What do i need to watch HD content on my TV through PC?
 

the computer I want to use with the TV currently has a geforce 8600GTS with only DVI out, is it possible to watch 1080i/720p quality content with this computer? or do i need other video cards/setup to do it? i would probably run DVI-HDMI and an optical out?

You don't need a big, fancy, pricey video card to output video to a TV. My laptop's onboard video can output video to an HDTV no problem.

Something you should be more concerned about is CPU power and memory. I think any chip within the last 2 years combined with a computer that has at least 1.5 GB of RAM should be plenty of power.

Yes, DVI -> HDTV cable sounds perfect. Audio, I just use PC audio to the TV. Though, you _may_ get a hissing noise from possible interference. I only notice the hissing if nothing's playing and I have the volume turned up really high.

With an 8600 you'll need a decent CPU and a fast decoder. CoreAVC will allow just about any CPU decode h.264 content in 1080p quite easily. The free codecs will have trouble with anything other than middle to high-end CPU's.

^
a decent dual/quad core CPU will make up for the 8600gts video card.

+1 for CoreAVC.

Actually the 8600 supports CUDA does it not? if so, then CoreAVC will allow you to use GPU acceleration, so the CPU won't matter much at all.

my laptop uses a ati-hd3470 which is supposed to be equal to a desktop 3450 which the 8600gts is better than

and i watch 1080p video with mine so ur card shouldnt be an issue (i've got 2.26ghz 4gigs of ram with vista)

Don't waste your money getting a quad-core CPU just to output video to your HDTV. Dual-core should be more than enough.

How do I tell if it does and how do I utilize it?

The CPU is a dual core 2.2 i think it's about 2 years old

my single core POS desktop, with a 6600OC can run HD to our Samsung, so you should be fine.

why not just try it an see? boot the computer, run a movie, if it works, great, if it lags a little, you might need to do some tweaking.

It's video card based.
If you have the latest nvidia drivers installed, you should see a green ball on your system tray, which means CUDA is activated. Again, I'm not sure if CoreAVC is required to display that icon.

edit: GeForce 8 series support CUDA. :thumbsup:

i can play like downloaded trailers in 1080p? i have a 24" dell ultrasharp and it seems to be fine on that, so i would just play HD content the same way?

what do u guys usually use to play HD content on a seperate TV? CoreAVC?

XBMC is your friend.
Have wicked movie covers with titles.
Stream HD movies, regular movies, music off you computer.
Stream HD content off the net.
Pretty much limitless when it comes to a great Media Centre.

I got away with just using Intel Atom CPU

Zotac IONITX-A MINI-ITX Intel Atom N330 MCP7A-ION DDR2 GBLAN 802.11N Video Audio 90W PSU Motherboard

yes, it would

your tv which is i assume bigger than 24 inches, actually displays a lower resolution than your dell ultrasharp. it is not the size of the display that matters, it is the resolution at which it is running at. if your computer monitor shows the 1080p clip running fine, your TV will as well.

my TV is connected to my video card as my secondary display. i just open up whatever HD content i have, drag it over to my second screen, and fullscreen it. of course my HD TV has a 5.1 setup with it, and i use AC3 filter (thanks skinnypupp), and an optical cable hooked from the SPDIF out to my reciever. works perfect.

i just use windows media player... it actually seems better than VLC in terms of dolby/dts audio(need to get a laptop with a 4000 series ati card for lossless :/ )... media player classic is nice too but colours don't seem as good as wmp etc