building a HTPC

[theknub]

hey guys,
was thinking about this today. if i wanted to build a HTPC, obviously run of the mill parts aren't enough. i know enough of the processors, ram and that junk but i'm beginning to think of the sound and video card.

first, video card. i have been out of the gaming loop for awhile. i know enough to know about dvi outputs, s-video, and the like. however, if i'm going to hook it up to a t.v., and i have no dvi input (or vga) on my t.v., do i need to go with a dvi > hdmi connector for hi def content? any video cards with hdmi output?

second, is there some cable that would run from the BR drive to the video card to prevent ICT constraints or will you be ok?

third, what about audio cards? obviously you'd either want to output a dts-ma or dd+ signal. however, how would this be done over hdmi? can the system convert this to pcm out instead?

i have been mulling all this recently and if anyone has had any success, or thoughts it'd be nice.

thanks