Will my old PC be good enough as HTPC

rainbow6six

rainbow6six

rainbow6six

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Frimley, Surrey
Basically, my old PC that I no longer use is gathering dust and I thought I could put it to use as an HTPC. The details are in my signature so I only really need a HTPC case I think..........

OR......... should I get a better CPU, RAM motherboard combo + HTPC case?

I plan on streaming from my NAS so storage isn't too much of an issue.
 
shouldn't have any issues with the right codecs in my opinion (assuming the e6600). I'm quite happy on an x2 4200+ with ati hd5400 gpu. Can play 1080p without any obvious issues over gigabit lan, although your mileage may vary depending on the speed of the nas's network transfer (they're not all full gigabit transfer).
 
The specs look OK as far as playability is concerned, but power consumption, heat and noise (particularly in a SFF case) might be a problem - I was never a great fan of nForce chipsets from a reliability POV either, although your experiences may be better than mine.

Your 8800GTS isn't really ideal for a HTPC - as well as the power/heat issue, it may only support PureVideo VP1 (depending on the model), which IIRC has a limited ability to accelerate HD video. That means your CPU (which is a bit weak by today's standards) might be left doing all the heavy lifting with some types of content.

It'll cost you nothing to try it out of course... you could always get a cheap (modern) graphics card if things don't work out as you'd like.
 
Thanks for help, I'll give it a go like suggested.........I think the heat will be an issue though so a cheap modern GPU might be a go way to go.

EDIT: What GPU would you recommend out of interest?
 
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rainbow6six said:
Thanks for help, I'll give it a go like suggested.........I think the heat will be an issue though so a cheap modern GPU might be a go way to go.

EDIT: What GPU would you recommend out of interest?
Click to expand...
bit late in replying... I'd suggest either
- a low end hd6000 series, such as the hd6450/6570, you can get these passive and relatively cheaply, they're not really a gaming gpu though.

- a low end geforce 600 series, such as the 620 say. Again not really for gaming but it does allow cuda support if using lav splitter/codecs (comes with shark007 codecs).

Didn't notice much difference with lav and cuda enabled on another rig I have with a geforce in though.
 
If you find the heat and noise is too much just plumb for a microserver there sub £100 after the cshback which seems to be a perpetual rollover, add a 5450/6450/gtx 620 and you have a fully functioning HTPC thats low power and relativly quiet and if you like you can run it silent without the fan on. (mine has been stable for 6months with no fan)
 
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