XBMC HTPC using the oldest/crappiest hardware
#1
Everyone and their grandmother has a story to tell about how well XBMC runs on the latest/greatest hardware. I thought I'd do the opposite--and related how well it runs on the oldest/crappiest hardware--if only to give hope to those like myself who are of (clears throat) limited means. I had an old Dell Dimension 2400 desktop lying around that I had bought a few years earlier from Goodwill here in Austin. At the time it was certainly an OK system but it only had half a meg of memory and really crappy on-board Intel graphics and so I later added a gig of RAM and a PCI graphics card (yeah, I know AGP would've been better, but it didn't even have an AGP slot). So here's the overall specs:

Dell Dimension 2400
2.4ghz P4
1.5 gbytes memory
Nvidia Geforce 8400 GS "Verto" PCI graphics w/512 mbytes memory

For connecting to the network, I used a NetGear WNCE2001 "universal wireless internet adapter", (which I highly recommend to anyone running a Linux-based O/S given the O/S sees it as just an ethernet connection and hence there's less configuration issues). BTW, I found that the NetGear adapter for some reason wouldn't work with our Motorola DSL modem and so I had to connect a NetGear N150 (WNR1000) 10/100 router to the modem and connect to it instead...

Considering the modest hardware involved, the results are rather amazing. The system streams both standard definition and 720 HD videos smooth as silk off the internet. I'm not sure whether it can stream 1080 HD videos although it seems like I had done this. It streams well off my network as well although I haven't tried streaming any HD videos off of the network yet. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I thought I'd post this because these old Dells can probably be had for less than $50 and I much prefer XBMC over most "off-the-shelf" boxes like Roku because I can temporarily use this system for other purposes just by booting into a Linux Live-CD if I want to run something special purpose like Audacity, Firefox, Open Office or perhaps even Blender... You can't do that on a Roku.

In closing, I'd to thank the XBMC team for their monumental efforts. XBMC is a fine piece of software. Wink
Reply
#2
I run XBMC on an old 2.4GHz HP with 512MB of RAM. I have some sort of old Nvidia AGP card that does S-VIDEO out into my equally old 27" CRT TV. It does Netflix and mpeg4 ripped DVDs just fine.

The fancier skins don't work well, but I tend to like simple (high spouse acceptance factor), and confluence works fine.

Looking at the some of the builds around here with quad core CPUs and 8GB of ram crack me up.

I have simple tastes...
Reply
#3
Cool, and on just 512MB! Are you running XBMC on top of a full O/S or did you install it from the XBMCbuntu live CD? I suspect the latter, which is what I'd done.
Reply
#4
(2012-08-03, 17:34)GomezAddams Wrote: card that does S-VIDEO out into my equally old 27" CRT TV.


I have simple tastes...

Obviously.....the latest and greatest would be completely wasted on a 27" CRT
Main HTPC:
Intel e4600 + AMD HD5450 + Antec NSK2480B case + 4gb ddr2 + Earthwatts 430 + 1.5tb Seagate 7200 + XBMC Rapier Qualar Mod Skin + Win7
Office HTPC/Ripper/Server:
AMD x4 635 + GT220 + Antec 300 case + 4gbddr3 + OCZ ModXStream 500 psu + 3x2tb WD green drives + Win7
Reply
#5
The children have an old laptop in their room with a t2300 cpu, shared memory on a intel graphiccard, 2gb ram, it's running Vista.

XBMC working without any hickups with confluence skin, streaming dvd and xvid movies for them without any troubles. It can't do any 720p.
Reply
#6
You guys crack me up,.....Rofl

You ever see the movie Jaws?
In it there's a scene where the 3 guys on the boat are showing each other the scars they have,..and trying to impress each other.
That what this thread sound like. Love it!
Here's the scar scene from Jaws!
Reply
#7
(2012-08-03, 20:13)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: You guys crack me up,.....Rofl

You ever see the movie Jaws?
In it there's a scene where the 3 guys on the boat are showing each other the scars they have,..and trying to impress each other.
That what this thread sound like. Love it!
Here's the scar scene from Jaws!
My favorite line is "Mary Ellen Moffett.... she broke my heart!". Too bad the clip cut off just as they are starting to talk about the U.S.S. Indianapolis. The mood change from the mirth of swapping scar stories to revealing the horror of the U.S.S. Indianapolis was so abrupt and extreme that it sent chills through me when I first saw Jaws. One of the great movie scenes of all time.

