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lxs07 · 2012-05-05, 10:46

Building my first htpc out of a really old dell. Windows xp sp3, Pentuim 2.0ghz, 512mb nvidia geforce 8400 gs, and 2gb ram. It seems to be able to play most 720p videos so long as the file size isn't over 2gb, so I'm thinking about getting a 1gb video card ( thinking about getting a used NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2) would this be enough to play 1080p video smoothly?

PS Im looking to spend little to no money since ill most likely be buying a new comp and using my main PC as a new htpc. Thanks in advance

eskro · 2012-05-05, 11:14

first off, u need windows7 to enjoy hardware acceleration within XBMC.
then, im sure that your current setup is enough to play 1080P.

CpTHOOK · 2012-05-05, 11:22

(2012-05-05, 11:14)eskro Wrote: first off, u need windows7 to enjoy hardware acceleration within XBMC.
then, im sure that your current setup is enough to play 1080P.

What of he went with a Linux option instead of Windows?

live4ever · 2012-05-05, 19:54

Definitely don't get 7950 GX2 because it won't do any video acceleration.

Go for a GT 200 series, GT 430 or GT 520 and Linux or OpenELEC as the operating system (Win7 too if you want to spend $).

lxs07 · 2012-05-05, 20:22

I'll look into those graphic cards see if I can find a cheap one

I have a fake copy of windows 7 and a genuine key I got from a broken down PC at work a few months ago. Not sure if the key is still good or if the broken PC was fix. Anyways i originally got it to upgrade my main PC to windows 7 64bit but was too scared that I'd lose my programs.

Will I be able to upgrade to 32 bit using a 64 bit key? And what would happen if that other PC was up and running with the same key? I have a 30gb hdd to run the os and a 500gb hdd with all my stuff on it so I shouldn't lose anything if I try right?

Thanks again

eskro · 2012-05-05, 21:05

(2012-05-05, 11:22)CpTHOOK Wrote:
(2012-05-05, 11:14)eskro Wrote: first off, u need windows7 to enjoy hardware acceleration within XBMC.
then, im sure that your current setup is enough to play 1080P.

What of he went with a Linux option instead of Windows?

i answered win7 since the guy uses XP.
so i think he's a windows lover Tongue

aragorn · 2012-05-06, 14:21

FWIW my media center runs a similarly old setup (its a 1.4ghz AMD Sempron) and does 1080p just fine.

The 8400 will do 1080p decoding (the 79xx wont however) no problem. I recently swapped the 8400 out for a GT220 (which was dirt cheap) as i needed a HDMI port, and my AV Reciever didnt like the DVI to HDMI converter i was using with the 8400.

I use linux, dont like the baggage of windows for a role like this, you should try XBMCbuntu and save messing around with dodgy windows keys.

lxs07 · 2012-05-06, 20:23

I'm getting a gt 430 for $30 and I'm starting to research Linux I guess its about time I started to thanks again for the help guys