Hi gang,

I  am currently in the planning stages of a new systeem priamarily for use as an HTPC setup. I have a target price range of around $800.00 and a few specific goals in mind. My current experience with these type of functions is limited to my ATI TV Wonder PCI card which is basically never used as the coax signal out put it gives is total garbage. I have really only used it to transfer my old video camera footage to the PC so aside from a couple days worth of online research I am clueless.

Here are my initial hardware plans so I can then explain my goals and concerns.

   Case
      Linkworld 6820-01
      newegg.com
      $34.99
      MICRO ATX ONLY
      400 WATT PSU

   MoBo
      GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
      newegg.com
      $89.99
      MICRO ATX
      
   HDD
       Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB 5400 to 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
      newegg.com
      $194.99
   
   RAM
      Kingston HyperX 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory - Retail X2
      newegg.com
      $49.99 X2 ($99.98)

   CPU
       AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
      newegg.com
      $235.00

   TV TUNER CARD
       Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit 1128 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM TV Tuner Card w/MCE Remote - Retail
      newegg.com
      $99.99

newegg.com total w/ 3 day shipping
   $784.37

Now that doesn't include one major thing. An OS! That being said I may need to back off a little on the HDD capacity and CPU power to achieve my desired cost target of $800.00  but I can address that later. My fisrt question, for my media software, does Vista Ultimate include full MCE functionality or will I need additional $ software? Here are some of my other desires and concerns.

IR Remote control DVR functionality

This should be pretty straight forward with most devices/software. I just need to be able to use my learning remote to operate the device as I am not a multiple remote guy. Any reason this wont work?
high quality audio output

The MoBo I specified supports optical audio output. Will I have any problem using that to connect to My sterio reciever and or TV? They do of course both have optical audio inputs.

HD TV tuner input/output

As a must have I need to get high quality video to the PC as a direct feed from the back end of my STB. Whats the best wat to achieve this? Fire wire? Also I realize that the cable signal in to my tuner card will only get the basic unencrypted channels but is my tuner card choic OK for good quality there? If not what is a better choice?
PIP functionality

My TV has a currently pointless PIP function. I would like to be able to use an input from the PC to feed the second tuner function for PIP. Is this as straight forward as it seems or will I have problems?

I know this is a long post but if you managed to read it all I would certainly appreciate your input. TIA.

 

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John

Your best bet and easiest is to get a pre-configured PC with and OCUR device. If you must go with a home built, try SageTV and not VMC. Sage supports QAM out the box and, once you get use to it, similar interface as VMC. There are plug-ins for Sage to make it easier. VMC is crap. I actually gave up on it all and went back to a STB. Too much money to drop into a system only to have too many issues to count. I now use my box now for video and music library.

If you go with the homebuilt (I'd love to go back, but not enough options for TV), go with an Avermedia card. They have a sucessful plug-in for QAM in VMC. Hauppauge is still working on it.

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X2 4200 Toledo, ATI 3450, 3BG RAM, Avermedia M780, (1) 300BG SATA, (1) 500GB SATA, Silverstone Lascala 10 case.