help rebuilding comp to work well with LCD HDTV

[seaman87]

I would like to rebuild my computer and use an LCD 1080p TV as the monitor. I want the computer to be maximized for the best picture on the LCD. I’m hopping to keep the computer rebuild to under $1000. I also want to be able to watch TV on the monitor, routing the cable through the computer (don’t know want kind of cable ill have since I haven’t moved into my new apartment yet for the next year of college). I haven’t purchased the LCD TV yet but I’m thinking of one of the fallowing:

-Samsung LN32A650 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Amazon.com: Samsung LN32A650 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color: Electronics )
-Sharp Aquos LC32GP3UB 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Amazon.com: Sharp Aquos LC32GP3UB 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Black: Electronics
-Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Amazon.com: Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-32XBR6 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV: Electronics

Does anyone have any experience using any of these LCDs as a computer monitor? what graphic card are you using in conjunction with the TV? I also will be playing my xbox360 on it, which one will be best for that?

My computer specs are as fallows:
MSI MS-6380E 1.0
Board: MSI MS-6380E 1.0
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/01 (I know, its old)
1.47 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
512 Megabytes Installed Memory
RADEON 9600 PRO SEC Family (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter]
SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 ATLANTIS [Display adapter]
Samsung SyncMaster [Monitor] (19.1"vis, s/n H9NY947715, September 2005)
Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller
MAXTOR 6L040J2 [Hard drive] (40.03 GB)
DU3319J RAP538E SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]
MITSUMI CD-ROM FX240S !B
YAMAHA CRW8424E [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
SCSI/RAID Host Controller
NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1)
NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller (2x)
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller (2x)

Im guessing ill have to upgrade most of my system since its so old. Im having the most trouble figure out what kind of graphic card I should get to work the best with an LCD HDTV. I plan on gaming on the computer too. Any recommendation on how to upgrade my computer and/or which tv to buy would be a big help. thanks

[RicheemxX]

Since we don't want to put the cart before the horse its best to decide now if you want to upgrade the entire system or just add in a card that will work for now. AFAIK the 9600's you have now "should" run the monitor just fine, you probably won't get the best resolution but they might work.

If you are just trying to add a card to the current set-up you'll need something AGP based.

Posting a budget and/or deciding if you want a full upgrade or not is the best place you can start.

[seaman87]

i think im going with a full upgrade. im basically trying to figure which are the best components to run a HDTV as my monitor and then figure out what i need to upgrade in my current computer to facilitate tho HDCP components. if that means up doing a full upgrade so be it, im just hopping to keep the budget at $1000. and im starting to lean towards the Sharp Aquos LC32GP3UB 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV (Amazon.com: Sharp Aquos LC32GP3UB 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Black: Electronics).

so the question is which graphics card would you recomment and what would i have to upgrade to make it work?

thanks for your help

[cadetstimp]

Make sure your video card driver can run the native resultion of the LCD (1920 x 1080 for HD 1080 sets). This will give you the absolute best, clear and crisp image.

You might want to check out Viewsonic - they started as a computer monitor company and have been making HD LCD sets for awhile. They're based out of CA and have a better than average warranty/customer service.

They have an online Outlet store for factory refurshibed and if your near their headquaters in Walnut, CA... you can buy/pick up directly from the manufacturer!

Welcome to ViewSonic Store... &nbsp ViewSonic Outlet

The LCD HD TV will have multiple inputs and the remote will switch the computer/tv sources for you. DVI and HDMI are very similar - HDMI includes audio which computer DVI doesn't use. You would be able to get a DVI to HDMI cable that would connect your computer directly to the TV- other wise you would have ot use the SVGA input