Watching downloaded movies on TV

Factual Questions
1

My PC is over 8 years old, so I’m going to give building one a shot.

I’d like to be able to download movies, YouTube videos, etc., and watch them on my TV without downloading them to a disc. Before I purchase parts, I was wondering if any of today’s video cards would be okay or should I be looking for one with certain features. Also, is using the onboard audio from a motherboard okay, or do I need an audio card?

What other hardware will I need (cables, etc.). I have an older 27" TV that accepts S-Video, Component and Composite, but I will purchase an LCD TV in a few years. Thanks in advance.

2

If your TV accepts S-Video input, as long as you have a graphics card that does S-Video output, you should be able to hook your TV directly to the back of your PC and display things on it as though it were a secondary monitor. This is probably the simplest way of doing it, and since many graphics cards on the market today support S-Video out (such as this inexpensive nVidia 8600GT from EVGA), it might be your best option. Aside from the card, all you’d need is a standard S-Video cable.