# Using a PC for the brain of your home theater system?



## hollipharm (Jul 7, 2009)

Hey guys,
I am brand new to the site and was just wondering if anybody has a pc as the "brain" of their home theater. I would like to run an HD TV, Bose 5.1 surround, Blue-Ray, etc. with a PC and am looking to by a custom made box to suite my needs. Any suggestions as far as sound card, video card, processor, etc. Don't mind to spend the money but i also dont want more than i need!

Thanks for you thoughts!
Chris


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## Blazemaster83 (May 7, 2009)

i use a pc for my theatre setup. i bought a nicer vid card so i would have no problems. i have my 42 inch plasma as 1 screen, and a 19 inch lcd as the other. you could just add a blu ray drive.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Using a PC as the main control is certainly doable. The only issues is that PC's are full of driver conflicts and hardware compatibility issues making it sometimes a pain to get working. Make sure you buy a good motherboard and lots of ram.


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

Have a look at this build.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...igital-devices/15447-htpc-build-pictures.html


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## hollipharm (Jul 7, 2009)

Thank all of you guys for the info! I will post the specs on the pc and stuff on this thread before i buy. Maybe someone can give the go ahead at that point?


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## hollipharm (Jul 7, 2009)

Here is the specs of the pc i am looking at buying (magicmicro website)

Intel Barebones #4 
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 1066FSB (Quad Core) 8000K 
Coolit Domino A.L.C, extra quiet Liquid Cooling System 
ASUS P5KPL-CM G31, 1600FSB, Onboard Video,PCI Express,Sound,1gb LAN 
ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB PCI Express 16x dual head, tv out 
500.0GB Maxtor/ Seagate 7200rpm SATA2 UDMA 300 16m Cache 
Hard Drive Cooling Fan Aluminum Internal 
LG Blu-ray/ HD DVD Reader, 16x LightScribe DVD Recorder SATA combo drive 
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 
Wireless 802.11 N 150MBs Network Card PCI 
APEVIA X-Plorer Black, Side Window, front USB,iEEE,Temp control 
Okia 400W ATX Power Supply 

Going to use Bose 5.1 for speaker system. Dont have a reciever or TV at this point so any suggestions are welcome!


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## hollipharm (Jul 7, 2009)

I also have one more quick question. I was wondering if i used the HDMI connection from my pc videocard then where does my sound card come into play?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

hollipharm said:


> I also have one more quick question. I was wondering if i used the HDMI connection from my pc videocard then where does my sound card come into play?


If your sound card is new it should have a connection to your video card so that it will pass the audio through the HDMI cable however if it does not you will still have to pass the audio via SPIDF or Coax from the sound cards digital out and you will not get the uncompressed audio from BluRay (if your getting a BD drive) using that route.


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## driscoz71 (Sep 20, 2008)

If i were going to build a HTPC i would have enough hard drive space to hold my entire dvd collection that way I could just click on what i want to watch. Just something to consider.


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## hollipharm (Jul 7, 2009)

I agree... I think i'm prob gonna go with 500GB internal and use an external hard drive for my main storage. Possibly a little more secure if my machine ever decided to crash and i think the machine will run better if i dont load it down. The only thing that is really making me uncertain at this point is the potential software issues? I've seen a few threads that have mentioned different programs that are needed in order for true digital sound to be sent to my receiver and speakers. Then other threads make it sound as though if i have new equipment (sound and video card with HDMI output) that it should just work and the data will be transferred perfectly? I just dont want to spend the money on this build just to find out it will not do what i want it to do!


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## driscoz71 (Sep 20, 2008)

hollipharm said:


> I agree... I think i'm prob gonna go with 500GB internal and use an external hard drive for my main storage. Possibly a little more secure if my machine ever decided to crash and i think the machine will run better if i dont load it down. The only thing that is really making me uncertain at this point is the potential software issues? I've seen a few threads that have mentioned different programs that are needed in order for true digital sound to be sent to my receiver and speakers. Then other threads make it sound as though if i have new equipment (sound and video card with HDMI output) that it should just work and the data will be transferred perfectly? I just dont want to spend the money on this build just to find out it will not do what i want it to do!



The computer i just got for free has a digital coax out on it and using VLC player or PowerDVD 9 it will output dts-es or dolby digital-ex to my 7.1 receiver, and its only a 2ghz single core with less than 1bg ram and onboard video. I was playing some 1080p DTS video earlier today and to my amazement it played it with barely a problem at all. Between VLC player and PowerDVD I dont think there is a single video that I cant play.


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## BrianAbington (Mar 19, 2008)

I plan to use these....

www.drobo.com
redundant back up system

www.linuxmce.com
integration software
can be used as a media center, home sececurity system, hvac/lighting controls, Voip, DVR...etc...
watch the demonstration video on the website and you will want to use it.


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## doctorcilantro (Nov 17, 2008)

Read some of the reviews on Newegg about the Drobo. I suggest something where you have more control.

Remember that you don't need a massive PC/CPU these days. Serioulsy consider a mini-ITX solution. You can do 1080P and house your OS on an SSD with a very small form factor. 

Then just implement some form of external storage.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

doctorcilantro said:


> Read some of the reviews on Newegg about the Drobo. I suggest something where you have more control.
> 
> Then just implement some form of external storage.


I never really considered the Drobo because of it's price...It's just overpriced for what it is!

Nevermind its limitations.. But then again, I'm hardly a normal user with a 12 port 3ware SATA RAID controller...


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

tonyvdb said:


> If your sound card is new it should have a connection to your video card so that it will pass the audio through the HDMI cable however if it does not you will still have to pass the audio via SPIDF or Coax from the sound cards digital out and you will not get the uncompressed audio from BluRay (if your getting a BD drive) using that route.


One good tip to remember --- is some new HDMI video cards *disable* the onboard audio in the BIOS when they're installed.

You can still re-enable it in the BIOS usually...... but if you're testing it's good to still have audio UNTIL you go HDMI only.


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