Using Socket 603 Xeon as Media Player

[blue4ice]

I fancy playing around with something a bit different and have been browsing a well known auction site and come across a few server/workstations using the old socket 603 xeons and RDRAM RAM. Most come with around a 2ghz chip (Some 2 CPUs) and around 512mb-1gb RAM.

Would this be sufficient for playing back SD video (VOBs from HDD over a LAN)? I assume it will and Windows XP wont be too sluggish.

I also thyought that when I fancy goign to full HD then I coudl retire this setup to server duties and then get a full dual core setup.

Base units seem to be going for around £60 with the above setup and 18gb SCSI drive and dual head GFX card.

A good idea or not?

 

[akakjs]

I believe you can decode mpeg2 ok on anything above a Pentium 2, so those xeons should eat it for breakfast. However check how much heat they throw out, as they could need some hefty cooling (resulting in loud fans).

akakjs