I am considering in building a new computer system and was thinking about making my old system a PVR. Here are its current specs.

ASUS A8V Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 FX-53
1GB DDR400
80GB HD (planning on removing that to put in my new system and put in a 400GB)
DVD-R
BFG 6800GT (Has S-Video)

I was just wondering if this is a good start and if I need to change that vid card? Also I was planning on installing a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-350 that comes with the remote. Will this remote work with Knoppmyth? Or would I be better off getting a wireless keyboard with an intergrated mouse? Or is there another remote that will work that you would recommend?

I do have digital cable so I know I can only record one show at a time unless I have a second digital cable box. I also relize that I need an IR-Blaster, does this come with the WinTV-PVR-350? I was told it did but I don't see it on the site. I am just using the intergrated audio on the motherboard can I still use that? If so how can I get it to hook up to my TV?

Any comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

If only my "new" system was that powerful

Your video card should work well as it's an NVIDIA chipset, so no worries there. You might even want to underclock it a bit to make things more stable, since it's full power is never going to be needed.

The various Hauppage 150, 250, 350, and 500 cards are all well-supported with Knoppmyth as are their remotes. From what I gather however, only the PVR 150 (not the MCE version) comes with an IR blaster.

The integrated VT8237 works well under ALSA, at least for standard stereo output. You can get a little adaptor at radio shack to convert the 3.5 mm headphone jack to a couple of television RCA audio cables for a few bucks. The optical audio out should work as well, although it might take more work.