Ongoing Converting to an HTPC... (1 Viewer)

[hype88]

right now i have a dell 8400 with the following specs...

P4 3.2Ghz
1.5 GB DDR2 RAM Kingston 200mhz
XP 32-bit
evga Nvidia 8600GTS
Creative SoundBlaster X-FI XtremeMusic
500w Antec EarthWatts Power Supply
Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive
42" Vivio 1080p (DVI>HDMI)

i've updated just about everything now and it's time to get a new computer.. i've been basically using this as an htpc so now i want to keep as many components from the 8400 as i can for my new htpc...

using all this mostly...

160gb SATA internal
500gb and 250gb My Book Externals
Nvidia 8600GTS
Creative SoundBlaster X-FI XtremeMusic
500w Antec EarthWatts Power Supply
Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive

currently i'm not worried about recording or anything.. my main concerns are to beable to watch hd-dvd's and all my other movie and music files smoothly...

i'd like to spend less then 400.. any help would be appreciated as i don't know which cases.. cpu's. motherboards.. etc... i should use....

 

[yatesd]

Do you have any issues playing HD DVD currently?

If not then I would say that you do not need to change anything with regards to the MB and CPU. I am currently using the P4 2.4 and a HD2600 for shifting the HD load from the CPU to the GPU and mine works fine.

The 8600 should also be able to provide HW acceleration for HD content should it not?

Only thing is then whether you wanted a smaller form factor HTPC case like a shuttle in which case you would need to change the MB. Personally I use a Silverstone LC20M which takes a full size MB and has space for 3 HDD's. It provides good insulation as it is a solid as a brick.