Originally posted by: Slugbait
Note that onboard audio (depending on the chip) may not pass 5.1 audio via coax to the amp from within the MCE shell...he might have to run PowerDVD outside of MCE for surround sound to work. Or, just get a decent soundcard.
Onboard audio will pass Dolby Digital/DTS on DVDs in MCE, as long as the mobo has the correct output (optical or COAX). If your friend needs more features, or his onboard audio doesn't have digital out, any cheap soundcard with digital out will work fine. For surround sound in games, WMVHD and other stuff, a soundcardd like the X-Mystique or X-Plosion is needed, it does real-time Dolby Digital or DTS encoding of non-DD/DTS surround formats.
I also second the biggest HD he can afford. I have a 320GB in my HTPC and it's starting to get full, I need a pair of 500GB drives =( I also reccomend a gig of ram and at least a 2GHz CPU if he's going to be doing HD video. Also, most flight sims are CPU-bound, with all the physics calcs going on. A DX9-level vidcard is at the very least required for MCE to work correctly, when I used a GF4Ti4600, I had no end of issues that dissapeared when I switched to a fx5200. At the very least, his vidcard needs DVI or a breakout cable with Component out.
MCE boxes can be finicky to get running, but once they are, they're well worth the trouble. I don't know how I'd watch TV without mine. :thumbsup: