Home Theater/PC Gurus (WUXGA to 1080p)

[Daniel.]

So my computer is over a year old and i'm still running a P4 3.2HT chip with a slightly older Nvidia card.

I'm thinking about building a completely new setup from the ground up, but this time I want to build it with my home theater/hdtv in mind.

My goal is use the PC as a media center type device and play blu-ray movies or highdef content using my 1080 LCD tv as the secondary computer monitor.

Now after a little bit of research, most of my questions are answered except for one.

I'll probably be running 1920x1200 WUXGA on my primary computer screen and want to also run a signal to my 1920x1080 40in tv.

Will a DVI to HDMI cable be all I need to make this work? I'm assuming most modern video cards have some kind of driver support to display two different aspect ratios out of the two separate dvi out ports on the back of the card.

Are any of you using an HDTV as your primary monitor? If so, how do you like it for gaming/movies? What kind of setup?

Please be as detailed as possible. Thanks in advance! :bigok:

[ManoNegra]

Will a DVI to HDMI cable be all I need to make this work? I'm assuming most modern video cards have some kind of driver support to display two different aspect ratios out of the two separate dvi out ports on the back of the card.

Would depend on the graphic card. The 256MB Matrox Parhelia I was using at my former job could do it without a hiccup. I don't know about most consumer/gaming cards though.

[BOROSUN]

AGP? best agp graphic card right now is 3850. bluray 1080 hdmi support 720cc/ 320 sp

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3805427&CatId=2234


totally badass for agp...

[Daniel.]

Isn't pci ex the standard these days?

[nastynate805]

pci express 16x is the standard graphics card slot these days. you'll see stuff like pci express 2.0 but those cards are still compatible with a pci express 16x slot ...it's just something newer to get money out of consumers to make them think they need new mobo's.

[BOROSUN]

it is... i thought you had a agp :p

no, you dont really need a dvi to hdmi cable. just a hdmi cable, most gpu's now comes with hdmi adaptors.

[Daniel.]

that sucks.

anyways, i figure i'll clarify my original question a bit more.

as long as the video card i purchase supports 1920x1080 then i shouldn't need anything other than a dvi to hdmi cable to use my lcd tv as a computer monitor correct?

[BOROSUN]

yeah...

what graphic card you currently have now?

[Daniel.]

8800 gt.

im thinking of getting the 9800 GTX+ when it comes out in july.

its based on the 55nm chips, lower power consumption, and cheaper than the current 9800 gtx.

its only going to be 229.99 or something like that.

[BOROSUN]

SLI? just get another 8800gt.

[HyperTek]

8800gt still a badass card, mine is watercooled, voltmodded and overclocked..

Just get a new mobo and cpu and more ram.

[Helghast]

what HTPC front end you using?

I finally perfected my HTPC after 2 yrs of tweaaaking.
Granted it's not showing on 2 screens, but it is rocking full 1080i.
It's nothing spectacular specs side, but ehh no lag on 1080i movies.

[S14DB]

8800 gt.

im thinking of getting the 9800 GTX+ when it comes out in july.

its based on the 55nm chips, lower power consumption, and cheaper than the current 9800 gtx.

its only going to be 229.99 or something like that.

9800's meh...

Get something with HDMI on card?

[anthony240]

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/ant240/IMG00011.jpg

Nvidia GeForce 6800GT

Samsung 50" DLP 1080i

I'm running em dual screens.I got a 15' DVI cable and a DVI-HDMI adapter. Got em for FREE cus Fry's employees are garbage! No problems, just plugged and played. Love Nvidia!

Cant really use the big screen as a computer monitor, especially fonts, not as crisp. but GREAT for watching movies and anime!

[Helghast]

god my sig looks good in HD.

[just1pepsi]

8600gts, plays HD no sweat as well as everything else. You want PCIe. Any Geforce 8 series or newer card will handle HD video, even the 8400's which are probably under 50 bucks now.
for video:
you can use dvi>vga adapter if your tv has a vga input.
you can use dvi if your tv has a dvi input
you can use dvi>hdmi adapter if your tv has HDMI (remember this will not give you sound though)
for audio:
you can use 1/8" stereo to RCA L/R (stereo)
you can use toslink or digital coaxial (Digitial) if your Audio card/Motherboard is so equipped.
you can use 1/8" stereo input (if you tv is equipped)

[TheWolf]

yeah I've found my 7600gt and 1080p content don't like each other. my popcorn hour fixes that though.

