jRAVhelp :
Hi Daverader1. I am in a similar situation to what you describe: Considering buying a Dell XPS 8500 with the same graphics and audio cards you list. My original desire was just to be able to stream audio to my Yamaha RX-V663 AV Receiver (my radio reception is practically nil even with an antenna.) Now that I've read your question I realize I should be aiming to stream both audio and video to my home theatre system. I have a Samsung BD-P2500 Blu Ray player and a Motorola HD receiver for cable, but no DVR (yet.) My TV is a Sony Bravia 46in.
1. Are you happy with the Dell XPS 8500? I'm upgrading from a 5 year old Dell Dimension 4600 - quite a big leap.
2. Have you been able to figure out that you will be able to do what you want based on these threads?
I'm new to all of this and even had my home theatre system professionally installed, so I don't even have a good understanding of all of that. And I'm an accountant, not a techy!
I'd appreciate your comments.
Thanks ... jR
Yes, I am happy with the XPS 8500. I have no complaints, and it has worked great for me. I don't care for Windows 7....then again, I don't care for any version of Windows. I am dual booting Linux Ubuntu via WUBI. I strongly recommend trying this out. It's easy.
http/www.ubuntu.com/download/help/install-ubuntu-with-windows
http
/www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/windows-installer
To answer your second question, sure, I think it will do everything I desire. The graphics card that comes with the system isn't bad, but it won't play any of the newer demanding games very well. For simple home videos and such, it will work fine. I plan to play Diablo 3, so I will probably upgrade the card to a HD 7850. Remember, the power supply in the XPS 8500 is only fair, so it won't be able to handle video cards that draw a lot of juice. The XPS 8500 will run the Radeon HD 7850, which is a terrific card.
http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/354302-33-asus-sapphire-radeon-7850