Upgrading old rig to a HTPC, please advise
Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:08 am
Hello, first time poster and have some questions regarding an upgrade that I am currently planning.
Currently on an old amd xp system, 2400xp 1gb ram. Wish to convert it to an HTPC in the near future to experiment around with however I am not too clear with what are required for it to function (really sucky with display ports the new hi-def stuff, barely got my xbox360 to display on my lcd monitor).
Also there are some parts which I wish to recycle from my current system, 2x IDE hdds: a WD 100GB & Seagate 320GB. PSU if possible, an antec truepower 480w, sound card, x-fi xtrememusic and my optical drives.
I came up with these parts, please advise:
CPU: AMD x2 3800+ (Want to go dual core, is there a need to get the higher end chips for a HTPC?)
HSF: Thermalright SI-128 (can it be run passively?)
Motherboard: Abit NF-M2 Nview (Mainly because it supports more than 2 IDE devices, was recommended the Asus M2NPV-VM its cheaper, however I read a couple of complaints about compatibility issues.)
Ram: 2gb or is it overkill, are there any specific clock speeds or brands that I should be looking for?
Graphics: Asus 7600 GS Silent (I still plan to game a little on this system before I build my primary gaming rig, also I think adding a graphics card over the integrated one won't hurt right, or is it just plain redundant.)
TV Tuner: This is where I start to blur out, any recommendations?
Casing: Currently using a Lian-Li, but since its going to sit beside my TV sooner or later I am looking at the Antec NSK2400, are there any dimension restrictions?
Hope that there isn't anything I missed out, greatly appreciate the suggestions and advice I can get.
Currently on an old amd xp system, 2400xp 1gb ram. Wish to convert it to an HTPC in the near future to experiment around with however I am not too clear with what are required for it to function (really sucky with display ports the new hi-def stuff, barely got my xbox360 to display on my lcd monitor).
Also there are some parts which I wish to recycle from my current system, 2x IDE hdds: a WD 100GB & Seagate 320GB. PSU if possible, an antec truepower 480w, sound card, x-fi xtrememusic and my optical drives.
I came up with these parts, please advise:
CPU: AMD x2 3800+ (Want to go dual core, is there a need to get the higher end chips for a HTPC?)
HSF: Thermalright SI-128 (can it be run passively?)
Motherboard: Abit NF-M2 Nview (Mainly because it supports more than 2 IDE devices, was recommended the Asus M2NPV-VM its cheaper, however I read a couple of complaints about compatibility issues.)
Ram: 2gb or is it overkill, are there any specific clock speeds or brands that I should be looking for?
Graphics: Asus 7600 GS Silent (I still plan to game a little on this system before I build my primary gaming rig, also I think adding a graphics card over the integrated one won't hurt right, or is it just plain redundant.)
TV Tuner: This is where I start to blur out, any recommendations?
Casing: Currently using a Lian-Li, but since its going to sit beside my TV sooner or later I am looking at the Antec NSK2400, are there any dimension restrictions?
Hope that there isn't anything I missed out, greatly appreciate the suggestions and advice I can get.