Re: HTPC - 460, 5450 or 6750
I have an Onkyo AVR (876) & 5450 also, and it all works like a charm feeding my 50" plasma & my projector.
What drivers are you using for audio over HDMI? You need to use ATI to get bitstreaming working properly in TMT3 (TMT5 is maybe the same?). I can bitstream without issue in TMT3 and Media Player Classic (via Ffdshow).
As for stuttering, do you match your refresh rate to the source material? My HTPC runs @ 23.976hz 99% of the time, and I switch to 50hz or 60hz based on content.