Heres my dilemma. I have around 500 bucks to burn. I would get a PS3 but I do not want to have to go through the hassle of converting files here and there into different formats its just to big of a pain in the a$$. I need a media center capable of HDMI I have a 1080P Samsung Ill be using along with my Yamaha receiver which is 7.1 capable as well its model number is RX-V663. I most likely will not be needing a TV Tuner card as i really dont need to record any TV. I already can download it via other methods. I want to be able to watch bluray disks, on the internal hard drive as well as .mkv, AVCHD, etc. I need a processor and motherboard capable of such in the price range stated. I can stray a bit either way. I would like to have enough ram say 3gb or so i can pick out power supplies, cases, memory, and such I was just asking what you recommend as far as processors, motherboards, videocards that have HDMI in, out. I would probably also invest in a bluray burner for future use. Let me know your opinions. Thanks Hitman
with out reading too much in to this, my assesment for you is if you "get" your media you want to stream in the standard .rar format - then i suggest to you going down the XMBC route Purely because its the ONLY way you can stream media perfectly! without having to UNPACK your XVID! plus it plays all media!! i have it atm on myOLD XBOX and it streams though the router amazing well!! i am going to make the jump in a few weeks to replace the xbox with a HDMI graphic and digital audio card on an old motherboard i have laying a round you dont even need tversity for the XBMC! just a normal common home network!! its really REALLY GOOD!
with this system you dont need a powerful motherboard or ram just graphic card ;-0 XBMC.com = the old defunct xboxmediacenter
Okay I have an old xbox with XBMC and am familar with it, XBMC will be able to play bluray movies if i have hdmi video card? So whats a basic video card I could invest in give a me a few options on video cards and and ill get a motherboard and memory to match any more help and input would be appreciated
XBMC is indeed awesome, but the old type xboxes just haven't got the grunt for HiDef. They are absolutely fine for all non-HiDef content, but you'll need something more powerful for Bluray etc.
Yea I know they don't but in your opinion what kind of processor will I need for such and what kind of video card if you point me in the general direction I can build one myself
Okay, I'm no geek but this is what I did and so far it's been great. I got a BIOSTAR TForce TF8200, and a AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz, with 2 gigs of ram. The 8200 has an hdmi output and plugs right into my Samsung 52" lcd. I use VLC and ffdshow, it plays all my avi and mkv files just fine.
