Adding HDTV to simple setup, few questions

[colbert]

I am a linux user on a desktop machine of Q6600/8gb ram/8800GT/4TB storage, I basically watch everything on my monitor as it's just me in an office room in house living with brother.

Now I am going to get an HDTV to watch everything off the pc, but not looking for advice on the tv, rather:

1. Is there any reason/benefit to setup a server to house the storage separately? (And just use desktop as is to stream everything).

2. I plan to connect the tv and use dual monitor setup with nvidia's Twinview (I used dual monitors for about 3 yrs until recently). I am leaning to no, but is there any benefit to getting a separate mini frontend for the TV? (I use XBMC on the pc and all is setup/configured).

3. Also want to get a decent 5.1 system, so what are the connection schemes I'm looking at? This confuses me the most. Do I connect it to PC? If so, this is the soundcard I have. Or do I need to buy a receiver? If so, then how do I connect it all? etc.

Thanks a lot folks for any help!

note: I do not need to stream anything off the machine to anywhere else in the house, will be watching only in this room.

 

[af22]

1) i have my HTPC as a stand alone computer so it can record tv shows on it's own and not have to worry about me rebooting or crashing the pc while it's recording. also, with more then one user, you dont have to keep your workstation powered on for other people to access your files. also when i'm downloading large video files that needs to unrar, it really hammers the computer so it's nice to have it seperated.

2) this is personal preference. i have a triple monitor workstation, i sometimes use one of the side monitors to watch tv. depending on the software you use, if you click outside of the player, it may exit full screen.

3) looks like you have the m-audio revolution. you probably wont even need to use that sound card (considering how it doesn't even support windows 7 64 bit). you want to use HDMI out or optical out to pass the surround sound. optical out only supports up to DTS and dobly digital, where HDMI can support the HD audio formats (although dependent on the card).

for your office, it may be a waste to buy a reciever and 5.1 speakers. you may be better off getting one of those logitech 5.1 (z5500 or the new z906 would be a solid choice) speaker setups that support DTS and dobly digital over optical.

 

[af22]

sorry, i forgot you were on a linux workstation. i am not familiar with how the codecs are setup on linux. but typically surround sound is done over spdif or hdmi passthrough to let the reciever decode the audio.

 

[xrintrahx]

1) With a server like WHS, you can set it up to backup all your systems on your network, in addition to just hosting media files. If you only have one computer in the house, or other backup solutions, this may not be of interest. Something like Unraid is a simple, yet powerful tool if you have multiple drives and has parity protection. There are a number of variables to consider. Will the system be on 24/7? How much content do you have in terms of TBs? Do you have the need for various other features that come with servers? How important is backup and drive failure to you? Some people are fine with just using external drives. Some people are fine having multiple harddrives in a single desktop. And some people utilize a full server.

3) You can use a receiver to decode HD audio codecs, to switch between multiple components, and to act as a multichannel amp. Your computer can do the first, if you have the right software, but you can't plug in a DVD player, an old tape deck, an xBox, etc into your computer and have it switch between those. And your computer, nor your soundcard can amplify sound. They don't really make practical, cheap 5.1 channel amps, but they DO make 'powered' speakers. These are sets of speakers that come with a built in amp, and this is probably your best bet, especially for a smaller, home office set up without lots of other components. af22 mentioned 2 Logitech options.