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I currently have a working media centre that i put together back in Jan 06 however with the recent go live of HD and much talk about blue ray etc I was thinking that I should upgrade what i can while i can still get parts for the MOBO.
I have:
MOBO: ASUS A8N-E NForce 4 Mainboard
Graphics: GA GForce6600 256MB PCIE/Twin
Mem: 1GB (2 x 512 MB) – DDR PC3200 (184-pin DIMM)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 – 3200 Socket 939
I was wondering what people recommend I upgrade and what would make the most difference.
I was thinking of upgrading the graphics to a Gigabyte GeForce 8600GT for starters but dont know how far to take the memory or CPU (if i can find the parts)
Thanks,
F.
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______________________________________ Case: Antec Overture II Motherboard: ASUS A8N-E Processor: AMD 3200+ Video: Gigabyte 6600 256MB Memory: 1G DDR2 Hard Drives: 200GB Seagate SATA Tuners: Fusion DVB-T Plus, Fusion DVB-T Lite Optical Drive: Poineer DVR 110 DVD Burner Software: Windows MCE 2005, PoweerDVD 6, BladeRunner Pro, Display: JVC 28" Widescreen
As far as HDTV goes, you don't really need to upgrade much at all. My setup is very similar to yours, the only real difference being my graphics card is a 6600 and it does HDTV fine.
I haven't played with Blu-Ray, but I'd be surprised if your current set couldn't handle it with maybe a RAM upgrade only.
I haven't played with Blu-Ray, but I'd be surprised if your current set couldn't handle it with maybe a RAM upgrade only.
I have some doubts here.
You cannot really play with BluRay without HDCP video card. You will have to go composite instead of DVI and suffer quality reduction or it will just not work with DVI/HDMI
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Ah yes, the evils of HDCP. Forgotten about that.
As I said, I haven't played with Blu-Ray. Too expensive and not enough benefits to justify it, in my opinion.
Thanks for the feedback.
I am not all that fussed about blue ray but was just thinking that it was better to upgrade while i still can.
With HDTV (specifically Ten HD) I have found that i get a look almost like there is a shaddow through some blinds sometimes. Its not a big issue however as more appears on HD it might become a bigger issue. I am also hoping to gain WAF for a bigger TV so guess that it will be more apparent. Hence the graphics card upgrade.
Glenn, I will look around for somewhere in Perth to get another 1GB of DDR memory.
I take it that its not worth upgrading my socket 939 CPU?
F.
__________________
______________________________________ Case: Antec Overture II Motherboard: ASUS A8N-E Processor: AMD 3200+ Video: Gigabyte 6600 256MB Memory: 1G DDR2 Hard Drives: 200GB Seagate SATA Tuners: Fusion DVB-T Plus, Fusion DVB-T Lite Optical Drive: Poineer DVR 110 DVD Burner Software: Windows MCE 2005, PoweerDVD 6, BladeRunner Pro, Display: JVC 28" Widescreen
I take it that its not worth upgrading my socket 939 CPU?
It's really up to you. I'm running socket 939 (AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice) in my Vista Media Centre and HD is working fine. I have no plans to upgrade.
I have some doubts here.
You cannot really play with BluRay without HDCP video card. You will have to go composite instead of DVI and suffer quality reduction or it will just not work with DVI/HDMI
Just so you know. There are ways around HDCP even today. I haven't used this software myself but understand it is fully functional as stated.
Yes, I have got the copy, but mostly for regional coding, and some disks which are incompatible with PowerDVD. As well as for my large Region 1 DVD collection.
I prefer to have HDCP done natively, not removed by software as it takes a lot of processing power, or so I believe.
__________________ Don't say Thanks - click the Thanks Button instead :)
Yes, I have got the copy, but mostly for regional coding, and some disks which are incompatible with PowerDVD. As well as for my large Region 1 DVD collection.
I prefer to have HDCP done natively, not removed by software as it takes a lot of processing power, or so I believe.
Good point. Hadn't thought on the implications of software decoding power. I have been starting to upgrade and as most hardware is HDCP compliant anyway. It's not an issue for me.
