Building an HTPC, need a little help on the spec...

NickXX · 18 May 2008 at 21:16

Hi all,

I've got a base Dell machine - P4 3.0GHz, 1.5Gb ram, which I'd like to use for videos/DVDs, bit of music and for storing all my camera photos. Also, I'd like to be able to use it for Blueray - although have no idea if the base spec will be up to this. Will be getting a pair of 500gb drives to run in RAID 1.

It will be hooked up to a 32" LCD and a Denon 3805 receiver. Do I need to go for an HDMI graphics card if I want to use it for Blueray films, or can DVI cards do HDCP stuff (is this even an issues with PCs and Blueray?).

What graphics card should I go for (AGP only iirc)? Not too fussed about games, but would be nice if it could deal with COD4. It'd ideally also be passively cooled, but I'm guessing this is asking a bit too much.

Also if it will be connected to my amp digitally, I'm guessing all soundcards would be the same in this respect. Are there any soundcards which are particularly reliable and non-CPU intensive?

I will probably run XP Media Centre on it - good idea?

Finally, I need a dual tv-tuner card - any I should go for/avoid?

Many thanks in advance,

Nick

Hesky82 · 18 May 2008 at 22:49

XPMCE is a pretty robust OS, I liked it a lot. Not as jazzy as VMC but runs a heck of a lot faster on non top spec pc's.

A cheap passive agp 7600GT would do a great job in a media centre machine, cheap and provides great picture quality and runs nice and cool. DVI-D to HDMI works well on large LCD screens. Some 7600's actually pass audio through DVI so you don’t always have to have your receiver switched on and can simply use your TV to output 2 channels.

A p4 3GHz and 7600GT should have no problem outputting 720p and 1080p media.

There are many dual tuners you could use, just make sure the card is designed to work with MCE and has certified BDA drivers.

Do you intend to connect your pc up to a 5.1 surround sound system or just 2 channels?

NickXX · 19 May 2008 at 00:04

Fantastic - many thanks mate. I will be using 5.1 on the receiver - I have just bid on an Audigy 7.1, so hopefully should get that for a tenner.

Will the 7600GT cope with Blueray or will I need to step up the budget on that?

Hesky82 · 19 May 2008 at 02:30

To get full surround sound from that Audigy you will need to run discrete analogue connections for each channel. I’m pretty sure your denon has a minimum of 5.1 inputs so that should work fine. There are a select few cards out there that can stream multi channel audio via a single digital cable and let the receiver do the decoding, I connect my pc up that way and imo I think it’s the best method, less wires and a tidy connection to your av amp.

Video wise chances are your 32" TV is only 720p, playing back blu-ray films at that res will be no issue at all. Your pc with the GT card should even have enough grunt to play back 1080p content.

I just looked on the web and noticed you can now get agp HD3650 cards, even passive ones! that would be ideal for playing back blu-ray films as the gpu actually decodes the media itself. the HD3650 is a little pricy compared to the 7600GT but it is the perfect media gfx card and as there now available on agp it would be rude not to

Basically if you want to keep it cheap stick with an Audigy and a 7600GT.
If your feeling a little rich check out the Auzen X-Plosion 7.1 sound card and the HD3650 GFX cards.