How to optimise PC sound and video

[huskiee]

Guys,

I play all my music and watch all movies from my PC.

I bought a good pc, nice hd tv, surround amp, and 2 speakers (for now!).

How do i optimise both the sound and video from my PC to get the most from my system?

I'd like to know:
1. whats considered the best sw player for music
2. is onboard sound sufficent (i currently have a gigabyte x-38 mb)or what i get a good increase in performance from seperate card. If so what should i look for?
3. is the method of connection from the pc to amp important for music? currently use coxial from 3.5mm jack but have option of spdif

and same for video, so

1. what are considered best standard and HD players for video (currently use VLC for everything but sucks for HD)
2. what is best connection from pc to tv (hdmi i guess?)

Anything else that is recommended to get maximise potential from system? I ask because often configuration can give you big improvements, so any tips or advice would be very helpful!

Any suggestions, including software, hardware, or just general set-up would be great.

For info my amp is onkyo sr606, speakers b&w 685's, tv sony 40w5500, comp: cpu quad 6700, gfx: gts 8800, mb ga-x38-dq6.

 

[ramblegamble]

thats alot of questions lol. Ok, start from the top. Music player is personall pref really. I use iTunes since i have an iPod and if i didnt i'd prob use Winamp.

I would say onboard sound is not sufficent. you will get better sound from any creative sound blaster card. you can get an Xfi card for around 50 now adays. And i'd say its worth it if sound means anything to you.

If you're using an outboard amp, then the connection is going to be a stereo cable, and that won't be an issue for quality

Yes, best video is still HDMI. if you dont have that on your computer you can use a DVI to HDMI cable. that's what i use

gl hope this helped

 

[aevm]

I use winamp, with an X-Fi XtremeMusic card and Z-5500 speakers. Works very well.

You wouldn't get any performance increase from a sound card - maybe 2% or so of CPU usage. What you may get is better sound. Do it only if you're not happy with the onboard. If it's just for mp3s and other lossy formats then it's not worth buying a sound card.

I use the cable that came with the speakers, it has 6 RCA jacks IIRC. Coaxial would have allowed some features in the software to work, but I don't need them and the coaxial cable was expensive and not included.

I like PowerDVD for playing movies.

PC to TV - if you have a monitor with DVI inputs use DVI. If not, use a DVI-HDMI adapter. Lots of video cards come with one these days.