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Will this work?

512 Views 9 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  dralb, 
dralb
OK, I have an old Dell 2400 I want to use for an HTPC. This will be used mainly for streaming video from netflix/hulu and watching DVD's. It has a 2.4 celly in it now and I have a 2.6 I can put in. I was also going to use an old MSI card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127294)

Will this be enough or should I plan to build something more current?
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pioneerisloud
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Originally Posted by dralb
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OK, I have an old Dell 2400 I want to use for an HTPC. This will be used mainly for streaming video from netflix/hulu and watching DVD's. It has a 2.4 celly in it now and I have a 2.6 I can put in. I was also going to use an old MSI card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127294)

Will this be enough or should I plan to build something more current?

You could TRY that X1550 card, and if it doesn't work out, just buy a HD3450 / HD4350 for like $20-30. The Celly is more than enough CPU, you just need a GPU capable of doing the rendering.
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dralb
OK, thx.
Any advice on an OS for this? I have never used anything but windows, but would prefer to not pay for anything. I have a copy of Vista, but I think that is a waste and a bit much for this rig.
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C
XP FTW

Xp would run sweet as on that kit, unless you wanna go linux, but kinda pointless IMO

Regards
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pioneerisloud
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Originally Posted by dralb
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OK, thx.
Any advice on an OS for this? I have never used anything but windows, but would prefer to not pay for anything. I have a copy of Vista, but I think that is a waste and a bit much for this rig.

Well, if its got enough RAM, Vista really wouldn't hurt it any at all. And Media Center is very nice
. I've ALWAYS used Windows, as I just can't understand Linux. So I would say use whatever flavor of Windows you have available for it....assuming it has enough RAM for Vista.
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dralb
The mobo has 2 slots and I have 2x512 for it. Also, I was looking for something free. I don't have any copies of XP anymore, so was going to try Linux or somthing like that. Maybe I'll try Vista just to see how it goes.
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pioneerisloud
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Originally Posted by dralb
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The mobo has 2 slots and I have 2x512 for it. Also, I was looking for something free. I don't have any copies of XP anymore, so was going to try Linux or somthing like that. Maybe I'll try Vista just to see how it goes.

Even with a crippling 1GB of RAM in there, you should be just fine with Vista. I used to run:

Athlon XP @ 2.2GHz
1GB DDR333
7800GS OC AGP card
Leadtek Tuner

And that setup was able to do my HTPC use just fine. Granted I'm only on a 540p TV set. But going up to 1080p (if that's what you're doing), all that requires is a HD3200 or better GPU. I'll bet you'd be fine with 1GB of RAM
.
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dralb
Well, seems to be a small issue. The mobo has no PCIE, lol. I guess I could eitehr find a PCI card or a 478 mobo with PCIE. I don't see this happening. Time to go shopping, I guess.
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pioneerisloud
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Originally Posted by dralb
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Well, seems to be a small issue. The mobo has no PCIE, lol. I guess I could eitehr find a PCI card or a 478 mobo with PCIE. I don't see this happening. Time to go shopping, I guess.

Well, they do exist. Just a LOT more expensive...maybe you can find one easier on ebay or something perhaps...
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dralb
I thought I had an old 939 chip somewhere, but I can't find it. I'll look again as it would be easy for me to just find a cheap mobo for that.
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