okay now, where do you live and whats your budget and the HDTV runs at 1080p resolution right?

...and the budget?

well rather than start suggesting more builds, i suggest you check out this thread. the guys budget is 2000 CAD but we havent used up all of that money. whatever we have suggested for him can be suggested for your build as well.

If you want to have a steady frame rate with filters to amplify color, contrast and motion interpolation, go Intel i7 or i5. A lot of HD playback relies on hyperthreading, which is exclusive to Intel (at the moment)

Do you have an HDTV?

Also, you're not going to need the BEST graphics card. Just a really good one. Things get more expensive the newer they are, exponentially. A card $100 more would only give you $10 of additional value.

Also, for 1750, you're going to get the best rig in town, especially if you ask us. If you already have an HDTV, you could cut down on your price by using the HDTV as a monitor, which would make playing HD movies particularly great, and also turn any PC game into a console game.

quote Northern49

go Intel i7 or i5. A lot of HD playback relies on hyperthreading, which is exclusive to Intel (at the moment)

The i5 doesn't have hyperthreading. Also you don't need a CPU with hyperthreading to have good quality HD playback. For instance the 4XXX series ATI cards perform exceptionally well at HD Playback.

Might the HIS 4890 turbo be a good choice for this rig?

quote Northern49

A lot of HD playback relies on hyperthreading, which is exclusive to Intel (at the moment)

If you already have an HDTV, you could cut down on your price by using the HDTV as a monitor, which would make playing HD movies particularly great, and also turn any PC game into a console game.

I have a single core pc that plays hd content smoothly, it doesnt matter if he goes core i5/7 over anything else for the HD playback, but it will matter for his other uses.
Also using a tv as a monitor does not make a game like a console game it makes it like a pc game that you are playing on a hdtv which in most cases is very similar to its "monitor" counterpart.

Try to get premiere CS4, I believe that's video accelerated as well and should smoke any rendering times you'd get on a Core i5 or i7 in Vegas.

250GB for the HDD seems tiny given that raw DV in 480i takes about 20GB for SP recording.

quote bphicks123

Might the HIS 4890 turbo be a good choice for this rig?

i was just thinking the same thing. that and a 965 BE. it would be cheaper than an i5, and the performance difference would be negligible.

We have to squeeze a gtx 285 there. Don't ask why. We just have to.

I've not seen it much in new builds.

Have to.

why though?