Newbie Needs Help

[dzirkelb]

I just recently purchased the components to build a cpu, which I am considering turning into a media center of sorts...here are the specs of the cpu:

8 gig of Kingston HyperX 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KHX1333C7D3K3/6GX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104162
(I have 2 more coming, messed up on the order, long story)

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103727

APEVIA X-DREAMER3-BL Black / Blue metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144251

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3750528AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148445

LG Black 8X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 6X BD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 8X Blu-ray Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136175

Broadway Com Corp OKIA-BLACK-600 600W ATX 12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817162023

ECS BLACK SERIES A780GM-A AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135075


Ok, that is the cpu I will be building. I have access to any operating system through Microsoft I want (technet subscription, and home is my lab , so, I was thinking windows 7 Ultimate 64. Now with the questions

1) The onboard video card has an HDMI out...does this work the same as any hdmi? Meaning, sound and video will be sent? My system is currently 5.1, but going to 7.1 shortly...will this motherboard work or do I need to purchase a seperate video card / sound card?
2) How doe blu ray's play on the cpu compared to stand along blu ray players like my oppo?
3) To make this a media center, I will need to rip my blu rays to my cpu, I'll figure this out. However, I wanted to know what the quality playback is compared to the original....is it pretty close / identical?
4) I would like to have this cpu play music and display video on all of my TV's in my house, not just the one hooked up to it via hdmi. Is this possible? I do see windows 7 has some sort of feature that allows you to "push" music to a certain cpu and play it, aka, I can play a song from my server on my laptop by clicking "play to laptop". How will this work with playing to a seperate TV? Would I have to set up an hdmi box that has seperate outs, and then use wireless HDMI or could I set it up so I could receive it through my ethernet to the TV? The other TV's would be a Sony Bravia something and an LG something, I can't remember off the top of my head.
5) I would like to be able to play music / movies anywhere in the house, and not have to go downstairs to start the item on the cpu itself, then back upstairs to actually watch it. I do have laptops I can use anywhere in the house, so if I have to, i can do the remote desktop and send to or soemthing along those lines, but still in the dark on this one.

Basically, i want to have everything stored on this cpu, and the ability to play anything media related on that cpu to 4 seperate TV's (one is directly connected to it), and 3 seperate cpu's.

If anyone knows a better place to post this also, as it seems to be more of a cpu question, then please provide me some forums and thanks!

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by dzirkelb

1) The onboard video card has an HDMI out...does this work the same as any hdmi? Meaning, sound and video will be sent? My system is currently 5.1, but going to 7.1 shortly...will this motherboard work or do I need to purchase a seperate video card / sound card?

You should have no problem using on-board video and audio through HDMI, but performance specs for separate video may be better.

If you're going to use 7.1 audio, currently Auzentech is the only card I know of that handles this with HDMI output. You don't need this expense at the moment.

Originally Posted by dzirkelb

2) How doe blu ray's play on the cpu compared to stand along blu ray players like my oppo?

This really depends on the quality of your video card. The Blu software (PowerDVD or Total Media Center) is very good; but all video cards are not the same. You may prefer your Oppo until you get a very good video card.

Originally Posted by dzirkelb

3) To make this a media center, I will need to rip my blu rays to my cpu, I'll figure this out. However, I wanted to know what the quality playback is compared to the original....is it pretty close / identical?

It is forbidden to discuss this topic on this forum. I will only state that it's a waste of time fooling with it.

Originally Posted by dzirkelb

4) I would like to have this cpu play music and display video on all of my TV's in my house, not just the one hooked up to it via hdmi. Is this possible? I do see windows 7 has some sort of feature that allows you to "push" music to a certain cpu and play it, aka, I can play a song from my server on my laptop by clicking "play to laptop". How will this work with playing to a seperate TV? Would I have to set up an hdmi box that has seperate outs, and then use wireless HDMI or could I set it up so I could receive it through my ethernet to the TV? The other TV's would be a Sony Bravia something and an LG something, I can't remember off the top of my head.

Using your unit as a media server isn't a problem, but the primary use would be for audio. Video sucks down huge bandwidth - and your server would need to be up at all times to make this work.

You can tie your Windows Media Player to whatever unit is the server, and play your music from any unit on the network, or push down your music manually or via auto synchronization (which is slow). I just copy all of the music to each local drive. It's simpler.

Originally Posted by dzirkelb

5) I would like to be able to play music / movies anywhere in the house, and not have to go downstairs to start the item on the cpu itself, then back upstairs to actually watch it. I do have laptops I can use anywhere in the house, so if I have to, i can do the remote desktop and send to or soemthing along those lines, but still in the dark on this one.

Again, your problem is going to be rights usage for DVD and Blu material. For a while, this will still be a "manual" process, if you are going to stay legal, which I recommend.

Originally Posted by dzirkelb

Basically, i want to have everything stored on this cpu, and the ability to play anything media related on that cpu to 4 seperate TV's (one is directly connected to it), and 3 seperate cpu's.

If anyone knows a better place to post this also, as it seems to be more of a cpu question, then please provide me some forums and thanks!

I would like the same thing, and have high end computer gear throughout my home for that purpose. Digital Rights Management headaches prevent this from happening unless you get a standalone unit such as the new Sony jukebox to do things like this.

It's still on the horizon - DRM makes it very difficult.

[onyxbfly]

Without looking up all of the info etc, I believe that the mobo will only yield downsampled 5.1 Perhaps if your budget allows you should look at one of the 8000 and 9000 Nvidia chipset does 7.1 LCPM. Their are boards with ATI radeon 3550 chipsets and higher. The 3550 chipset will give you 7.1 as well. Really no need for a dedicated video card unless you are looking at gaming. The Auzentec card that was previously mentioned is a great card and it was the only one to do it at that time. Since then ATI and Nvidia has stepped up their offerings. HTH Enjoy building your new HTPC

[saljr]

If this is only for HTPC not gaming pc. This only a suggestion.
1.Use motherboard with the 785G chipset come with ATI Radeon HD 4200....prefer Ausu or Gigabyte. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131398

2.AMD Athlon II X4 600e(45watts) or AMD Athlon II X4 605e(45watts)......very efficient and run cool.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...076&CatId=4919
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...075&CatId=4919

3.Only need 4 gigs of memory.

4.Efficient PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341037

Total cost will be 30 dollars more and save money on electric bill.

[agentsculli]

Streaming high def to 3 or 4 computers needs fast network so u need 1 Gb network, it might still be jerky video.
Recomend a dedicated video card over onboard with HDMI as they are usally much faster and do not use any of your main memory.

[alphaace]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong forum.

My dept at school was recently getting rid of old computers so I picked up one that they were going to junk. It's a Dell Dimension 4700.

It is the standard model with a 3.2GHz P4 with 2 gb of ram. I checked the blu ray requirements off the cyberlink website and it says my processor and ram are enough (although not the best). However, I need a HDCP (??) compliant video card and tv/monitor? I'm assuming my monitor is ok as it has both an hdmi input and dvi inputs.

However, I still need to buy a video card and blu ray drive reader. Two questions:

1st) What video card would you guys recommend for the motherboard. I undertand that my cpu is kind of old so I want to offload as much as I can into the gpu (but still stay within the power requirements of PSU). Perhaps an nvideo 8600 gts? Will that satisfy HDCP?

2nd) Would any blue ray reader off of newegg work (and come with powerdvd)? If so what do you guys think off http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136162
Is another drive recommended?

Thanks for your help!