Which one is best suited for.....?

[Zach]

Not sure how you can watch anything at 30Hz.. Especially consdering a lot of high def content is distributed to playback at 60FPS

I've had plenty of experience with MKVs so I know what you're talking about.. Sometimes people do crap quality encodes, you gotta find a trusted source / release groups known for quality..

Also.. I don't know if there will be content protection issues or not with some things.. For instance, something encoded with HDCP (high def content protection? high def copyright protection?) requires a display device that is HDCP certified to playback properly..

I was recently looking at a 24" LCD Monitor from Asus that I hope to purchase before or by Christmas time.. Currently its around $220 or so, and is 1920x1080 resolution, as well as HDCP capable. Have DVI / HDMI as well so I could even get a high-def cable box from our company and watch high-def TV without actually having to spend way more on a 24" actual TV, lol..

[Zach]

But in general, yes.. The card I told you to get (that specific model) has HDMI output. And as long as its plugged into an HDMI input, you will be able to display your PC on your TV screen. A lot of TV's have a limit in the resolutions they allow however, I know my brothers TV will not allow 1080p output from his PC but he plays Rappelz in 1440x768 or some resolution like that, so it's technically 720p instead.

Also a lot of cards have a special TV out mode, where its basically an overlay or whatever, and the picture is output to the TV and the signal is played back at whatever default resolution the TV defaults to / or detects the signal as capable of.. Versus displaying your PC desktop, etc on the TV like a monitor and blowing up a video file to full screen, etc.. That may get you crappier quality unless the video is actually encoded at the resolution you are displaying.. Ie if its a 1080p resolution (Whatever x 1080 pixels) and you don't technically need to stretch the video, etc in the player then it should playback fine with full quality, just go to full screen mode to hide your desktop etc.. Make sure the player is set NOT to stretch the video, and to maintain its original aspect ratio.


I hope I'm not confusing you.. I honestly don't know much about this stuff, but have a very basic understanding of how its supposed to work.
Should display fine.

As far as getting HD sound... If you have a home theater receiver that has the older style RCA input jacks for each channel.. (Basically a shitload of jacks on the back, a left / right RCA jack for - Fronts, Centers, Rears, and a subwoofer output, etc) then you can get full 5.1 surround sound (assuming the MKV's audio track is 5.1 and not stereo) by using several different methods..

Creative sells a cable (I have two sets) that plug into the speaker jacks on my X-Fi Xtreme Gamer card.. color coded just like actual PC speakers.. I plug in the 3.5mm Front, Center/Sub, and Rear jacks to the soundcard.. and on the other end of the cable are RCA plugs, with enough of them to create 7.1 surround if your receiver supports it (Side L/R these go bewtween the front and rear speakers in the room) or leave out the side speakers, and connect it in traditional 5.1. So you can game in 5.1 on your home theater, or upmix your music to 5.1 w/the sound cards tools, or even if you watch a 5.1 sound movie, it will all come through in 5.1 sound to the receiver because of the cable and not be a "fake" mode that the receiver often comes with to make virtual surround.

And no SPDIF /Optical TOSLINK cable is involved.. CCCP (the codec pack I recommended) comes with a tool that lets you setup your mixing of sound too.. So it can handle 5.1 soundtracks in MKV's etc.. Even if they are AC3 encoded (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc).

But the mixer also has the option (and your sound card might too I think) to pass the 5.1 signal "through" using SPDIF so the signal goes to your receiver and the receiver decodes it, just like would happen with a DVD player sending the signal to the Receiver.

So there are many options for getting real surround / hi-def sound on your system..

Because one day I will buy a TV specifically to be used for TV, DVD, consoles, AND PC gaming.. I will invest in a receiver that has 5.1 or 7.1 channel RCA inputs on the unit, so I can use the cable if I need to.. Hopefully soundcards that work as they do now, but encode sound to a Dolby signal on the fly and output it via SPDIF/Optical for receivers, will be around and affordable for the average joe.. Then you wouldn't need all the RCA hub-bub and special cables..

Even if you are using onboard sound, and not a creative sound card, I think the cable can still work (we tried it on my brothers receiver, with his onboard chipset, but couldn't get the channel just right - this may have not been the cables fault though).

[leon_belmont]

No you re not confusing me at all. I didnt know anything about HD before i bought my PS3,since then by searching a lot of HD forums ,i learned a few things. I checked my Volume Control in Vista and its says High Definition audio device ,(but isnt HD sound cause when i play music in my PS3 its far too superior quality than my PC),but i tried to play a few movies and only the SINNERS group had awesome quality 1080p Blu ray in VLC.

[Zach]

Yeah I have an onboard HD Chipset too.. Technically it is because of the sampling rates Onboard HD chipsets support. And some have options either on the board, or through accessories (headers on the motherboard) to use SPDIF / TOSLINK and pass the Dolby signals thru to a receiver.

So that's mostly what its about.. Also Getting good sound out of a PC depends on speakers, and the audio device playing back, and the source.

A lot of audiophiles will tell you that on a top notch audio system, MP3's sound like total shit, even though they might sound good on lower end equipment.. Basically the higher fidelity/accuracy of high-end audio equipment makes the flaws of compressed music more apparent vs low end or mid-range gear.

The best way to test audio quality while eliminating the music as a source, is to playback an actual CD, or FLAC or other lossless file on the PS3 and PC, using the same set of speakers.

[Zach]

On the sound card front I just discovered this for Creative cards as well

http://buy.soundblaster.com/_creativ...DDN6Z2H2ADDEZD

So supposedly I can hook my X-Fi XtremeGamer up to a receiver and get 5.1 in games and stuff instead of using the special cable and needing a receiver with a bunch of RCA plugs (I'd personally get one with them anyway)

But its a real secondary option.. The pack is only $5, and an XtremeGamer can be had for $100 or less these days.. (XtremeGamer is the lowest model you want, Xtreme Music is not a true X-fi its a rebadged Audigy 2ZS or something)

[leon_belmont]

I decided and i only have one question left :

ATI RADEON HD 4550 (512MB) or ATI RADEON HD 3450 (256MB)

Price is almost similar.

[leon_belmont]

Already ordered my system,expecting it to come Monday afternoon,built it my self via internet and ur advices with 260 USD

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 2.88GHZ
Apache 3GB DDR2 RAM 800MHZ
Graphic card ATI RADEON HD 3450 512MB
Motherboard ASUS with Quadcore Support
Power supply 400Watt

I kept my existing DVD and HDD.

[Zach]

Hmm, well my only concerns are I've -never- heard of that brand of RAM, and 400W for a PSU should do ok, as long as its a decent brand and you don't try to run anything thats gonna suck a lot of power.

[onewecallgod]

Not sure why you'd want to run 3GB of RAM.

[FatTrucker]

Maybe he's sticking with 32bit Windows XP?.