Build this media pc or try other options?

Hello good smart people of Tom's! I have questions for you, o wise ones!

I am looking to play movies/video and show photos from my PC on my HDTV. Simple, you say. Go read our bazillion articles on the topic! Yet I am still not sure what option to choose. Let me explain.

I have narrowed down to 2 options:
(1) Build a media pc with HDMI output directly to my tv using a single HDMI cable, or
(2) Buy a NAS and an XBox elite, upgrade my current desktop OS to Windows Media Center, and use gigabit ethernet connector from the NAS to the XBox.

For option 1, my current desktop is 8 years old. It performs well enough (I use it for development and design mostly, no gaming.) but it does not have the capacity to support a high end video card that supports HDMI output. I would happily invest in a new PC to accomplish my goal. The biggest issues I am having in putting together this machine is the video card. I read in one of your older articles that the only video card to support HDMI output with audio not needing another cable is the Radeon HD 2900XT. Looking at specs on newer cards, it is not easy to tell whether they support HDMI output that includes audio all in one cable. I would like to use one cable so my PC-TV area isn't a wire mess. The other issue I have with this is that eventually when I move from this tiny cramped apartment the PC and the TV may not be so close. I've found HDMI-HDMI cables that extend up to 50ft, but I'm not sure how this would pan out in reality. I may need a repeater, and that might diminish the audio / video quality.

For option 2, I am not a gamer but I don't mind investing in the Xbox if it means I will be able to do this and maybe enjoy a game once in awhile. I like the idea of having a NAS with all my media on it, especially in a raid 5 setup so I can sleep better knowing I have backup. I also like the NAS idea so the other 3 laptops in my household can access the files directly (one of those being a Mac, as the NAS I am looking at supports Mac, Windows, and Linux clients). The issue I read with this approach though is that all those wonderful DivX movies I have may not play on XBox, which only supports certain media types. I'm not clear on what those types are, but I assume they are whatever Windows Media Center supports. With this option, would I be forcing myself into a corner of supported media types?

Which of these options would you choose? Would you consider any other? Am I making any assumptions that are incorrect?

Thanks for your time.

/\Well there is an option

Since you have so many parts i am betting the NAS is a better option for you. I am not sure what media formats the Xbox(i think its only windows media, unless you have a software to realtime encode for you) supports, but MCE supports anything you have codecs installed for.

What about a combination of both.

there is a new AMD chipset the will do full HD acceleration even with a lower and cpu. Maybe you can build a low profile media center pc in place of the Xbox.

Toms did a review on a board that has onboard DVI and even with a weak cpu can play HD video....its worth a look
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/0 [...] g_chipset/

Add that to something like a lower end X2(since it should run cooler and quieter) and a Antec NSK2480 case. I think that would work well...

I woudl go the 780G route, with a Brisbane 4000+ (Total cost ~130), spring for 2GB RAm ($30ish ARr), HDD (80GB ~45ish), DVD ROM (or burner $15-25 and upgrade to a blueray drive when they drop in price). You coudl choose a nifty Media Center case that fits in a rack with your current audio equipment for around ~120. Total cost woudl be int he ballpark of $300 plus shipping

I have a media center PC with 500G of DvDs on it. DvD playback on my laptop lags sometimes over wireless G. Direct connect works fine. Xbox 360 only likes .wmv which sucks. Same holds movies will sometimes lag wireless. HD movies will definately lag on wireless G.


Several graphic cards have true HDMI out. Normally all you have to do is hook up your onboard S/pdif to the card to get audio.

The 360 can play Divx natively now--FYI Roadrunner.

use nero mediahome. it converts on the fly to any file type you desire.