HTPC but no idea what I'm doing?

[samhfoley]

I believe the nVidia 8200 will allow you to do LPCM. You should be able to do HD audio with the right software. Check out the latest version of Power DVD and Total Movie Theater 3. The software is decoding the HD audio streams to Lossless PCM and sending it over the HDMI as un-encoded audio. The receiver will simply go into multi-channel mode.

from Cyberlink...

* Minimum: GeForce 7600 GT, GeForce 7800 GTX 512, GeForce 7900 GX2, GeForce 7900 GTX, GeForce 7950 GX2,
* Recommended: GeForce 8400 series, GeForce 8500 series, GeForce 8600 series, GeForce 8800 series, GeForce 9400 series, GeForce 9600 series, GeForce 9800 series, GeForce GTX 260 series, GeForce GTX 280 series, GeForce GTX 290 series
HD Audio Compatible

Sound Card List

* Realtek ALC885 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels)
* Realtek ALC889 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels)
* Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD (supports HDMI 1.3a bit-stream lossless pass-through—available soon from partner Auzentech)

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

from Cyberlink...

* Minimum: GeForce 7600 GT, GeForce 7800 GTX 512, GeForce 7900 GX2, GeForce 7900 GTX, GeForce 7950 GX2,
* Recommended: GeForce 8400 series, GeForce 8500 series, GeForce 8600 series, GeForce 8800 series, GeForce 9400 series, GeForce 9600 series, GeForce 9800 series, GeForce GTX 260 series, GeForce GTX 280 series, GeForce GTX 290 series
HD Audio Compatible

Sound Card List

* Realtek ALC885 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels)
* Realtek ALC889 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels)
* Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD (supports HDMI 1.3a bit-stream lossless pass-through—available soon from partner Auzentech)

That Auzentech looks promising. This one seems to favor the PowerDVD 9 software, where as the Asus Xonar favors the TotalMedia Theatre 3 software.

It's good to have both PowerDVD 9 & TMT3 on hand. I have both installed on my Vista 32-bit Ultimate. However, I'm exclusively using TMT3 right now for 3 reasons.

1) I am able to get HDMI audio with TMT3, but not with PowerDVD.
2) TMT3 is more compatible with my projector (HDMI hand-shake issues?).
3) TMT3 plays both Blu-ray and HD DVD (I have BD/HD DVD combo drives).

TMT3 (w/ Asus Xonar) will bitstream TrueHD & DTS-HD to your receiver.

PowerDVD 9 (w/Auzentech HD) will bitstream TrueHD & DTS-HD to your receiver.

Without the Asus Xonar HD or Auzentech HD sound cards, TMT3 & PowerDVD canNOT decode or bitstream TrueHD & DTS-HD at all.

 

[samhfoley]

remotes?

How about universal remotes for my system. I only have TV, Onkyo TX-SA607, and HTPC so I don't need something too fancy that can control 100 different things!

Also, what software would you use to manage your media library in a HTPC? I am using Media Center now with the DMA-2100 extender (because I have no other choice) What do you guys advise?

If I am getting a universal remote then I probably don't need that Antec case w/remote, but I like the way it looks better than the one that was suggested in that list. Any other options for slim, quiet cases on the cheap?

Thanks as always for your input

 

[samhfoley]

$500 huh? Lets see:

Asus Micro ATX mainboard w/ nVidia 8200 chipset: $75

AMD 45Watt TPD CPU: $59

Athena Tech case: $70

2 GB of RAM (two 1GB sticks): $21

Sony BR-ROM/DVD Burner: $90

Western Digital Caviar Green edition 1TB HD: $89

Vista Home Premium 64 bit: $99

This has you at a few bucks above $500. Optional components are TV/QAM tuners (expect $35-$150 depending on what you want). The keyboard/remote I would consider as part of another budget for a Universal Remote.

what would I need to hook that MB up to my wireless network at home?

 

[jinjuku]

what would I need to hook that MB up to my wireless network at home?

Any 802.11g usb adapter should work. Try this one.

Been using 802.11g on my media server down the hallway since we moved and it is working great.