Reply
#8
No attempt to impress here and certainly not by "flaunting" my Dell Dimension 2400 system. Lol! If two or more persons on this forum are actually envious of my hardware then perhaps I could be accused of trying to impress... Nope, just attempting to show what XBMC can do on low-end hardware for the benefit of anyone who might still own such hardware.
Reply
#9
(2012-08-03, 21:29)artrafael Wrote:
(2012-08-03, 20:13)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: You guys crack me up,.....Rofl

You ever see the movie Jaws?
In it there's a scene where the 3 guys on the boat are showing each other the scars they have,..and trying to impress each other.
That what this thread sound like. Love it!
Here's the scar scene from Jaws!
My favorite line is "Mary Ellen Moffett.... she broke my heart!". Too bad the clip cut off just as they are starting to talk about the U.S.S. Indianapolis. The mood change from the mirth of swapping scar stories to revealing the horror of the U.S.S. Indianapolis was so abrupt and extreme that it sent chills through me when I first saw Jaws. One of the great movie scenes of all time.


I totally agree!
I read a book about the USS Indianapolis and what happened,...pretty amazing stuff.
The Captain of the ship was scapegoated and eventually committed suicide.

But I suppose I digress,..this is a XBMC forum and not the History Channel.
I love WW2 history and could discuss for hours. You guys are lucky that I'm stopping now. Wink

(2012-08-03, 23:09)bdubu Wrote: No attempt to impress here and certainly not by "flaunting" my Dell Dimension 2400 system. Lol! If two or more persons on this forum are actually envious of my hardware then perhaps I could be accused of trying to impress... Nope, just attempting to show what XBMC can do on low-end hardware for the benefit of anyone who might still own such hardware.

You're actually right that I'm impressed.
Look anytime you can save yourself (and your family) some money and still be entertained,...then you deserve some decent credit!

Reply
#10
I'm running on Windows XP SP2.

I'm not bragging, I'm just trying to point out to anyone reading the forums that XBMC runs just fine on hardware that can be had for next to nothing, and they shouldn't be put off from trying it out because of all of the quad-core 8GB build threads around here.

Seriously, if you are reading this, and you haven't tried XBMC, give it a shot on whatever you have laying around.

BTW, the reason I'm running the existing setup is that when I took Morticia to look at nice big LCD TVs, and told her we could get rid of the huge old entertainment center in the living room, she decided that would trigger a complete living room remodel. Paint, new carpet and new furniture.

I'll just watch the 27" TV...

Reply
#11
(2012-08-06, 16:42)GomezAddams Wrote: I'm running on Windows XP SP2.

I'm not bragging, I'm just trying to point out to anyone reading the forums that XBMC runs just fine on hardware that can be had for next to nothing, and they shouldn't be put off from trying it out because of all of the quad-core 8GB build threads around here.

Seriously, if you are reading this, and you haven't tried XBMC, give it a shot on whatever you have laying around.

BTW, the reason I'm running the existing setup is that when I took Morticia to look at nice big LCD TVs, and told her we could get rid of the huge old entertainment center in the living room, she decided that would trigger a complete living room remodel. Paint, new carpet and new furniture.

I'll just watch the 27" TV...

Well spoken,..and I totally agree!
I did that very thing myself. I installed XBMC on an old workstation I had,..and it worked fine.
Fortunately I had some spending money and could afford to build a new system.
There are those that see all of these discussions as a pipe dream in respect to their finances.
I agree 1,000% on trying XBMC on whatever you have,..you might be pleasantly surprised.

By the way,...you have an awesome sense of humor.
You had me rolling when I read that a new TV meant a new living room.
It's amazing how they see the big picture when all we want to do is hunt the animal.
Reply
#12
I have dharma currently running on a 1.3 Ghz P4 with 384 MB ram. with an Nvidia 8400GS PCI graphics card, which is the key for hardware accelerated video decode. Its running the Livecd version installed to the HDD using a shared mySQL library. It works pretty well. video playback is flawless, although there is a little stuttering while navigating the library. Ive even had XBMC installed on Pentium 3 systems. As long as you have a gpu capable of hardware decode (and an OS that supports it, xp wont) it runs decently on very minimal hardware.
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
XBMC HTPC using the oldest/crappiest hardware0