HD Audio and AC97 |
| AUX in | Aux-in-4-pin Header |
| Driver Features | – Complete Dolby and DTS technologies – DS3D GX2.5 – VocalFX – ASIO2.0 |
| Software Utility | – ArcSoft Total Media Theatre – 7.1-ch Blu-ray movie player |
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