HTPC Advice

[Frag Mortuus]

Hey guys,

I have some old computer parts lying around that I would like to use for a HTPC which include:

Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe Mobo (Socket 939)
AMD Athlon X2 4400+ (2.44 GHz DC)
4GB DDR 400 (PC3200) RAM

I am thinking of buying:
EVGA GTS 250 GPU the 512MB model with HDMI
Lite-On Blu-ray Drive

I have a couple questions though.

1) Is my MoBo, CPU, and RAM speed good enough for Blu-ray?
2) What do I need to get in order to use the new audio codecs? A new sound card?
3) Can you recommend some good HTPC front end software?

Thanks!

 

[rwpritchett]

1) Yes, the important piece is the video card for HA
2) How do you plan on connecting your hardware? HDMI to receiver? Optical/Coax to receiver? Straight to the TV? If you want to use the HD audio codecs on blu-rays, you should get a video card that will bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. Get a Radeon HD5xxx series video card for this instead of the Nvidia GTS 250.
3) Opinions vary, but the media center software that comes with Windows 7 Home Premium is the best IMO. If running a non-MCE version of Windows, then I'd suggest XBMC, Boxee, or Media Portal which are all free.

 

[Frag Mortuus]

Best answer selected by Frag Mortuus.