Building Blu-ray PC, need some help !?

[gunbound]

Hi everyone, i'm new to HD-world as well as Blu ray. I'm trying to build a perfect pc for my first blu ray experience. So here are something i wondering:
1/ Do you need a HDMI mother board for Blu ray playback or just a HDMI video card? and wat is the best bet for a mid-range mother board out there?
2/ I'm not a gamer, I just need smooth Blu ray and HD playback. So any recommendation on the video card ?
3/ Can I play Blu ray on window XP ? or it must be Vista
That's it for now. Every help is welcome and appreciated.
P.S. oh i am planning to get one of the Samsung monitor. The 26 inch model in the Touch of Color seri. Any experience with this yet ?

[jianhuang]

HDMI mother board with onboard video is OK.

powerdvd Ultra 8 work great in XP.

[gunbound]

So does it mean that HDMI mother board won't be necessary if i'm gonna get a HDMI graphic card ?

[wostertag]

I use an Nvidia 8800 GTS on one box, and an ATI x1950 on the other. Both work very well. You don't need an HDMI motherboard or graphics card. You need an HDCP compliant video card or HDCP compliant video on the motherboard. DVI connections work as well.

[gunbound]

Originally Posted by jianhuang

HDMI mother board with onboard video is OK.

powerdvd Ultra 8 work great in XP.

Originally Posted by wostertag

I use an Nvidia 8800 GTS on one box, and an ATI x1950 on the other. Both work very well. You don't need an HDMI motherboard or graphics card. You need an HDCP compliant video card/motherboard. DVI connection will also work.

thanks. It clears thing out a bit. So now that i don't need an HDMI mother board, any suggestion for a mid-range mother board ( an Intel one ) ?? I can spend like $150 on the mother board

[wostertag]

Originally Posted by gunbound

thanks. It clears thing out a bit. So now that i don't need an HDMI mother board, any suggestion for a mid-range mother board ( an Intel one ) ?? I can spend like $150 on the mother board

Do you want video on the motherboard or are you going to add an HDCP compliant video card?

[kpkelley]

Are you planning on watching hd television with this?

ATI has a cablecard adaptor for pc's, but they are only selling them to pc distributors. So, if you want a cablecard adaptor for hd cable channels ala HBO, etc. then you need to buy from an online pc builder like Velocity Micro.

[wostertag]

Check this link out:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...oards_feb_08/1

[gunbound]

Originally Posted by wostertag

Check this link out:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...oards_feb_08/1

I think i will get a separate HDCP compliant video card. So there is no need for a mother board with integrated graphic card ..

[wostertag]

Did you get up and running yet?