HTPC questions

[olds]

I am kicking around the idea of building a HTPC but don't know much about what they can do.
What I'd like to do.
1. Browse internet on my (1080i) 50" plasma TV. Thought I'd like to output 1080p.
2. Stream shows from the Internet on the plasma.
3. Have DVR capability.
4. Play music from my desktop in another room.

Which OS and video card?
How important are CPU/RAM/HHD?
Other software needed (ie DVR)?
How do I get 5.1 from the HTPC to my receiver?
TV
Receiver

TIA

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

the tv's link says it displays 720p, and can accept 1080i input. from experience, text suffers at 720p - everything else was fine. you can make some tweaks like increasing font size to improve it.

what is the budget?

are you using a cable box, or plugging the cable straight into the tv/pc?

hi-def dvr, or regular def dvr? either way, you'll need a QAM/ATSC tuner.

do you want a blu-ray player?

what do you want for controls? wireless keyboards tend to suck. a remote can be added thru usb, or built into the box.

do you want an htpc box to match the receiver, or a regular tower?

pc -> plasma = easy
pc -> receiver = easy, second room fed from receiver
dvr = getting tricky

you won't need the mightiest of computers for this. in fact, moderate power is preferred, due to moderate heat and noise. the most taxing activity would be playback of hi-def material. a retail processor will include a heatsink that cools adequately and quietly. i suggest 1 hard drive for the os and stuff, and another for music and video. 3 hard drives is getting close to the practical limit, but would be handy for recording on 1 drive while playing from another.

for software, there's a lot of choices. if you already have xp, you could use that with add-on software. xp media center edition isn't bad, if what you want is what microsoft wants. most versions of vista include media center. drivers should be good, either way. i choose to use vista with media player classic homecinema version and foobar2k.

media center pros:
likely the very best interface
wide hardware compatibility
usually, only drivers are needed - no add-on software for dvr, remote, etc.
it's better than windows media player

cons:
drm
locked into microsoft's choice of file formats
playback of various file types is hit or miss
based on windows media player

some ballpark suggestions:

silverstone makes some very nice htpc cases.
hauppage is probably the best for tuner/dvr cards
seasonic power supplies have some good prices at newegg right now, especially oem. you'd need at most 400W.
samsung makes excellent hard drives (quiet and cool) but stay away from the 1TB.
2GB of DDR2-800 will work just fine.

for a motherboard, i'm digging this micro-atx asus amd board. for $76 it will handle the video and audio output with 1 cable each, and doesn't skimp on any of the regular pc features.
Text

 

[erwos]

You can actually play pretty much any file format using Windows Media Center if you install haali-mediasplitter and ffdshow-tryouts.

If you want to transfer your DVR-MS or WTV files into a different format, I believe VideoRedo is up to the task - but it costs money.

 

[olds]

Thanks.
Haven't set a budget, I have some misc parts here. P4/3.0, tower case, 450w PSU, 2 GB DDR2.

I have Comcast cable and I plan to buy a stand alone Blu Ray.

Planned to use a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Want to output hi def.

I'd have to buy the software, all my XP licenses are used up.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

fwiw i just found out ms does not allow clear qam tuning through windows media center. atsc ota does work. this a limitation placed on media center and not vista - other applications have full functionality. there's a work-around for avermedia (sp?) cards.