Can I make a HTPC that does it all?

Well, I got two options:
spend several weeks researching this topic, or
ask some people who might know (even though it's probably been brought up before). Maybe some of you can help point me in the right direction.

Essentially, I want to know if I can even do what I describe, and if so, what do i need.


Build a new computer (can be desktop/tower size) to do the following:
* Play blue-ray on a HDMI capable HDTV. [blue ray drive in pc; viewed on HDTV]
* Record HDCP protected video from the cable box like a DVR would.
* Fast enough to record 1 and play another video at the same time.
* Play back recorded video at a later date.
* Play free videos from the internet on HDTV.

Optional
* Pause/rewind of near-live tv (which is coming from the HDCP protected cable box).
* Filter out commercials

Questions:

1. Can I do this in BSD/Linux? or will I need Windows? What are my software options to do all of this?

2. With blue ray, will I need a form of HDCP HDMI out from the computer? This means a special video card, right? How about the audio out?

3. How am I going to deal with the HDCP protected signal from the cable box (so I can turn the system into a DVR)? Someone told me about this: http://www.hdfury.com/ but I need to figure out how to make that work, what kind of tuner it needs and so on?

4. Performance: If I want to play an HD video or blue ray and record something at the same time... what will I need? From what I gather, you can either get the performance you need for 1080p by using a quad core or a special video card with acceleration. But, does recording video require such massive power?

Thanks.

On the issue of performance; I am aware that some video cards offer blue-ray video acceleration as noted here: http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] i=3420&p=5

But does it only apply to videos coming from blue-ray drives? In other words, if I play free quicktime 1080p stuff from the internet, then it will not accellerate that? Which means the only thing that can play it would be a better CPU?

I'd need 1080p (recording from tuner) while playing a 1080p blue ray or downloaded quicktime, so at least a quad core I'm guessing? (I assume the video card doesn't help quicktime yet?)

I don't know... how much cpu does recording need for something like this:
http://compuvest.us/ProductDetails [...] de=VGA_ACC

As for budget, I shop online and would be trying for whatever is cheapest. However, at this point, I'm just curious as to what I "need."

P2X3 710, stock + undervolt via K10 Stat
Biostar TA790GX XE
cheapo 2 X 2 DDR2 800
Hitachi 1tb
Shoebox casing
Antec Earthwatts 380
My cookie cutter HTPC for clients with a lot more horsepower than those Athlon x2s