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PC hardware forum: Video Card Rec for Movie Jukebox

by: Sgil23 April 25, 2008 9:58 PM PDT

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Video Card Rec for Movie Jukebox

by Sgil23 - 4/25/08 9:58 PM

So i am interested in turning my POS Dell Dimension 8400 (Pentium 4 560 3.6GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD) that I only use for printing papers into a Movie Jukebox. This brings two questions:

1) what video card would you recommend for only this purpose? I dont need anything fancy (or too expensive for that matter) but just need it to hook up to my 26" samsung HDTV that outputs at 1080i.

2) What program should i use to manage all my movies in this "jukebox" endeavor?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!


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Wow, this will take fancy.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 4/26/08 4:03 AM

In Reply to: Video Card Rec for Movie Jukebox by Sgil23

Your new fancy video card must have HDMI. This may also strain the old CPU so do not do this if the video card slot is not PCIE.

Why is this fancy? Processing 1080 video to HDMI takes CPU and video card oomph or muscle.


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The Specs

by Sgil23 - 4/26/08 8:57 AM

In Reply to: Wow, this will take fancy. by R. Proffitt Moderator

Hey, thanks for your reply. Here is what my computer is capable of:
1 ( 0 ) x Processor - LGA775 Socket, 4 ( 2 ) x Memory - DIMM 240-pin, 1 ( 0 ) x PCI Express x16, 1 ( 1 ) x PCI Express x1, 3 ( 2 ) x PCI

Knowing this, what kind of card would you suggest? Note that I will be burning the dvd's to my computer, and that they are normal dvd's not blu ray or anything. Therefore, i could always use an adapter to attatch to HDMI. Again, i dont want anything too expensive...


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get a 8500gt

by ramarc - 4/26/08 10:14 AM

In Reply to: The Specs by Sgil23

$71: http://www.buy.com/prod/xfx-geforce-8500gt-256mb-64-bit-450mhz-gddr2-pci-e-dvi-vga-hdtv-sli/q/loc/101/206785597.html

windows media center or vista home premium can manage your video collection.
yahoo! has free media center software built on meedio but has littered it with annoying yahoo! branding.
http://sites.mobile.yahoo.com/go/tv/features

p.s.: once you rip the dvds, consider recoding them to mp4. that will bring a typical 2 hour movie down to about 1.5gb with no loss in picture quality.


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Run with XP?

by Sgil23 - 4/26/08 10:39 AM

In Reply to: get a 8500gt by ramarc

Will this run with XP?


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(NT) yahoo tv! and 8500gt will run wth xp

by ramarc - 4/26/08 6:41 PM

In Reply to: Run with XP? by Sgil23


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Audio

by Sgil23 - 4/26/08 7:27 PM

In Reply to: (NT) yahoo tv! and 8500gt will run wth xp by ramarc

Any suggestion for an audio card? Sorry for all the questions happy


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HDMI carries the audio too.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 4/26/08 8:15 PM

In Reply to: Audio by Sgil23

I still prefer Creative Labs cards. But to play video files, dvds over HDMI said card isn't in play.


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figured as much

by Sgil23 - 4/26/08 8:26 PM

In Reply to: HDMI carries the audio too. by R. Proffitt Moderator

so, as long as i use the DVI to hdmi adapter, i will get sound and video from the pc in dolby? There is no direct hdmi port on this card, correct?


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First a link.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 4/26/08 8:55 PM

In Reply to: figured as much by Sgil23

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&safe=off&client=mozilla&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&q=8500GT+HDMI&um=1&ie=UTF-8&checkout=1&sa=X&oi=product_result&resnum=1&ct=checkout-restrict

You see the HDMI connection?

As to DOLBY. This will depend on your player software and more. I can't tell how many ripped DVDs down to 2.1.
Bob


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my bad

by Sgil23 - 4/26/08 9:03 PM

In Reply to: First a link. by R. Proffitt Moderator

for some reason the pic that kept coming up only had DVI ports, no HDMI.


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Just a link

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 4/26/08 9:21 PM

In Reply to: my bad by Sgil23

Try http://www.electronicsshowplace.com/images/isimages/DHNX8500GTMTD256E.jpg


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THANKS!

by Sgil23 - 4/26/08 9:26 PM

In Reply to: Just a link by R. Proffitt Moderator

This is great, thanks for all your help!!!


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Note: Due to the depth of this discussion thread, no additional replies can be accepted for this post. If you have comments to make, please reply to the original post at the beginning of this thread.

an hdmi graphics card will still need digital audio from...

by ramarc - 4/27/08 10:28 AM

In Reply to: figured as much by Sgil23

the sound card (or mobo) via a secondary cable.

diamond xtreme sound, dolby ex and dts decoding, $30: http://www.buy.com/prod/diamond-xtremesound-7-1-24-bit-sound-card-pci-24-bit-internal/q/loc/101/202115095.html

also, i don't recommend putting a passively cooled 8500gt into a case with 3.6ghz p4 (aka 'toaster oven'). it's likely to get too hot to run glitch free especially if you're playing mp4 (or hd encoded) movies.

there are only a handful of cards with true HDMI ports. if you stick with a card with a decent heatsink/fan (like my original suggestion) and use DVI then you can run the sound card's SPDIF directly to the TV with a TOSlink optical cable (about $10). zip tie the cables together to keep them neat. wink


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