Possible HTPC build

[eXDee]

I'm looking at making a mediaportal HTPC, and when the main PC gets upgraded a couple of parts will become spare
Zalman CNPS7500-Cu
Intel P4 3.0ghz HT (Northwood?)
MSI 865PE Neo2-V
1gb ddr400 ram
ATi 9600XT 256mb
Sony D Series 40" 1366x768 res

Does anyone know if these specs would be able to handle a h264 DVB-T 720 or 1080 stream? What about two HD streams if i have a second card/tuner recording? Would using different codecs help?
I have a feeling its going to struggle, as everyone elses builds are very high end.

[SwingSultan]

those configurations are mostly overkill. the p4 would probably be enough with a new graphics card. the problem would be to find an agp graphics card with a gpu capable of decoding hd material. there should be radeon hd 2600 or 2400 models. both cards are equally capable of decoding hd stuff. i would recommend the 2400 since it produces less heat but it also has considerably less gaming performance. in any case both cards should be avidable somewhere.

personally i would replace the cpu fan. the 7500 is a fine cooler but a more modern design with heatpipes an a noctua or papst fan is as close to inaudiable as its gonna get with air cooling. an old p4 is not the best foundation for an htpc due to its powerconsumption and heat.

[eXDee]

So a 2004 P4 is going to be enough for h264 720p/1080i? Its not a new P4, its one of the older hot models, thats why i added its a northwood. It still works pretty good though, and the 9600 isnt too bad.

Im not replacing the fan. If you are watching TV chances are you have sound too. Plus our onkyo receiver already has 2x 120mm case fans blowing on it due to it being so hot. No idea how it could survive without them.

[SwingSultan]

the northwood should be enough for hd decoding with a gpu thats capable of hd decoding. most of the cpu load would go to the gpu. if thats not enough you can overclock the p4. the northwoods were excellent for overclocking at their time.

[SwingSultan]

oh i completely forgot that you of course have to buy the agp version of the radeon hd 2400 or 3450. otherwise you could end up buying the pci express version which wouldnt fit in your motherboard.

[eXDee]

From reading around what people are using and have been suggesting, Mpeg4 H.264 streams require a fast CPU or a h264 capable GPU, ie a new expensive one.
However i can play H264 fine on this card, in .TS format, should this be any different for a live stream?

[SwingSultan]

as i said you need a gpu capable of decoding h.264 etc. but it doesnt need to be an expensive card. some people here are using high end cards in their htpcs which is in my opinion a waste of power, money and time if those people happen to work for their money. i think that those people dont understand the meaning of the words dedicated system. the trick when building a htpc is that you carefully choose the hardware and computing power you need to run an efficient, cool (due to the smaller case size) and especially quiet system. you will be fine with a radeon hd 2400 or 2600. if you get a radeon hd 3450 or a 3650 cheaper than the 2xxx models go for it. they are newer and support power saving features. the rest is more or less the same since the gpus only differ in details.