How does this setup sound? (1 Viewer)

[Chad_Louis]

I am a college student who wants to save some money on a HT by incorporating it into my computer. How does this setup sound:

P4 1.7 mHz

256 MB Ram

Radeon 7500 All-in-Wonder Video card

Videologic Digitheatre DTS or Klipsch Promedia 5.1

SB Live! 5.1 or ??

My questions are:

1) Is there anyway to truly eliminate stutters in DVD playback on a PC? Any tips? Any hardware that is known for being stutter free? Anything to avoid?

2) I am planning on getting a 5400 RPM HD, but would a 7500 RPM help lessen stuttering?

3) What is a good sound card for a HT? I was planning on a SB Live!. If there are any other cards that are recommended (I am open to mid range prices, but please no expensive ones). How are Videologics? If I use their Digitheatre, would matching them up with their sound card be an advantage? I would really like to know.

Anyway, any info greatly appreciated.

 

[Camp]

If price is really a concern go with an Athlon over a P4...especially if you're building yourself.

Why bother with a 5400 RPM drive? 5400 is fine for a second or third drive (for data, MP3s etc.) but is noticably slower when running the OS, applications, games, etc.

The Audigy has replaced the Soundblaster as the new standard. I use the Hercules GameTheaterXP and like it very much.

 

[Drew Wimmer]

1) part of your problem with stuttering is that you may not have DMA(direct memory access) enabled for your DVD drive, to enable it (assuming you're using windows) go to control panel -> system -> device manager -> CD-ROM/DVD-ROM -> right click the icon for your DVD-ROM, click properties, go to the settings tab, and make sure there's a check mark next to DMA
2) a 5400RPM drive won't stop stuttering, but it will decrease your seek times so your programs and files should open more quickly, a definite bonus if you're impatient with your system like I am
3) depending on the Live! model you intended to buy, the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 may be an option, i don't own one myself, but i've heard great things about it, street price is about $150
on a side note, i strongly suggest going with an AMD instead of an Intel, you'll save yourself $100 by going with the AMD equivalent to the P4 1.7GHz

 

[Masood Ali]

P4 1.7GHz Most people are buying the Northwood P4s, which are denoted by the letter "A" following their speed. The 1.6A is by far the most popular P4 right now, because virtually all of them overclock to 2.13GHz without any complications.
256MB RAM What kind of RAM? In fact, what kind of motherboard are you looking to get? If you haven't purchased one yet, may I suggest the Asus P4B-266C. It uses DDR RAM and offers performance much better than SDRAM based boards, and near the performance of RAMBUS boards.
Radeon 7500 AIW This is a pretty solid card for the price. No complaints here.
SB Live! 5.1 Go with a Live! Audigy or perhaps a Hercules Gametheater XP.
As for your questions:
1)You won't experience any stutter with that CPU, or with that video card. No worries as long as your hardware is setup correctly.
2)A 7200RPM drive is good all around to prevent any bottleneck in your computer, but it shouldn't affect DVD playback one way or the other.
3)You need a soundcard with good drivers and digital out; the Audigy's are good for that.