I've wanted to build a Home Theatre PC for awhile now. I just have a few questions. What caliber of graphics card do i need? Do i need an ATI Radeon 4670, or a 9500gt or something cheaper. My tv is a 27" regular tv. none of that plasma lcd hd stuff. The tv has an s-video port but no hdmi. any help would be appreciated.
What processor are you using? In answer yes, both those cards are fine. An ion system uses an atom with a 9400 and can manage HD playback with a slight res drop. Most 2GHz+ dual cores on their own can manage it albeit at 100% load. CPC did a hometheater article ages ago and an AMD 4200+ I think it was managed ok on its own. Using a 9600 dropped its usage down into 20-30 region (have to look up exact numbers later). Wonder if bit or cpc will do another article in the near future.
Key point here is that its not an HD TV so no need for high definition - just about anything made in the last few years would be able to handle it easily. Buy an original modded xbox off ebay (20 quid or so) and install xbmc - there are lots of guides on the web about this. This will do everything you need very well for very little money.
Not to be rude but i definitely dont want another black xbox sitting around my house. They look ugly and i enjoy the process of build my own pcs anyway. There are currently 3 in the house, surprisingly my moms being the fastest.....
