This computer any good for use as a media centre?

andy_mk3 · 8 Sep 2011 at 20:19

I've been given someone's old PC, it's a HP DX2250. Quick specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.40 GHz
1.5GB DDR2 Ram
160gb SATA drive
Integrated ATI X300 Graphics

It's in a nice looking case, is very quiet and I doubt it draws much power. I'm thinking of using it as a media centre next to my TV.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Throw in a 1/2TB drive, HD5450 or equiv, feeview HD tuner.

Is the base PC good enough for this kind of use? I'm not expecting it to do lots of HD encoding and all that, just something to record and play the media.

Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks.

Robertnpmk · 8 Sep 2011 at 20:21

shouldnt this be in the hardware GD?

Srengam · 8 Sep 2011 at 20:24

Depends on what you mean as "media centre", for edditing etc no it will need upgrading.

For watching / listening it will do but you'd be wise to put in a better graphics card, possibly sound too.

andy_mk3 · 8 Sep 2011 at 20:24

Sugar! Been a long week, just saw general and clicked I guess. Please move?

andy_mk3 · 8 Sep 2011 at 20:24

Srengam said:
Depends on what you mean as "media centre", for edditing etc no it will need upgrading.

For watching / listening it will do but you'd be wise to put in a better graphics card, possibly sound too.

andy_mk3 said:
I'm not expecting it to do lots of HD encoding and all that, just something to record and play the media.

d_brennen · 8 Sep 2011 at 20:28

Single core CPU will hold it back a bit when you are playing stuff that isn't gpu accelerated. Apart from that decent enough

I am using a HP dc5750 with an Athlon X2, 2GB RAM low profile HD 6450. Only has an 80GB drive though but I use a 4TB NAS

andy_mk3 · 8 Sep 2011 at 20:30

d_brennen said:
Single core CPU will hold it back a bit when you are playing stuff that isn't gpu accelerated. Apart from that decent enough

I am using a HP dc5750 with an Athlon X2, 2GB RAM low profile HD 6450. Only has an 80GB drive though but I use a 4TB NAS

Ok cheers

It's worth throwing in a dual core athlon then I guess? They go pretty cheap nowadays I think!

Frozennova · 8 Sep 2011 at 21:10

Will be fine if your using xbmc throw in a basic passive GPU that does sound over hdmi and you'll be well away.the price of a dual core probably isn't worth it, I sold for £40 about 12 months ago

d_brennen · 8 Sep 2011 at 21:13

andy_mk3 said:
Ok cheers It's worth throwing in a dual core athlon then I guess? They go pretty cheap nowadays I think!

If the machine supports it, and you can unload your Athlon 64 for a couple of quid then yeah. I think us enthusiasts get a bit too tech snobby tbh. There isn't much this wee Athlon II I have can't handle media wise.

andy_mk3 · 8 Sep 2011 at 21:18

Ok sounds fair enough. Just put XBMC on it and it's bloody quick actually, plays HD fine, I'll get a normal twin tuner freeview card for now, and hopefully the HD ones will fall in price next year.

I've been wanting to replace my old Thomson 160gb PVR that keeps playing up for a while now, this seems the perfect alternative

Frozennova · 8 Sep 2011 at 22:14

I'm using an Athlon II 235e and GT210 and 2gb cheap ddr3. Plays everything fine and pulls 60w at the wall. if it didn't double up as my nas I'd have it running on az Pico psu

andy_mk3 · 8 Sep 2011 at 22:55

Sounds good to me

I've found an XMBC skin I really like, looks fantastic

andy_mk3 · 11 Sep 2011 at 16:08

Edit: Nevermind

Ordered:
ATI 6450
Samsung F4 2TB
2GB Corsair XMS2
BGT3620 Twin DVB-T2 Tuner
Emprex Windows Media Centre Remote

andy_mk3 · 30 Sep 2011 at 22:14

Just thought I'd update and say it's be working great as a HTPC

Had a few issues with the BG3620, such as channels duplicating and no signal sometimes, but on the whole it works great.