hd media director idea

[goku]

I am trying to build a md that can handle anything I can throw at it. I do not have a hdtv yet, but I am doing my research for the best one. I wanted my md to be able to handle the highest hd out there for a low price.

Here are my specs please tell me what everybody thinks. Thanks

cpu:           amd athlon 64 3500+ 2.2ghz

motherboard:    Foxconn NF4K8MC-EKRS Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Micro ATX

ram:           512mb ddr

video card:      MSI NX8600GTS Diamond Plus GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 HDCP

sound card:     Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio VARPAK 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz

power supply:    500w

DVD-ROM:    ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA

Case:         Thermaltake LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS Black SECC Gaming Cube

remote:      fiire chief

[1audio]

The expensive video card won't help for video. (I know. . .) The premium video cards are build for gaming and advanced graphics rendering. None work as well as a chip based media adapter with optimized hardware for video playback.  The 6150 on board video is about as good as it gets on PC today and its not real good. (The Windows drivers are no better, same problems with tearing, deinterlacing etc.) The best I have seen is from the VIA CX700 Fiirestation, but even then its not perfect.

But I watch it every day with no problem.

Get an Asus M2NPV-VM and use the on board video. Its plenty good enough. Allocate 128 MB for it.

Use an external AV receiver which won't cost much more than the sound card. It will be more fully refined and LMCE can control it. One with a serial interface is the best option for the best control.

[goku]

The expensive video card won't help for video. (I know. . .) The premium video cards are build for gaming and advanced graphics rendering. None work as well as a chip based media adapter with optimized hardware for video playback.  The 6150 on board video is about as good as it gets on PC today and its not real good. (The Windows drivers are no better, same problems with tearing, deinterlacing etc.) The best I have seen is from the VIA CX700 Fiirestation, but even then its not perfect.

But I watch it every day with no problem.

Get an Asus M2NPV-VM and use the on board video. Its plenty good enough. Allocate 128 MB for it.

Use an external AV receiver which won't cost much more than the sound card. It will be more fully refined and LMCE can control it. One with a serial interface is the best option for the best control.

Thanks for the info. I have made the changes. What do you think of a Denon AVR2307CI 7.1 Ch. Home Theater Receiver? That sound card was going for $49.99 on newegg. Could you tell me where i can find a cheap av receiver that has a serial interface. i was looking on the internet and can't find any that are below $300 that has all the inputs and stuff on it. That's when i started looking on ebay and found that denon for around $519. Thanks again for the reply.

[1audio]

RS232 for Receivers is a little bit of a mystery. There are some $300 receivers with RS232 ports on the back but no documentation as to their compatibility. And checking with Harmon's web site was the "call us and we might tell you if we like you" type of support. But its worh the effort to find out. The RS232 control is much better than IR and 2 way.

I think the Denon is already supported. I know some are. Adding support isn't difficult and the developers are very interested in supporting the efforts.