Welcome To Australia's No.1 Media Center Community!
You Are Currently Viewing As A Guest - you'll need to register in order to participate in our community and make this annoying message disappear!
By registering you'll be able to post & reply to questions, set up your own image gallery & blog, communicate privately with other members, create & respond to polls, access downloads and other "members only" features.
Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so why not join our community today - you'll be glad you did!
For any problems with the registration process or your account, please contact support.
How do i need to improve this computer to play recorded HDTV
Hey guys.
I have a spare computer that i have connected to my network to play recorded files from my main media center computer.
Currently it can play sd files, but cannot play HD recorded files.
It's current specs are
PENTIUM 4 2.4GHZ
256MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP 8x
WINDOWS XP
(note : this MB does not have pci-e or pci-e16 slots)
My questions are :
1. What should i upgrade to be able to play hd files ( what amount of ram and what kind of video card - i wanna try keep it as cheap as possible)
2 Is there even a snowballs chance in hell that this rig after ram and video card update that it could run vista media center?
Re: How do i need to improve this computer to play recorded HDTV
HI,
For XP Mediacentre:
CPU is lower limit but ok, if you get 512MB ram (assume DDR1).
Kingston KVR400X64C3AK2/512 Twin pack 512MB PC-3200 DDR 400Mhz Kit (2x256mb sticks)
$49
Graphics I suggest
Hightech ATI 3650 AGP 512MB 128-bit DDR2, 2x Dual Link DVI-I, TV Out, DX10.
$110
For Vista:
CPU is lower limit but ok, if you get 1-2 GB ram (assume DDR1).
CORSAIR VALUE SELECT 1024MB KIT (2X512MB) PC3200 CAS2.5
$85 or
Corsair VS2GBKIT400C3 2GB (2x 1GB) Value Select PC-3200 DDR RAM, CL3
$170 (but 1MB would be Ok, bit sluggish at start
Graphics I suggest
Hightech ATI 3650 AGP 512MB 128-bit DDR2, 2x Dual Link DVI-I, TV Out, DX10.
$110
Cheers
Re: How do i need to improve this computer to play recorded HDTV
Our VMC is a P4 3Ghz with 2GB RAM and an ATI 3450 PCI-E card...I also have an old Dell GX240 in the bedroom running MCE 2005 (Pentium 4 1.7Ghz, 1 GB RAM with nVidia FX5200 256MB AGP card)..the bedroom PC will play HD shows recorded on the main VMC, but only across the wired network (802.11g works, but I get bad stuttering - wired LAN is fine). The bedroom PC will show HD shows locally (but it is connected to a Sony 68cm TV, so it's not actually outputting 1920x1080)...
Jeff
__________________ Vista MCE - Dell Optiplex GX280 SFF/P4 3Ghz HT/2GB RAM/160GB/ATI 3450 PCI-E/Logitech Harmony Xbox 360 remote/Samsung PS42P4H 42" Plasma / Sony 5.1 Amp Xbox 360 Extender (Just for laughs) WHS - Intel E2200, 2GB RAM, approx 2TB of HDD
Re: How do i need to improve this computer to play recorded HDTV
Hi,
Not sure about the 1650, I thought for HD you need at least 2400 upwards.
You might consider mail order to get what you need.
My personal favourite store is Scorptec, no bulls**t.
Re: How do i need to improve this computer to play recorded HDTV
Cool. I'll stay away from it and stick with the 3650.
Another question - i might one day use this comp for a tv in another room. I was thinking it would just be easier to connect it with a 10m hdmi cable into the tv.
1. Does the hdmi output from a video card also carry the audio? That way i only have the hdmi cable connecting the tv to this comp and the usb cable/extendercables for the remote.
2. Could you recommend any models that fit my needs with hdmi?
Re: How do i need to improve this computer to play recorded HDTV
Hey guys,
I've bought the upgrade parts i needed for this job.
1. 2 x 512mb ddr1 400 kingston ram
2. 1 x powercolor hd 3650 512mb ATI agp graphics card.
(also had to buy a new power supply to support the 350W required by the card)
Now i fear i have some serious motherboard issues. With the 2 sticks of ram in there windows will keep restarting itself after the logging in user screen (sometimes after a quick blue screen flash with a tonne of writing thats gone before you can read anything). The memory is recognised and tests ok on bootup but then windows crashes. I hope this can be resolved by reformatting and installing vista. Would you guys agree or if i am experiencing problems now will i be unable to install vista. Interesting thing is though i've tested each stick seperately and windows is fine with just the one 512mb in the slot.
The second big problem is that with the 3650 plugged in i get no video signal. The prveious card was a GF4 Ti4200-8x AGP 64mb DDR. Is this new card to powerful for this old motherboard to handle? On the system requirements box it mentions needing 1gb of system ram - so maybe it's not working due to the ram issues i have.
I checked my bios software and it is from 2002 from phoenix technologies. My gut tells me to do a bios flash update, but i wanted to check what the brains trust here think of my situation before any action which could put me worse off.
