Adding to a PC to make it a media center PC

[secondsystem]

Hey everybody, I just got an HDTV and I have a PC that I want use to set up a home theater PC. I am sure there are some of you out there that have done the research and done this before so I humbly call on the wisdom of the THG forums for some advice. From software to hardware if you have any experience with this I would really love to hear it. Thanks in advance!

So right now I can connect the PC with d-sub and an audio line in. I can get up to 1360x768 with the d-sub and a line-in for audio. Is it worth it to get a video card for HDMI to get my TV's max of 1080i? I don't have a blue-ray drive or DVI output. I have Windows XP pro, windows media player and VLC player. If it's not worth it to get any hardware, what about media/file server software or a new OS? I have dabbled in Linux, but not very much. Also, any ideas on an input device (wireless mouse/keyboard, gamepad, remote) It needs to work well at about 12 - 15 feet from the PC.

I've heard that DVI is, in theory, compatible with HDMI has anyone run a dvi to hdmi converter from their PC to their TV? Do you lose quality/audio? Do most dvi cards even support this? Do HDMI video cards even output audio?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post! Any help at all will be appreciated!

 

[aylafan]

I don't think Nvidia has any audio output on their videocards, just video output if you use HDMI.

ATI's videocards from HD 2XXX's to the HD 4XXX's should be able to output audio and video on HDMI.

The maximum output resolution from your computer to the HDTV depends on 3 main factors.

1. What maximum resolution does your HDTV support? 720p, 1080i, or 1080p?
2. What cable outputs are you using? DVI, HDMI, S-Video, Component?
3. Videocard and drivers.

There is no guarantee that you will have a 1920x1080 resolution even if your HDTV says it supports 1080i or 1080p. You will have to test a couple of different configuations until you find something you are satisfied with. Everyone's equipment are different, so their experiences could be different.