Home Theater PC Questions

R

roachsrealm

New Member
Hello. I'm kinda new here, and I've just been assigned to come up with a home theater using a PC. The idea is to use my existing PC and just hook up a large enough monitor to it. Our goal is to have that high-def picture quality and surround sound. I know I'll be picking up a new sound card, but what is really recommended for a home PC theater?

Should I just go for a large enough HD-TV and hook it up to the S-video out on my card (ATI Radeon X1650 series) or just find a monitor large enough to suit our needs?

As far as specs, my vid card is listed above, and Im running XP pro on an Intel 2.40GHz w/2 gigs of Ram. And, I know right off the bat that PCI-Express is much better than AGP, but my motherboard doesn't support it.

Any recommendations? What's the best way to set up a complete home theater using only a computer (for movies, music, and games) and still spend less than you would buying a large TV, receiver, and home stereo system?

Thanks!
 
A good DVD reader, a TV-tuner, 5.1 speakers, and a decent flat screen monitor are all a good start, but if you're designing a hard core gaming computer, you'll want higher performance parts, a good graphics card and maybe a physics processing card.
 
First, don't hook up the TV via S-video, you'll be utterly disappointed. Instead, use DVI or HDMI, they're both MUCH better. If you want to watch HD video, you'll need a card that supports HD video decoding, mainly an 8 series nvidia card or a 2XXX/3XXX series ATI card.

Second of all, you'll need a TV tuner. Look for a tuner that supports hardware encoding, seeing that you have a pretty weak CPU.

Next you'll need a sound card. If you are using computer speakers, you'll need a nice 7.1 card. However, if you are using a receiver, you'll want a cheap card that supports either digital coaxial or optical out.

Finally you'll probably want to make the computer as quiet as possible. Having a loud computer compete with your TV is no fun.
 
Do I need a TV Tuner for it to work if we don't plan on using it for cable at all? I work in television and kinda get more than my fill there. It's mainly for movies and music, and a handful of last generation PC games and a PS2, for now.

Thanks for the info, this gives me a better idea of what to look for out there.

Whats the benefit of using a receiver? To me it has always been just an extra piece of equipment that isn't really needed.
 
roachsrealm said:
Do I need a TV Tuner for it to work if we don't plan on using it for cable at all? I work in television and kinda get more than my fill there. It's mainly for movies and music, and a handful of last generation PC games and a PS2, for now.

Thanks for the info, this gives me a better idea of what to look for out there.

Whats the benefit of using a receiver? To me it has always been just an extra piece of equipment that isn't really needed.
Click to expand...

If you don't want to watch cable TV then you won't need a TV tuner.

As for a receiver, it's basically a set of amps put into a convenient box for you. It's a standard piece of equipment for home theaters. You run a digital signal from your sound card to the receiver, and the receiver decodes it and amps the signal and sends it to your speakers. The result is that you can produce much, MUCH better sound quality compared to even the best computer speakers. Of course you'll need a good receiver and speakers.
 
okay, a few things have changed, I think we'll be needing to get more than I had originally thought. Ive got access to two computers now and want to combine them, but I don't think there is anything useful on the other comp, except maybe the sound card. Here are the specs of the two computers:

Computer A
Processor: Intel Celeron 2.40 GHz
Motherboard: Microstar International MS-6719
Bios: Phoenix Tech 6.00 PG
Ram: DDR 2048 MB
Power: 250w
Optical: Mitsumi CR-48xCTE | JLMS XJ-HS1665
Video: ATI Radeon X1650 - 128 bit / 512MB DDR
Audio: Realtek AC97 Audio

and Computer B
Processor: AMD Athalon XP2600 2.08GHz
Motherboard: abit KD7-E (VIA-KT333-8235)
Bios: Phoenix Tech 6.00 PG
Power: *does not work*
Optical: LITE-ON LTR-16102B | Samsung DVD-Rom SD-616
Video: ATI Radeon 9800 Series - 128 bit / 256MB DDR
Audio: Creative Audio PCI

I'm already planning on getting a monitor/or television with HDMI or DVI support (which of the two of those are better?) and a 7.1 surround speaker system. Given what I've got to play with up there, do I need anything else? Is a whole new computer in the works?

And, how do you make a computer run more silent?
 
roachsrealm said:
okay, a few things have changed, I think we'll be needing to get more than I had originally thought. Ive got access to two computers now and want to combine them, but I don't think there is anything useful on the other comp, except maybe the sound card. Here are the specs of the two computers:

Computer A
Processor: Intel Celeron 2.40 GHz
Motherboard: Microstar International MS-6719
Bios: Phoenix Tech 6.00 PG
Ram: DDR 2048 MB
Power: 250w
Optical: Mitsumi CR-48xCTE | JLMS XJ-HS1665
Video: ATI Radeon X1650 - 128 bit / 512MB DDR
Audio: Realtek AC97 Audio

and Computer B
Processor: AMD Athalon XP2600 2.08GHz
Motherboard: abit KD7-E (VIA-KT333-8235)
Bios: Phoenix Tech 6.00 PG
Power: *does not work*
Optical: LITE-ON LTR-16102B | Samsung DVD-Rom SD-616
Video: ATI Radeon 9800 Series - 128 bit / 256MB DDR
Audio: Creative Audio PCI

I'm already planning on getting a monitor/or television with HDMI or DVI support (which of the two of those are better?) and a 7.1 surround speaker system. Given what I've got to play with up there, do I need anything else? Is a whole new computer in the works?

And, how do you make a computer run more silent?
Click to expand...

There' really not that much to combine, even the sound card looks out dated. If you want good sound, look into an X-fi.

As for silence, you can take a look at my guide :)
http://www.computerforum.com/115470-how-silence-your-computer.html

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, I would suggest changing the CPU heatsink and the fans in the case. Those 2 are generally the loudest components.

I'd gladly give you more detailed information if you post up a few pictures of the inside/outside of your computer.
 
here's a couple pics, outside and inside. hope they help. And, ya, I know, I have needed a new power supply for a long time. This one just doesn't fit in the tower I have now.

Picture18.jpg


Picture19.jpg


Picture20.jpg
 
Hm. That tower looks like it's missing a few pieces. I would suggest getting a n
ew case. Doesn't have to be a good one, but at least it'll be complete.

You'll also want to get a new CPU heatsink. The stock one there looks pretty loud. Also, which computer is that? What sockets are those CPU? I would suggest the Scythe Ninja heatsink but that only works with Socket 478, not socket A.
 
thats Computer A. Yeah, missing a few bits here and there, but it functions fine on all cylinders. It certainly doesn't run slowly or anything. I'm not sure about moving everything into a new case tho, is that all that difficult? The case for Computer B is in great shape, but I'm not sure if they would work at all. I'd hate to pull them all apart only to have it not work.
 
roachsrealm said:
thats Computer A. Yeah, missing a few bits here and there, but it functions fine on all cylinders. It certainly doesn't run slowly or anything. I'm not sure about moving everything into a new case tho, is that all that difficult? The case for Computer B is in great shape, but I'm not sure if they would work at all. I'd hate to pull them all apart only to have it not work.
Click to expand...

Either way, I'd find a better case for that computer. Move it to the Computer B case if you can. It won't be that hard, seeing you'd probably want to gut it out since you're doing so much with it. Computer A in socket 478 right? If so, get the Scythe Ninja and run it passively. Then you'll want to pick up a quiet fan for the case. Look into Noctua's 80mm and 120mm fans, they're VERY quiet.
 
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