Setting up for a rebuild with future HD playback

Original HTPC specs.

A64 X2 3800+ (@2.4GHZ)
MSI K8NGM2-FID
1GB OCZ PC3700
eVGA 7900GS KO
2x500Gig SATAII WD Caviar
Antec NEO 500
XP SP2 with MCE 2005

Only used for DVD/ripped DVD playback, DVD burning (for backup purposes only), and occasional web browsing/music streaming. DVD player was TheaterTek with Nvidia PureVideo, and FFdShow. S/PDIF feed to my THX receiver.

I’m a FiOS customer, so it’s HDMI out of the Motorola HD box to the receiver, and DVI-HMDI out of the HTPC to receiver. Receiver is being used as the HDMI source switch. Oh, and the TV is a Samsung 61″ 1080p DLP.

I was in the process of upgrading my gaming rig to a BFG 8800 GT OC (from a X1800 XT ), and discovered my mobo has a conflict issue with the GPU/card. (Asus A8R32-MVP-Deluxe)

About that same time, my HTPC’s mobo decided to stop working. (Much to the dismay/lack of understanding by the wife.) 😉

Anyways, I’m porting the gaming rig to a Q6600, Abit IP35 Pro setup. I’m thinking about moving the HTPC to the A8R32 mobo. Haven’t decided whether to keep the HTPC on the X2 3800+, or use my gaming rig’s Opty 165. (I’m thinking the 3800 is the better choice) Also, moving from the 1Gig of OCZ to 2Gig of Mushkin HP PC3200 ( that does PC3700 speed) HSF on the CPU is a Scythe Ninja, with dual (push/pull config) S-Flex 800rpm 120mm’s.

I picked up the Q6600 in a Fry’s combo special with a ECS G31T-M mobo.

Since I want to eventually do HD DVD/Blu-Ray playback ( with most likely the LG combo drive), the 7900 GS will need to be replaced with a 8600GT/GTS. (or better)

Now here come the questions. 🙂

Due to CompUSA going out of business, one of the local stores has 3 E6420’s in stock for apprx $160 pre-tax.

Should I go ahead and move the HTPC to the ECS G31T-M mobo, and pick-up 1 of the E6420’s?
I have an extra 4GB of PC6400 ( 2x2Gb Patriot LLK) laying around (New gaming rig is getting 2x2GB G-Skillz  PC8500) Since I’ll be offloading more of the proccessing work to the GPU (understanding that a 8600 only accelerates VC-1), is this really neccessary? Shouldn’t the A8R32 be able to handle the load with a 1 of the AMD CPU’s?

Second question is, as seeing as how I’m apparently in a spending mood, should the HTPC be re-installed with XP SP2 MCE 2005, or Vista Home Premium?

Thoughts?  Post-Holiday sales abound. If I go Vista I’ll want to run the 64-bit version, to maximize the 4GB of ram. (Or, is there an issue with Vista MCE in 64-bit?)

Oh, and on the thought of the vid card choice for HD playback. Has there been any real-world comparison between NVidia’s offerings, and ATI’s 38xx? I heard there were driver issues with ATI’s previous 2600 series. How does UVD compare to Nvidia’s PureVideo HD? I can’t seem to find where someone has compared/reviewed a 8600 against a 3850 as far as HTPC/HD is concerned.

I really liked TheaterTek’s interface, and post-processing/plug-in (aka PureVideo/FFdShow) support. Going HD, seems like PowerDVD HD is the current/only choice. Does it need external processors like PureVideo, and FFdShow? If not (which seems most probable), does it perform any upscaling of DVD content?

:-\