Hi, I'm just curious as to what the best integrated video is right now. The computer will not be used for gaming or anything, just media center recording tv and converting DVD to Divx. I'm thinking right now Biostar 7050pv, is that a pretty decent board? I haven't looked at any intel options, but I'm open to suggestions. Any input on the matter would be appreciated. Thanks

The NVIDIA Geforce 7050PV chipset and the ATI 690G chipset are pretty evenly matched as far as video performance goes, but the 7050 beats the 690G by a small margin.

I don't have any personal experience with the Biostar board, but from what I've read it looks decent.

Is this THPC going to be doing any HD work? If so, you should get an 8500GT or 2600pro/xt. These cards will handle the HD videos, taking the load off of the CPU. Either of these cards should be found between $80-$100, and if you will be watching HD movies, worth it.

well, it'll be recording HDTV and watching the recordings. Otherwise it'll be mostly divx video and analog TV. No HD optical drive or anything. Think I could get away with just the Integrated Video?

I meant if you'll be watching videos encoded with HD codecs. (VC1? H.264?) If you will, you'll be needing a beefy CPU to handle the decoding. Option two is to buy a lower end CPU (that emits less heat so your cooling options are better and quieter.) and a fanless GPU that handles the decoding of the HD codecs. If you do this, you don't need a 6600 to get watchable frame rates.

well I'm not sure what codec media center records in, but the only HD contect will be recorded from OTA QAM channels.

does this chipset have purevideo hd or just purevideo? Cause it can playback HD content and all, but I can't find on nvidia's site what it is, it just says purevideo - Yes.