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HTPC (Home Theater PC) for under 1K?
Goz:
1080p video typically requires a 2.2Ghz CPU or a video card with HD playback such as the ATI 2600XT or NVIDIA 8600 and above.
ark_ader:
Get a Xbox and softmod it.
Install XBMC and take the rest of that spare cash and go to Vegas for a holiday. ;D
coolburn:
It definitely wont be cheaper to buy a manufactured PC imo. I built mine several yrs ago and spent about $1250 on all my parts (but won a free Hauppage card to record TV with). One thing I didn't take into consideration was the video connection on my TV. I didn't have DVI on there and that necessitated an extra purchase of DVI to Component to do HD content. I'm sure the plasma has a DVI connection like a standard monitor these days. I also wanted to use standard height cards and full ATX motherboard and power supply so that limited my available purchases. If you dont go with a Shuttle case, you'll also need to pick up a motherboard that fits whatever case you choose. If you dont care what the case looks like, then I would go with the Shuttle.
Most of the components listed by massive88 would suit your needs. For an HTPC, I would suggest going with an ATI card as opposed to an nVidia one but both will do what you want.
Take a look at PCAlchemy.com for some parts as I've gotten good deals from there.
massive88:
Another point on the video connections, I just recently built a computer for a friend and his video card came with a DVI to HDMI connection, which as well had an SPDIF hookup on it to connect to the mother board. I dont know how you will be doing sound in your conference room, but if its all set up for some HDMI action, that would be something to look into as well.
The specific card that I used for his computer was a Zotar 8800GT, which is way more horsepower than you need, but just for your reference.
Bloinkxp:
Depending on the type of system you want take a look at the AMD 780G based motherboards. The integrated video does all of the HD decoding and actually has some 3D chops as well.
Anandtech did a good review of this and newegg has a number of different mobos.
Good Luck!
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