Are my specs high enough for 720p capture as x264? + Many other questions!!

[htpcnewbie]

Hi.

I'm sure you guys get a lot of beginners building their HTPCs for the first time flooding you with questions... well, I'm one of them! Your responses will be much appreciated.

Ok, uh, I already have a PC and I want to convert into an HTPC:

AMD X2 Dual-core 4800+ 2.4GHz
2GB Kingston Hyper-X DDR400
ATI X1900 512MB + ATI X1900XTX 512MB Crossfire cards
CL SB Audigy 2 Value
WD 150GB Raptor X + 750GB extra space (Maxtor/Seagate) -- I know I need more for HD video capture.
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

1. My most important question (since I'm fairly new to all this) is whether I can capture 720p res video (x264 encoding (mkv?)) in realtime whilst watching TV with these specs. Is it even possible to record in 720/1080 resolution in Vista Media Center?

2. As for playback I should be able to use that Media Control plugin / FDShow (not that I know how) for mkv x264 playback via Vista Media Center right?

3. I'd like to stop having to use my TV's digital freeview tuner, satellite box and add a OTA HDTV receiver at the same time. I'm not sure if I'm asking for too much from one card but is there a PCI or PCI-X card that's Vista 64 compatible that does all these things?

4. Do I really need the two 512MB ATI cards in there or will one do the job just fine? I hear rumors that only 3D applications (games etc.) take advantage of multi-GPUs... I was thinking of replacing both with one card that has an HDMI out port (not even sure how this works -- how do you get the 5.1/7.1 audio from soundcard to video card for HDMI out) but I don't know which card to get (I prefer to go with NVIDIA this time).

Any other relevant tips always welcome.

Love to add more stuff to my HTPC like a Blu-ray writer and so on once I know what I'm doing and have the money. :)

Okay, now that I've spread my newbie-ness, feel free to correct me / guide me and feel good about your expertize!

Thanks in advance.

[htpcnewbie]

I found this: ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI Express but I'm not sure if it's got everything I need and if it'll work in the U.K.

Specs:
Two built-in tuners offering combo tuning for:
* Off-the-air Digital TV / HDTV1
* ClearQAM Digital TV / HDTV 2
* Off-the-air / Cable Analog TV
* FM Radio

INPUT CONNECTORS
* F-Type Coax input for Analog TV / FM Radio
* F-Type Coax input for HDTV1 (ATSC or ClearQAM2)
* S-video input
* Stereo audio input
* Composite video input

http://ati.amd.com/products/tvwonder650/pcie/index.html

[Soopafresh]

I'd stay clear of the ATI "Wonder" series of cards. Perhaps they've gotten better, but they've created a lot of grief for many because of the buggy software which accompanies the peripheral cards.

You might want to look at the Dvico Fusion series of video capture devices. They also cater to the European/Australian market and ship with 64Bit drivers. http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/ENG/Products/#dvbt

If I understand correctly (and I might be wrong), the BBC is already broadcasting in h264 HD, so encoding on the fly to h264 might be a moot point. That's a very good thing, it'll save you a lot of CPU utilization. Just grab the files out of the air... Check with the Fusion capture card specs to be sure.

You should spend $20 and buy the CoreAVC Pro video decoder codec for h264. It's a superior software product - it uses the least amount of CPU utilization to play back h264, and will soon be dual-core aware. If you take any of my advice, get this

You also don't need that over the top ATI X1900 card. Besides, their size makes them very difficult to physically install. I'd look at the Nvdia 8600 GT or GTS . If you want HDMI, then the 7600 series of cards might do you well - (and you'll only benefit from 1 video card - SLI technology is a gaming only performance boost)

XFX GeForce 7600GS PVT73PUMH4

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150235

[htpcnewbie]

Thank you kindly for the reply Soopafresh. I'm definitely going to buy that decoder you mentioned.

I guess I'll be getting rid of my crossfire cards in favor of an Nvidia card although I wish an 8800 series card would offer HDMI support.

Regarding the HD broadcasts already in H264 -- I wonder if this is the case for all the U.K. HD channels and stuff (yes, very newbie questions I know).

I will take a look at the Fusion series card you mentioned later on, but I also found this card: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-4000 -- they say it's like, got quad tuners or something. If anyone's successfully used this card with Vista 64 Media Center please let me know.

[jagabo]

I'm pretty sure most satellite and terrestrial broadcasts in Europe are MPEG2, not h.264.

Your computer is not fast enough to convert to h.264 in realtime.

[lenti_75]

that pc is very good, but not for h.264 realtime ncoding, if this is what you're after. for 264 realtime you need 4 cpus and probably 4Gb ram, don't know for sure, but that is about it.

h.264 is VERY cpu and ram consuming, and every h.264 encoder RECOMMENDS AT LEAST dual core and 2gb, and this is not for realtime.

[Soopafresh]

jagabo - most of northern Europe is broadcasting in h264 on their digital channels, but BBC is in a state of flux, with recommendations to carry it permanently slated for late November.

Here's an example BBC HD h264 Transport Stream example (don't bother unless you have CoreAVC)

http://x264.nl/h.264.samples/force.php?file=./bbc.hd.ts

A whole folder of very short 19MB clips.

http://x264.nl/h.264.samples/

These cards reportedly capture BBC HD via Satellite (make sure they come with Vista 64 drivers, though. Also read reviews. The site below also has a forum, although it is in German)

http://www.dvbshop.net/index.php/cat/c57_HDTV-S2-H-264.html/XTCsid/bc8bc805b0c8894ef278c3a62d3b0c55

[jagabo]

Thanks Soopafresh. Guess I'm behind the times. Most of the European direct-feeds I've seen lately have been from the BBC. I guess that's why it's still MPEG2.

[RabidDog]

Hauppage hvr1300 does what you want, I think. The bbc and HD is very much in a state of flux .. I think Sky are trying to flux it up for them via their own Pay tV proposals.