HTPC Questions - New Build

[satandole666]

I have all of the parts ironed out for an HTPC build I am doing for a friend.

We're reusing most of his current main rig, which is a P5B/E6300 setup, PSU, etc.

I'm trying to figure out two things.

#1 He wants to be able to watch TV on his big screen while gaming on a smaller LCD at 1280x1024. Can you do this easily without glitches? I told him he'd probably need two computers to do that reliably but I'm not sure.

#2 Whats a good dual digital tuner card for Win7? I'm currently thinking about the happauge 1850 but I haven't built an HTPC in 2 years so I'm out of the loop.

Thanks.

[satandole666]

Switch that to the hauppauge 2250. He's hoping for dual digital tuners. Any other comparable options for $120 or less?

[glorp]

#2: The Hauppage is a good tuner. A cheaper option is the Avermedia Duet. I've used the Duet and it works fine in Vista/7. You should be able to get it for around $60 for the OEM version.

ED: BTW, are we talking OTA broadcasts here with an antenna or DTV?

[satandole666]

OTA with an antenna most likely...I might have him do QAM stuff depending on the cost from the cable provider.

He wanted to do this to get rid of his $60 a month cable service.

[glorp]

OK. OTA is probably worth the investment.

You might not be able to get much now, or for much longer, with ClearQAM depending on where you are and who your cable provider is. If it's for cable I'd probably suggest waiting for the Ceton tuners to get released but they'll be considerably more expensive than the ~$100 ones you're looking at now.

[satandole666]

OTA was the original plan. Anything past that is a bonus.

We picked up a 1TB drive (he only had 160gb before), the 2250 tuner, and a 4850 1024mb card to finish his build.

Anyone know if we can have media center running on the big screen and other stuff on his LCD monitor seamlessly? We're going to find out in about 5 hours anyway but I'd like to know what we're getting into.

[Stratus_ss]

I dont know how that works in windows but linux can be configured to have different desktops on each monitor.

I would be interested in a follow up on this thread

[satandole666]

Our first attempt with CS:S failed because it wouldn't set to fullscreen on the second monitor. It probably would have worked but we sort of gave up at that point.

We're going to try it some more...maybe more modern games will work better.

[Neuromancer]

I do not know if they fixed it yet, but as recently as last year nVidia could not handle full screen video on one monitor and full screen gaming on the second.

Not sure what the deal is, Even my 2400XT can handle civ4 and Stargate :)

What might be a hold back though is the CPU. For an older game like CS:S set affinity to core0 and set affinity for media playback to core1 should alleviate any hiccups, once you get your GFX straightened out.

I have been trying to talk my sister into moving to one PC for the living room for a while. Instead of having an HTPC and a desktop pc running.

EDIT: oh vitally important. Have a KB with media controls on it :) that way you can pause skip play stop whatever without minimizing the game :) (or use a remote ;) )