[hiver]

Hi there,


I am about to order parts for a HTPC with the new Intel H55 chipset and a i3 CPU. I want to use the built in 7.1 passthrough to my reciever, to enjoy Blue-Rays etc.


I expect to run XBMC on Ubuntu 9.10.


Anything I should be aware of before ordering?


Has anyone done a similar setup?


Thanks, Mads

 

[k_ross]

In Linux HTPC's, the graphics vendor of choice is nvidia. This is because their drivers are excellent and well supported (even though they aren't FOSS), and currently if you want hardware-accelerated decoding of HD video formats, nvidia is your only choice. Although with a beefy enough CPU, you can do it in software.


7.1 audio isn't supported in Linux yet. But all of those Blu-Ray discs have a 5.1 audio track, too, which Linux can handle fine. And speaking of Bluray, your best bet for playing Blurays in Linux is to rip them to harddrive first, since playing directly from the disc isn't ready yet either.


-- Kevin

 

[Mac The Knife]

I'd be interested to know how well mplayer-mt (the multi-threaded version of mplayer) runs on that CPU.