I'm in the process of converting my old PC into a HTPC, and I have a few questions and concerns I'd like to get cleared up. First, the specs of the PC are:
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 2.08GHz
MOTHERBOARD: Asus A7N8X Deluxe
MEMORY: 2x1GB Kingston PC2700 DDR Ram
GRAPHICS: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
HDD: 150GB WD SCSI HD
SOUND CARD: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 (however I use onboard sound as it has S/PDIF)
CASE: Generic silver one?
DISPLAY: 47" Olevia HDTV 1080p
OS: Windows XP SP3
There are few things I would like to change/have in this machine:
1. Smooth playback of 1080p HD content.
-as of now, my PC can play 720p files just fine, and some lower bitrate 1080p content. But most of the time, 1080p files are choppy, and it seems to be my CPU that can't handle it (100% usage in task manager). I'm using CoreAVC which was better than ffdshow, but still choppy with some movies.
So which is the (cheapest) processor that will allow me to play 1080p content stutter free? And will my motherboard even support such a processor (Asus A7N8X deluxe)? Also is it necessary to upgrade my video card (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb)?
2. A quieter machine
-what options do I have to make my PC quieter? Right now I have some big silver generic case.
If I get one of the cases recommended in the stickied guide to building an HTPC, will it make the machine more silent? Also, I'm not really sure but are cpu coolers alternatives to fans? Would this help the noise problem at all?
3. New case (related to #2)
-one requirement I'd like to have in a new case is the ability to turn the PC on from a shut down/hibernated state. Apparently my motherboard (Asus A7N8X deluxe) does support this, but I'm having trouble setting it up, but I can look into that later. I'm planning on picking up a Logitech Harmony 520, so I'd like to be able to start up the PC using it.
That's all I can think of right now.
Any help is appreciated.
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 2.08GHz
MOTHERBOARD: Asus A7N8X Deluxe
MEMORY: 2x1GB Kingston PC2700 DDR Ram
GRAPHICS: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb
HDD: 150GB WD SCSI HD
SOUND CARD: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 (however I use onboard sound as it has S/PDIF)
CASE: Generic silver one?
DISPLAY: 47" Olevia HDTV 1080p
OS: Windows XP SP3
There are few things I would like to change/have in this machine:
1. Smooth playback of 1080p HD content.
-as of now, my PC can play 720p files just fine, and some lower bitrate 1080p content. But most of the time, 1080p files are choppy, and it seems to be my CPU that can't handle it (100% usage in task manager). I'm using CoreAVC which was better than ffdshow, but still choppy with some movies.
So which is the (cheapest) processor that will allow me to play 1080p content stutter free? And will my motherboard even support such a processor (Asus A7N8X deluxe)? Also is it necessary to upgrade my video card (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb)?
2. A quieter machine
-what options do I have to make my PC quieter? Right now I have some big silver generic case.
If I get one of the cases recommended in the stickied guide to building an HTPC, will it make the machine more silent? Also, I'm not really sure but are cpu coolers alternatives to fans? Would this help the noise problem at all?
3. New case (related to #2)
-one requirement I'd like to have in a new case is the ability to turn the PC on from a shut down/hibernated state. Apparently my motherboard (Asus A7N8X deluxe) does support this, but I'm having trouble setting it up, but I can look into that later. I'm planning on picking up a Logitech Harmony 520, so I'd like to be able to start up the PC using it.
That's all I can think of right now.
Any help is appreciated.