Desktop PC vs. Home Theatre PC

[Mos IX]

Question: Is it possible to use an above average Desktop PC instead of a Home Theatre PC with my TV.

Pupose of Use: Watch Internet, videos, hulu, youtube, music, dvd's, downloaded videos while on my TV. No gaming.

Home Theatre PCs are quite pricey and I don't care for the use of a TV tuner. And I don't care that it looks like a "living room piece".

So would I be able to use something like this (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pav...&skuId=9840504) as my "Home Theatre PC" and hook up via HDMI?

Or is this unit missing something /would need to be upgraded?

Thank you for your input.

[Mad Dragon]

I have that same computer, and I love it. I did upgrade the video card and PSU (they were free replacements from another PC), since I use it for gaming. The GPU that comes with isn't the best, but it is a lot better than on-board video. It should be fine for watching movies.

The sound card is built in, but it does have a toslink connection. It might be good enough for HT duty. I don't know how hard core you are about that sort of thing, but I'm satisfied with it for gaming purposes.

If you plan on ripping a lot of your BD/DVDs, 1TB should be plenty of room. I installed an additional 1.5TB drive, but that was another 'free' upgrade from another PC.

[GTiceman]

1TB will not hold many BD's ... I have a 3TB server and over 1.5TB are just movies and that is dvd's ... I also have hd-dvds on there and they are about 30GB each ... a full image of a BD can be that or higher I have about 500GB left and havent finished ripping my hd-dvds yet nor have i started the BD's

for streaming BD's I would suggest a higher end gaming pc or a dedicated htpc as it is extremely taxing on the processor to buffer a large file like that ... even more so if you want to stream over the network

[dddavid]

It will probably work for what you want to do.

You might want to but another hard drive if you download alot of movies.

A remote or wireless keyboard would be nice too.

[Freakazoid]

You really shouldn't even consider that.... I can find or build you a machine that's a lot better for cheaper....

the RAM is borderline useless (over-exaggeration), and it's a 5400RPM Harddrive. this combination is going to drive you NUTS, especially as a home theatre machine.

Beyond that the video card isn't too stellar

[dddavid]

I just noticed the price and I agree.

For that price you can build something that is faster, has better hardware and better fits your needs.

[BRAISKI]

HT PC are very

My Desktop PC was supposed to be my HTPC and gaming. I spend more than $2100 when the Core i7 first came out. Mind you, I built this though.

My specs are....
MOBO: EVGA X58 3x SLI
CPU: Core i7
RAM: 6GB
HDD1: 2x250GB SATAII RAID 0
HDD2: 2x500GB SATAII RAID 1
Case: LianLi A05
Video: ATI 4870
Sound: Onboard

Then I found out later that you can't stream DTS or Dolby True HD and DTS HD. Well you will need to spend a fortune to get those.

So from what your purpose is just build a nice desktop PC with the stuff you want/need. It will not look fancy but thats ok

[HoustonGuy]

Originally Posted by BRAISKI

HT PC are very

My Desktop PC was supposed to be my HTPC and gaming. I spend more than $2100 when the Core i7 first came out. Mind you, I built this though.

My specs are....
MOBO: EVGA X58 3x SLI
CPU: Core i7
RAM: 6GB
HDD1: 2x250GB SATAII RAID 0
HDD2: 2x500GB SATAII RAID 1
Case: LianLi A05
Video: ATI 4870
Sound: Onboard

Then I found out later that you can't stream DTS or Dolby True HD and DTS HD. Well you will need to spend a fortune to get those.

So from what your purpose is just build a nice desktop PC with the stuff you want/need. It will not look fancy but thats ok

What do you mean you can't stream DTS..etc?

You can just pop the hdmi cord in the back and it'll work, no?