I think AVR is just absolute unnecessary , desktop 5.1 speakers good enough plugged into SC..

Of course AVR can do wonders, we are talking about HTPC , not Home Theater for your living room bro..

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 Get a used out of date AVR, with NO HD DTS, even with normal Dolby Digital will do, but must have analogue audio input, ideally with 7 audio input, ie.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.

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..  

HTPC is a cheap solution if you want have a universal Home Theatre. With HTPC, you can play VCD, DVD, Blu-Ray and can play all kind of format available on the planet. But still, decent HT setup is far more better than HTPC with the cost of money. If not, those AVR, speaker, amp and all those HT equipment maker will gulung tikar.

For me, HTPC is one part of the HT. Instead of buying multiple player (DVD, Blu-ray etc), we can have all-in-one player. The most important we built it ourselves part by part!

Currently, I have bought all the part I mention in 1st page. Now in the process of installing.

BTW, anyone here now any free software for remote key mapping? I bought a cheap remote with IR blaster and it can control navigation of MCE quite well. Some button need to be change like fast forward/backward.

Anyone heard about Lenovo HTPC ? Please look at the specs. USD499

"Lenovo has introduced a new HTPC, the IdeaCentre Q700. The system is comfortably nestled between the size and specifications of a nettop and full-blown HTPC. It should fit in perfectly with your other home theater equipment, and its hardware ought to chew through basic HTPC-oriented tasks.

The IdeaCentre Q700 is equipped with an Intel Pentium E5200 2.5GHz CPU and X4500 integrated graphics, 4GB of RAM, and the choice between a 320GB, 500GB or 640GB HDD. Although it's not available with a Blu-ray drive at the moment, it does come with a DVD burner.
It also houses an HDMI and VGA-out, TV tuner, eight USB 2.0 ports (split between front and back), Firewire, an eSATA connector, a 4-in-1 card reader, 5.1 surround sound outputs, gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity. Models are available with a remote and USB receiver dongle, and all ship with Vista Home Premium 64-bit installed.

Granted, you won't be playing high-end games on max with smooth frame rates but the Q700 crams a lot into its 2.36" x 7.87" x 9.84" box. The offer only looks better when you consider its $499 asking price"

GTX275, the least i want to go for, plus its HDMI output , so no coversion required from dvi to hdmi..

At least to utilize the Picture quality for movie playback. Sound doesnt matter at the moment..  

Bro Paskal, are u using BD-ROM in your HTPC?

QFT.

Shorthand for Quit F*(&ing Talking, QFT is slang used in chat and online forums to tell another user to stop talking.

Just curious , seriously you guys want DTS HD and HD audio out. Even the current 5.1 is good enough and yet some of us want full HD output for it. Anyway as long its digital and 5.1 and its HD , for me I'm okay with it.

Turns out most people cant actually differentiate, but from a POV of a geeky person like most of us here (LYN), it appears that we always want the best in terms of hardware regardless the necessity..

It's sad I am running my HTPC at stereo..

I have a question, izzit possible to convert spdif into coaxial or optical?

My experience says there is a difference. I was using Nvidia 7100 IGP then switched to discrete Nvidia GT210.... big difference in colour and everything else....

i3 & H55? if i have those kind of budget, i will not be asking in the first place....hahahahaha..!!

mobo ~200, processor ~200. The lesser the better..
after browsing so far, realized impossible to get mini-itx with that kind of budget.
So have to settle for AMD micro-atx.....and based on my reading...i can even go for x2 (instead of x4) cpu if i get a 'sufficient' GPU to do the decoding....
Question now, what is the minimum GPU shud i go for..?

QFT = Quoted for Truth la.

Paskal, please use google next time.

Hello mate,

Good morning.. woke up so early today eh? Going to work? Btw, IYHO , do you think ATI GPU are better than NVIDIA GPU's?.

I'm considering of migration to ATI instead of my current GeForce 210, to ATI GPU, but haven't got a clue which i should go for..

Please shed some light..

Like above suggestion, AMD Athlon II X2 250 is good enough or you can get Phenom II x2 550 and unlock it core to get quad.

Like you, I planned to build cheap HTPC months ago and I stumbled on the unlocking idea from some forums. I still don't have any experience on the unlcoking part so don't know about the stability or the success rate, but as far as I know, with a good chipset like 785g, you can unlock several processor like AMD 140 and 550BE. Please google "Phenom 550 unlocking" and you'll find lots of articles.

So many. Why not build a NAS?

Currently I'm using i3+h55 but still haven't test the HD audio because no avr to test. For 1080p video, it can play the video smoothly with my cpu utilization barely reach 20%.

Asus HDAV 1.3 doesn't decode HD audio? Sure or not? 

So, Asus HDAV 1.3 doesn't do hardware decode of HD audio?

5670->Asus HDAV1.3 is the correct way to go...
pass video and sound to the receiver via a single hdmi cable...

no waste..can play games and bitstream