Noob Alert...Media PC being Built...info needed (1 Viewer)

[ghandi]

Hi Everyone,


Looking for some info regarding my setup.

Ended up buying Win MCE but has just stumbled across this site and will be implementing Media Portal straight away as it looks so much better.

1)unsure what tv card to get....want to be able to record freeview and watch another channel. hoping for something similar to Sky+ without the cost!!

2)Want my pc to play back in HD

3)Do i need to upgrade my graphics card?


Any other recommendations welcome


thanks for your time

MediaPortal Version: Soon to be the latest
Windows Version: Windows XP MCE
CPU Type: Athlon San Deigo 3800
HDD: 74gb WD 10k SATA Raptor & 200gb 7200RPM IDE
Memory: 1GB Corsair XMS
Motherboard: Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express
Motherboard Chipset: NVidia
Video Card: onboard NVIDIA GeForce 6150
Sound Card: HD audio ??
HTPC Case: Silverstone case
Cooling: Internal Fans
Power Supply: Tagan Modular
Remote: MCE remote
TV: Sagem 45' DLP HD with Freeview built in
TV - HTPC Connection: VGA

 

[Waltz]

I can only help you with questions 2) and 3):
You don't have to upgrade your graphics card. The GeForce 6150 is a low-end onboard graphics chip, but it's DirectX 9 capable and "HDTV ready". That shouln't be a problem.
I'm afraid I don't know anything about DVB-S cards so I cannot help you there, but I'm sure there are people in this forums who can.
Sounds like a great setup!

- Waltz

 

[surfermc]

ghandi,

I presume you are based in the UK. I personally like the Nebula Electronics Digi card and currently have 2 in my setup.

MC

 

[Bram]

Upgrading your graphicscard might be wise if you want to use it for watching HD video. You'll probebly be able to view HD video, but it's on the edge. Also, I don't think the 6150 is supporting the PureVideo codec (hardware). You'll need a 6600 for that. I'm not 100% sure if th e upgrade is needed because I don't watch HD video (yet) with my 6200.

One other thing. Why use XP MCE (which uses more resources then XP Pro)? You won't have any advantage by using it.

 

[Waltz]

The GeForce 6150 supports the PureVideo codec with hardware HDTV decoding, look at this page:

http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_support.html

While not every PureVideo feature is supported by this graphics chip, most of the features are. That should be enough.

- Waltz

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

ghandi

Sounds to me that you want the ability to watch and record different freeview channels, I'm assuming thats what you mean.

right you'll need something like the Hauppauge DVB-T 500 or if you have the space for 2 individual cards thats fine, but you then need 2 aerial connections instead of 1.
Yes it will do a very similar thing to the Sky+ box, Watch, pause (using timeshifting), record different channels.

Hope this answers some of your questions.