Upgrade for media PC.

bliss

bliss

bliss

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Recently built myself a media PC from spare parts.

A64 3200+ Venice
Asus A8N-E
2GB G.Skill DDR

The first thing i noticed is that it deals with any 720p hd rips without a sweat, but as i knew when i built it the hope of it playing 1080p rips was pretty much out of the question..... but i want 1080p only now. :D

How does this look as an upgrade?

Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail
Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L Intel P31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Is there any glaring problems? Is the RAM compatible? Will it boot up at the default 1.8V RAM voltage and let me in the BIOS? Is this upgrade powerful enough for what i want to use it for? (My e6750 handles 1080p with ease).

And last but not least a very important question that i need to know before buying. From what i can tell the GB P31 DS3L has a digital coaxial out. Is this correct? Are there any problems with the digital connections/onboard sound? as i'm going to be connecting it to my DD/DTS amp.

TIA. :cool:
 
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The basic system is fine and should boot/run without any issues. I don't know about running 1080p but since that combination should allow you to at least reach the same speed as your E6750 if not faster I can't see it being an issue.

I'm afraid that I don't know about digital co-ax so I won't even attempt that part.
 
Thanks for the info so far semi-pro. Does anybody on this forum have this board? :p

Oh and one more thing. The Antec earthwatts 380w PSU that came with the case i bought shouldn't be a problem right?
 
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The PSU would be no issue for that system as posted, however I've just realised you haven't put up what graphics card you will be using - the motherboard doesn't come with onboard. :)
 
Yea i forgot to add that. I'll be using what's currently in that PC. A 7800GT.

Calling all P31 DS3L owners! :D
 
MPC and Core AVC Pro. If the file 1080p file has a lowish bitrate, say 7000 i can play it. But most of them have 10,000+ bitrates and that's when the CPU maxes out and the inevitable stuttering starts.
 
bliss said:
MPC and Core AVC Pro.
Click to expand...

Ah, was going to suggest that...



I'm using an E2140 (OC'ed to about 2GHz IIRC) in my HTPC, which plays high bitrate 1080p's fine.



A defrag could help with the stuttering if you haven't run one already.



Edit: Does your amp have an HDMI input? If so, you could get the Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H, which has onboard video and an HDMI port.

It's an mATX board though.
 
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Sadly it doesn't. My amp is about 3 years old now so it's pre HDMI, hence i'm using coaxial for audio.

I'll try the defrag, but i'm pretty sure it won't help. Poor A64 is really starting to show it's age. :D

edit: Does the motherboard you suggest have audio out only via HDMI?
 
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Ok, last bump. I'm going to be going with the above spec and ordering by 6pm. So if anybody has any more info, please let me know asap. :D
 
I was thinking of that at first. But i have £130 burning a hole in my pocket and i didn't know what to do with it.

Plus it's more hardware to tinker with. :p
 
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