hometheater PC

[blueswitch]

Hey I have an xbox that runs media center...and I love it...been thinking about building a HTPC and just wanted to know some benefits..and what I would want to be putting into it parts wise...i guess video card was my question....also I have a 32' Toshiba 4:3 tube HDTV with a DVI...720p native 1080i compressed....is it even worth building one without an LCD TV?....also can you still record TV or have most vid-cards yanked that feature?

[brickout]

Most vid cards have done away with that feature. I'd suggest a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150 for budget, or 350 if you've got some bucks to throw into it. Both have onboard MP2 encoder to take the load off your proc. The Hauppauge line is Linux-ready, and arguably the best scheduler and front-end are for Linux, MythTV.

As far as processor, anything faster than a P4 1.5 or AXP 1500+ is enough if you get one of the Hauppauge cards. Faster is better of course if you use your HTPC to convert to burn to dvd, etc.

For video card, you want one with component or s-video out, and 'new' technology. I'd get a 6200 (non-TC) or 7300.

[Neuromancer]

What you buy depends on what yo uhave.

TV card is dependent on the type of television service you have

Satelliette, cable, digital cable etc. I dont know all the specifics but hte hauppage 150 is good for regular cable. sat needs a dvb card and for digital cable... I dont know

Other hten that.. what he said..

Oh Ithink the 6600GT is the earliest nvidia card to support HDTV... not hte 6200 could be wrong though :)

[blueswitch]

I'll look into it thanks...

[brickout]

Only problem with 6600GT is heat output and power consumption. Get the least powerful card you can that will meet your needs, so you can use a lower power (heat) core and lower power psu.