[S14DB]

8600gts, plays HD no sweat as well as everything else. You want PCIe. Any Geforce 8 series or newer card will handle HD video, even the 8400's which are probably under 50 bucks now.
for video:
you can use dvi>vga adapter if your tv has a vga input.
you can use dvi if your tv has a dvi input
you can use dvi>hdmi adapter if your tv has HDMI (remember this will not give you sound though)
for audio:
you can use 1/8" stereo to RCA L/R (stereo)
you can use toslink or digital coaxial (Digitial) if your Audio card/Motherboard is so equipped.
you can use 1/8" stereo input (if you tv is equipped)
The newer ATI cards have Digital Audio pass though the HDMI port. You plug the Digital conector to the PCB and it routes it though the HDMI port on the back.

Nvidia has something similar but only works with Nforce audio from my readings.

[Daniel.]

awesome. Thanks for all the input guys.

I'm thinking for sound im either going to get a dedicated sound card, since for my tv i normally just use the hdmi for video and route all my sound directly to my receiver.

any thoughts on what intel processor is decent these days? I saw a 2.8ghz quad core chip for about 300 on newegg.

[BOROSUN]

yup, that agp 3850 i mentioned earlier can pass audio thru the hdmi adaptor.

i thought quad only goes up to (as of now) 2.66ghz unless its a mac xenon or a duo or amd.

for quad 2.4ghz is fine/cheaper and can be overclocked.

what mobo do you have?





anyone running the extreme quad 3ghz?

[Daniel.]

i don't know too much about processors.

this is the one i saw.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041

its listed at $554

i confused the price with this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042

which sells for 329.99

[BOROSUN]

i just realized you have a p4 which is a 478 socket type.

those new cpus and quads are 775. so upgrade your mobo

[just1pepsi]

I run a p4 3.0 w/ HT "Prescott" core and it handles HD just fine (not sure about 1080p though) - Any Dual proc should be plenty.

[tgd89]

At the moment I am using a 8800gt with a DVi->HDMi cable running 1080p, works flawlessly and runs fine on my AMD dual core. As for sound, you may want to get a sound card with an optical out to go to whatever sound system you are using.

[ZX88]

i did the same as you. i wanted to use my tv as a secondary monitor.

my set up is


-hannspree 28inch monitor/tv has everything but the tuner 1900x1200 as primary monitor for pc and games hooked up with a dvi to hdmi cable ( great video but you cant get sound through it because of the dvi input)

-samsung 32inch hd tv set up as secondary through hdmi to dvi cable to my pc and component to my cable box. i use an audio cable like the ones for head phones i have that connected to my suround sound speaker for my computer. when i want to watch movies over my computer onto that screen i just plug it in and it will play over my samsumg.


- inorder to run dual monitors at such a high resolution and to be able to play hd content without lag your going to need a card with a good amount of memory. since your system is pretty old you should probably upgrade to pci express and get something around the performance of a 8800gt ( I have the GTX but its a bit pricey)

any dual core above 2.0 can play hd content but its mostly the video card.

[HyperTek]

E8400.. under $200 dual core and can overclock to 4ghz no prob.
E8500 even better.. and E8600 should be released around the corner
Dual Core is fine. Quad Core is just extra money right now, nothing really takes advantage of it.

Look into upgrading your power supply if you didnt, that is very important you get a quality one. Esp since your old system is a P4 it might not carry over. At least 500w and above. But the "you get what you pay for" applys here because cheap no-game power supplys either dont have a consistent flow of power to the equipment or they just die sooner.

Yah id suggest a seperate sound card. Im rocking Creative X-fi , a few years old now, but htey have newer models. Can support 7.1 sound system.

[Daniel.]

awesome.

Like i said in the op, im probably going to be building this setup from the ground up. completely fresh.

4tb storage 750w power supply probably and who knows, i might go liquid cooled just to mess around with it. :D

[BOROSUN]

i heard the wolf can easily go over 4ghz. i might go to that route as well.

price will go down once that 8600 is released

[infinitexsound]

lol anthony post from no where........ i love the matrox card they run so smooth.. nvidia is also great....