MediaCenter PC. Need some help

[Bea]

Hi,
Im thinking about building a Media Center PC for my living room.
The parts ive been looking at is:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2GHz Socket LGA775, 2MB, BOXED m/vifte
RAM: Crucial DDR2 PC5300 2048MB CL5 Kit w/two matched DDR2 PC5300 1024MB CL5
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA2 16MB 7200RPM
GFX: MSI GeForce 7300GS 256MB DDR2, HDMI, PCI-Express, DVI, HDCP, Heatsink
TV: Hauppauge! WinTV-PVR-150MCE, PCI, Low Profile, Tv-kort m/radio, Bulk
And the TV I have is a Sony KDL-40V2000.

(If anyone has any other suggestions for parts please tell me )
Will all this work with the MediaPortal? Also, is MediaPortal an OS? or do I need to run like WindowsXP and then install it as a program on top?

Thanks in advance!

-BeA

[Furetto]

MP is an application that needs to run on top of an OS. XP SP2 is recommended, Vista works -with some minor surprises.

The documentation on the Wiki is quite good. You should have a look at it ;-)

[Bea]

Hey,
Ive been trying to look at the Wiki page, but I dont understand it. (call me stupid :p)
It says:

PCI-express
Only DVI
Only VGA
Only DVI & VGA
With Component
*Asus EN8500GT Silent
With HDMI
Hybrid (Multiple Output Types)
*XFX 7600GT

Is that the only cards supported?
Same with CPUs, the one Ive setup dosent show up, does that mean that I cant use the parts in my first post?

[Paranoid Delusion]

Is that the only cards supported?
Same with CPUs, the one Ive setup dosent show up, does that mean that I cant use the parts in my first post?

LOL sorry

Most bits have never been filled in for this part of the wiki, most bits are good, a better graphics card for HD ready would be nice (HD2600XT or EN8600GT) Both silent versions of course, that for me would make it pretty future proof and capable of playing HD content with ease.

7300's do struggle a tad with MP, but at the end of the day its your choice.

[RanaUK]

I would also suggest a good motherboard; Core2 Duos overclocks like crazy, you should be able to get quite a lot out of it.

[Spragleknas]

Bea: All you HW is "compatible" with MP.

I do not believe that your TV is the best choice for HTPC usage due to lack of 1:1 pixelmapping (I think), but since this probably is to late to do anything about: Ignore the last part

[Bea]

Thanks for all your replys!
First: Paranoid Delusion, The reason I pick 7300 is because it has HDMI, and I really need that, and thouse cards you link too dosent seem to have HDMI? Exept the HD2600XT that says: "HDMI(by adapter)" what does that mean? Is the adapter Included?

Second: Spragleknas, you say the TV is not the best choise because it dosent support 1:1 pixelmapping, what is this and how will it affect me? Will things looks really bad? Im really a newbee in this :p

And RanaUK, not sure if Im gonna overclock at first but thanks for the suggestion!

[Spragleknas]

http://pixelmapping.wikispaces.com/
or rather: http://pixelmapping.wikispaces.com/P...ping+explained

[Bea]

Ahh, thanks!

But, read about the TV now and it says it supports 1:1 Pixelmapping! But it also says that it only supports it over VGA.
So that means that I need to connect the HTPC to the TV with a VGA cable to be able to get 1:1 pixelmapping?

[Spragleknas]

NO: Uheldigvis, ja (du er Norsk ikke sant?)

ENG: Unfortunately, yes.