question about HTPC build

[Ladicius]

I have an older computer that I am looking to make into a HTPC or atleast a tv tuner

Here is what I have:
P4 - 2.4 ghz
512 megs of pc3200
GeForce 4 ti4200
Audigy 2 zs
36 gig Raptor, 200 gig samsung

Since SD isn't a big deal for me, I was thinking about just putting in an HDTV tuner card and calling it a day. My main choice is a VBOX Cat's Eye DTA-150. Would that be a compatible card and would I be able to get all I needed out of that setup?

Keep in mind I only want to receive HD signals and perhaps record as well (not necessarily watch and record at the same time).

Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

- Jacob

 

[Ladicius]

bump for great justice!

No ideas? I guess my main question is do I need a new video card? It seems like it would be the biggest limiting factor in the whole system.

 

[alan.p]

Depends on what kind of TV out you want. If you need DVI for your fancy HD bazillion inch telly, and the Ti doesna have DVI out, you'll have to get a new card. A GF4 probably won't have component out, either.

The cheapest possible card that has the outputs you need will work. It isn't as if it's rendering the telly a la UT2k4 or something.

 

[Ladicius]

the card does have a DVI out, will it be strong enough to handle the HDTV signals and produce the kind of picture I would want to view? (which would be a good picture )

btw: Thanks for the reply

 

[qfour20]

I used a gf4 ti4200 to power my 37" westy for a short while. It works GREAT for displaying a desktop at 1920x1080@60hz. What it did *NOT* do was any sort of useful video processing. XvMC does not make use of the hardware at all and I had to upgrade to a 6200. I've had no problems since then.

Keep in mind that this is not a windows system, so YMMV.

You might want to keep your eyes open for a newer card that will fit into this system (like maybe a x1600 or 7600gt with HDCP if you like being locked out of the content you pay for). It would probabbly help quite a bit with the display end of the equation. Also, if you ever plan on using anything other than windows, Nvidia is the only game in town. Sucks that ATI simply refuses to make drivers that work with OpenGL... EVEN IN PROPRIETARY BINARY FORMAT. *sigh* But that's a rant for a different thread.

Best of luck to you.

-q