about sound card, only Asus able to provided HD Audio Bitstream if you need to. but kind of expensive.
for creative, the max can provided is up to DDL 5.1 via digital connection.
IMHO, tested 7.1 analog output still not really met my expectation. some more 4 cable+video cable.
so I still go for HDMI 1 cable settled everything...

anyway, still depend on your combination, all are close related; not just HTPC in order to meet our ultimate goal = "HD World"
unless you don't want about HD but go for only SD time... then no comment.

i believe HTPC is a computer built for home theater use, no? hence the Home Theather Personal Computer name.

My take is slightly different. For me sound quality is of higher priority, so for me, an AVR is basic necessity. But this following configuration is more future proof :

1. Get HTPC with basic graphic configuration (enough to run HD video of course.)

2. Buy a soundcard that can decode HD audio and with analogue audio output that supply latest sound config such as lossless HD sound.. unfortunately there are not many in the market place. One good product is Auzentech Home Theater HD which cost about RM1K ! I am still waiting for other product with similar spec.

3. Get a used out of date AVR, with NO HD DTS, even with normal Dolby Digital will do, but must have analogue audio input, ideally with 7 audio input, ie. an AVR that can serve as a power amp. Coupled with a set of speakers which u can upgrade initially from 5.1 to 7.1 in future.

Then use the Audio PCI card to decode HD DTS or lossless audio, feed its audio output to an old and much cheaper AVR as power amp.

In future, should there be any new audio format, just change the PCI audio card will do. It maybe expensive, but its still cheaper than RM6K AVR with latest technology.

Thats my take. and my sincere advice.

latest AVR that can decode DTS-HDMA & true-HD could be had for around RM1.5k
pair it with a cheap graphics card (ATI 5670, RM300) that could bitstream HD-audio, you're off with a good combo costing under RM2k

Already the HTPC cost us approx 1XXX , now additional 1.5k for DTS-HD MA?. I like peter32's suggestion, get an AVR old ones with no DTS, Dolby should fit the bill..

Not everyone has the sort of cash to spend bro..but obviously im not against your idea, its far cheaper than HOME THEATER SETUP..

THAT is a home theater setup bro haha
ain't cheap i know. i could've gotten some media player to go with my home theater, but i chose the htpc way because i don't need a NAS setup for media library as the htpc supports a few hdd itself. if i went the media player way, i'm sure i'm gonna have to buy a NAS station after a while.

ain't no way a single 2TB hdd gonna be enough for my movies

I agree. Nowadays for a decent price we can get a good featured AVR.

But with RM1.5K, u can get a used THX rated good powered AVR with old specs ! That alone is future proof. You can upgrade speakers without thinking of underpowered AVR in future.

I'll probably gonna get that AVR with THX one for my HTPC.

Gonna give it a go and see if any good..

Thanks for the ideas..

This post has been edited by sKyWiR3pT3lTd: Mar 15 2010, 08:50 PM

Wait...

Before u do, remember its not easy to get an audio card that can decode lossless HD audio into analogue and provide a pre-out from the sound card.

But you can easily find any sound card that has digital output, which u can hook it into an AVR. But that way you will lost the HD lossless feature.

So although my plan is economic, its hard to get a soundcard that does the movie decoding for the time being. I am still waiting for that to come to our shore....

I know..its just my plan..im gonna wait for one too..

we're in same boat.....
currently sound card solution still expensive. asus or auzentech with lossless digital output, price still not attractive (maybe the licence from dts or dobly lab are expensive too..). I don't understand why creative still haven't come out to compete on that?

ok, obviously we have 2 options of course.....
either analog or digital. tied with your preferable or budget. you choose for it....

for video, i guess is not a difficult issue as most of IGP can handled well too.
motherboard for htpc famous choice is m-atx i believe.
processor, just get the model with enough power to handled the hd movie. overkill processor is not an ideal as power consumption, noise/heat are the consideration...
but some of user need better mainstream prc as they need to perform convert or rip the movie.
for me, i need a htpc with 24/7 on and some light gaming also... power consumption is important in this case. 400W true power are enough for me.

This post has been edited by djlah: Mar 15 2010, 10:15 PM

Yeah thanks, but my text is still out of sync.. erm out of focus in other words.. Any idea about it? reading text is kinda difficult..

Dillema about the sound now, currently only doing stereo via 3.5mm jack.. I am thinking to get the cheapest possible usb soundcard with optical output, but it's not really cheap either. Too bad that my receiver doesn't come with hdmi

so, let say

if i had Denon 1910 AVR pair with a HTPC with ATI 5850...

with the HDMI going from 5850 --> Denon 1910 --> HD TV

am i able to output 1080P + lossless audio ? (without the need of sound card)

generally yes. u should able to get lossless audio without the sound card as the video card itself already contain of the audio chip.
you can always test it, see your denon have the dts-hd ma or truehd light is on or not.
do you have blu-ray disc? or you can test the sample hd audio here:

Original sample (100MB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/txz7i7

Remuxed by TsMuxer (101MB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/yx8agd

From film Wanted

ive got 30 copies of BD disc , been playing BD movies with my PS3...wanted to go HTPC for cheaper solution in long run haha..(softcopy BDISO)

A bit off topic but still related: If your AVR has HDMI and supports Multi channel PCM/LPCM then you don't need to change to the newer models. Let your player (bluray,HTPC,etc.) decode the lossless audio and output it as LPCM. You'll still be able to enjoy lossless audio. Bit-streaming is when your AVR supports DTS-MA/Dolby TrueHD decoding.

yea, like my FAT ps3 cant do bitstream (unlike slim ps3) but i still can enjoy lossless audio if i got a HDMI HD AVR.

PS3 - optical cable - AVR

so you already make up ur mind? get trueHD/DTS-HD AVR with blu-ray player or get HTPC ?
share with us the specs once you get HTPC

This post has been edited by djlah: Mar 16 2010, 11:20 AM

Good day lads,

What AVR youre hooked up your PS3 with Optical? What optical cable you use?

currently using entry lvl amp (not even a HDMI amp) pioneer vsx 518

gonna get Denon 1910 next week. after that only go for HTPC lol...

i'm gonna go for gaming spec as well so i7 + ATI 5850 is a must d haha..

i'm using audioquest optical cable, no problem playing DTS and DD with the pioneer, but not TrueHD or DTS MA (until i get denon 1910)