Starting a HTPC.

Z

Zohar78

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I'm about to move into my house, ordered some parts tonight to start a HTPC and was wandering what was a good vid card to use. here is my HTPC parts as it stands

Chenming/Chieftec clone case
Abit AN-7 mobo
512MB 2700mhz ram
40gb harddrive w/ 160gb for storage
nec 2500a dvd writer
athlon xp 2000

I do have plans eventually, to move my ati 9700pro from my personal pc to the htpc or to buy like a 9800 aiw. but need something for right now to get by.
Im just getting started in this field so i dont know what software to use yet for backend. So many choices.

This will be hooked up by the spdif to my home theater system,
Denon 1603
B&W cm2 fronts
B&W CM center
B&W dm303
infinity 500w sub
 
i just set up my first htpc(got my pvr-350 today) and I have to tell you... linux versus windows for htpc is no comparison. i havent set up my final config, i just ran it on a temp machine, but there was enough beef behind it that linux ran like a champ. and mythtv is the COOLEST damn program ever! i compared it next to my tivo, and the mythtv box smacked it up like a red headed step child.

for my linux distros i used one of my favorites, then a mod of another favorite of mine

1. Gentoo - a bitch to install, but worth the performance gain if you're looking to squeak out some power

2. KnoppMyth - a pre built Knoppix install with MythTV already set up in it.

I did most of my testing in gentoo, and very little in Knoppix. Both function about the same, I think(and maybe its cause im a gentoo zealot) that gentoo did to a quicker job at the same amount of work.

as far as windows, i installed media center edition. that was enough to make my decision to go with linux.
 
hmmm...
linux sounds interesting... but dont have the time to sit down and learn it..
im working full time, and in the PMA (palmetto military academ) for the army national guard. Im trying to become a commisioned officer. so im leaning to somehting simple and fast to setup, then to tweak down the road. Plus dont know when i could get shipped off.
windowsxp with some type of frontend/backend. so many choices and against the clock.

is a 9200 (NOT SE) pretty good card to use? all i have around here is an geforce2 and a geforce2 pro laying around.. might spend another 100 and buy a new gfx card for it.
 
if it's a dedicated HTPC then you wont need a spectacular graphics card, and it wont make much difference in tv-out quality (9500 vs 9800 lets say). I would suggest getting a G4MX or 5200FX (roughly 30-50 bucks) as your video card. Cheap, good TV-out, and good linux drivers. Also i would advise against getting an all in wonder card because it is not supported under linux, and a pvr-250 or other similar card would be better (quality wise, and also prolly around the same price). Now i know you said you dont want to delve into linux, but as popa said there is knoppmyth, which is basically a self-installing/very easy to install mythTV setup. You might also want to grab Fedora and use jarod's guide. Basically walks you through every step of the way to set up a mythTV box using Fedora. As for performance, while gentoo is generally less bloated and thus a bit faster, it is doubtful you'd notice any performance differences especially with a setup such as that, because pretty much any linux OS is gonna be nice and lean.
 
Geforce 4 MX, 5200FX, 9200 (NOT SE!), but watch out for the 64bit cards. For a GF2 card it really matters who made it since the makers were the ones responsible for adding TVout to the card so the quality can vary even within a product line.
Good luck becoming a CO BTW!
 
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