OT: Any computer nerds in the forum?

[SHOmuchFUN]

I'm thinking of setting up a Home Theater PC...

It's basically going to be my computer, but is hooked up seamlessly into my home theater.

I have a 52" Sony HDTV and a decent home theater system, so I wanted a computer that I could load all of my music on, play DVDs on it, be able to record/pause/rewind/etc. my TV from it, be able to play pretty demanding games, use it for multimedia and editing, etc.

So this is the machine that I have setup:
http://www.uvm.edu/~eengstro/newegg%20build.htm

It's an AMD64 machine, I was told AMD makes a better CPU than Intel...

From that, I'd still need a case/psu, controllers, and I'd need to add Windows Media Center Edition (so that my TV tuner card works).

What do you all think?

[zenguitar]

I have done exactly this and it's hooked to my TV at this very moment.

[MarkS]

Personally, I'd wait until late july and make one with Intel's new Conroe processor. It's already beating out the newest AMD chips and costs a couple of hundred less.

[zenguitar]

I would wait another five years when the Intel octaple cpus are released. :)

Sorry Mark but why really why wait? Everyone always says wait till this, wait till that. Nobody would ever get a pc, hehe

[snulma1]

I actually am using a intel 1.5 mhz processor with a radeon video card, and its hooked to a 51" Hitachi Ultravision. I love it, its hooked right into my surround sound and works incredibly! Its running just XP Pro, and works fine!

[peregrinus]

i have done the same thing with an old 900mhz computer i had laying around. it also stores all my mp3's and plays them thru the sound system. i just got a dvd decoder card with inputs and out puts that way you can use it as a dvr as well.

[Wombat_101]

Get a network dvd player like the ones below

ADS Tech Media-Link
Buffalo LinkTheater
Buffalo LinkTheater mini (PC-P1LAN)
D-Link DSM-320
D-Link DSM-520

and a NAS - Networked attached storage - this device is just a set of 3 or more drives that if 1 drive fails your data is still safe. It is called RAID 5. This is the safest way to insure you do not lose data. They are expensive but worth it in my opinion. I got one from infrant.com it is the readyNAS NV and has just won a ton of awards.

The other reason to go this way is the nas only need 55watts of juice to run. A lot less than a PC. Also it has a web interface and web access. I can now post my tank pictures from the infrant nas as a link for others to see on RC for example.

If you need more info let me know

Greg