heyheybooboo-
I already have the rocket raid and the hard drives. I also have cat6 ran in my walls. over kill is my middle name.
alyarb-
I thought 4gb of ram was overkill. My current home server has 2gb and is only using 15% of it. I will watch the combos. This doesn't need to happen anytime soon. just a side project.
beginner99-
I would really like to run dts-hd/dolby true hd but frankly could not find any information on it.
Maybe i am going about this all the wrong way. I basically want to build an htpc that does the following:
Act as a DVR for my digital cable, with a tv guide.
Host data files for my household.
Play/stream music and video to my TV (hulu, bluray through the internal drive, netflix, and moviesondemand)
act as a receiver for all of my equipment
There are lots of points to hit here:
- You say you already have server. Why not turn this into a media server that can host your Movies, DVDs, downloaded shows etc?
- Most people find that they don't like to have a server in their living rooms. They tend to be noisy, big and have are a huge negative to the WAF (wife acceptance factor).
- As heyheybooboo pointed out, you will need a Cable Card tuner like the new Ceton card if you want to record anything but basic SD local channels. These tuner cards run $400 for 4 tuners. There are supposed to be some 2 tuner versions coming from Ceton and others sometime later this year for probably around $250. And if you think these are expensive then you should look at what the old ones they are replacing cost. They run around $200 - $300 for 1 tuner. You will also need a cable card from your local cable company. They run from $0 - $6 per month.
- If you want bit-streaming (which it looks like you do) then you have two options, either purchase an ATI RADEON 5XXX video card (I would recommend a 5650 or higher) or build an i3/i5 system with an H55 or H57 motherboard. Both these options use HDMI to send the video and audio from the computer to a receiver or directly to your TV.
act as a receiver for all of my equipment
- Your last wish is not possible. Receivers are still sold for a reason. There is really nothing the can really replace one. If you use your built-in TV speakers and have nothing else then you could just use the one HDMI cable from the computer to the TV. Otherwise, you will need a receiver.