Standard Home PC for HTPC?
#1
I got a great deal on an "open box" PC at Tiger Direct that I have been using for an office PC for a month or so. Windows 7 Home 64 bit, 3.2 Ghz, 4 Gig Ram, 500 GB HD, HDMI output. I set it up with XBMC and it seems to be rocking it pretty well.

Besides a good input device, is there anything else I need to look out for when using an off the shelf Dell that I might not be thinking of? From what I can tell the specs are above most recommendations for an HTPC and I only paid $220 for this thing.
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#2
bnlforever Wrote:I got a great deal on an "open box" PC at Tiger Direct that I have been using for an office PC for a month or so. Windows 7 Home 64 bit, 3.2 Ghz, 4 Gig Ram, 500 GB HD, HDMI output. I set it up with XBMC and it seems to be rocking it pretty well.

Besides a good input device, is there anything else I need to look out for when using an off the shelf Dell that I might not be thinking of? From what I can tell the specs are above most recommendations for an HTPC and I only paid $220 for this thing.

Sounds like you got a great deal.

What's the GPU on it?
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#3
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD

Here is the full specs:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...CatId=4928
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#4
I have read that the X4500HD will play 1080P smoothly, but that is definitely the weakest link in your system.

Someone with more knowledge may be able to help more, but I would recommend buying a dedicated graphics card to put in that machine. Shouldn't have to spend more than $40 (US) to get a good enough card to future proof your machine.

I would wait for another opinion though.... maybe eskro knows a good card for you.
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#5
Awesome. I'll keep plugging away and learning about all this stuff.
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#6
yes, the X4500HD plays 1080P right off the bat.
no need for a separate GPU here.
just allocate 512MB or shared memory to your X4500HD in your BIOS
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Standard Home PC for HTPC?0