Would this setup work? HD 3450, Inspiron 530, HDTV - Diagram inside!

samsamson

The below picture is the setup that I have decided to build.

We already have the Dell Inspiron 530, and it's nice and quiet, so I'm trying to make the best HTPC out of it that I can.

http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?image=setupgi0.jpg

The graphics card that I will be installing in the 530 is the HD 3450. It's around 50 euro, passively cooled (silent) and should handle HD content fine.

I will be very satisfied with this setup if it all works out. From the diagram I have drawn it all looks like it will work. However...

Can you guys see any potential problems in this setup?

Are there any compatibility issues that I may have overlooked?

Can you see any problems I might run into down the line which I haven't noticed?

p15574

I'm trying to figure out something similar myself, and I'm getting confused about the speaker setup. I notice you have your 5.1 speakers hanging off your tv, via a headphone jack: wouldn't this just result in stereo sound, not 5.1? Also, what way are the speakers being powered? Do you have a separate amp or a 'home theatre' dvd player or something?

The way I figured my setup was having 5.1. speakers plugged into the audio card of the computer. For you, this would avoid having to have two sets of speakers (unless your pc is in a different room?). The downside of this, as I see it, is that watching just the tv alone, or playing the 360, will result in being unable to use the speakers - unless there is some sort of output FROM the tv TO some sort of audio inputs on the PC (is HDMI bi-directional?)...and even then, can you easily just use the pc as a 'pass-thru' audio device?

I'm also planning to use the HDTV as the computer monitor, thus avoiding having to purchase a monitor - though I realise you have one already.

So, I suppose the bottom line is - how best to connect and power your (and my) speakers?

samsamson

You raise a good point about plugging the 5.1 speakers into the headphone jack.

The speakers I was planning on using were the Logitech Z-5500 (http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=303911) which would just be powered by plugging them in.

If the headphone jack doesn't support 5.1 (which makes sense now that you've pointed it out), then I'll probably look at using the Logitech Z-2300 ( http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=303910 ) which would also be powered by just plugging them into the wall.

Ideally I'd use the same speakers for the PC and the HDTV/360 but because of how the room is set up it just wouldn't work because I'd need to constantly move the speakers around to point them in the right direction. They're both in the same room but pointing in entirely different directions.

sink

I have a similar setup. You might have problems with audio. The Z-5500's are pretty good speakers which have lots of inputs.

HDMI can support 5.1 audio but you need a compatible audio device and graphics card. You would have to connect the audio device (either your motherboards built in audio controller or seperate pci sound card) via an spdif connection(both have to be the same either optical or coaxial) to your graphics card, which would then pass the audio through to the HDMI cable. Your tv might have a digital out if it has a digital tuner, and it might pass trough the spdif signal from a HDMI connection in which case you could get 5.1 but this is unlikely as very few tv's do this.

DVI cannot support audio. DVI however offers better picture quality on a HD ready set, as these generally come with a native resolution of 1366*768 which dvi would be able to fully support. HDMI on the other hand only supports 1080p/720p and nothing in between which means on a HD ready set it would display at an equivalent resoltion of 1280*720 a bit below what DVI could support.

For the sound you could alternatively use an spdif out on your motherboard and connect it directly to the speakers via a seperate cable. This would be the better solution as you would be able to get 5.1 on all dolby digital/dts encoded films. For this you need a 3.5mm to phono lead http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=29539&doy=5m3

Do you have satellite or cable? If so you can also plug your decoder box directly into your speakers negating the need to run a cable from your tv back to your speakers. Sky boxes have a stereo phono output and you can use a stereo phono to 3.5mm jack cable http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=31700&doy=5m3 Cable boxes might not have a phono out so you could use a scart adaptor such as http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=13372&doy=5m3 and connect to the tv via s-video or phono.

You can then plug your xbox 360 into your speakers via an optical spdif connection which comes with the component cable.http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=44245&doy=5m3

Here i edited your diagram.