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<blockquote data-quote="Tesla" data-source="post: 762614" data-attributes="member: 88010"><p>In the past, we (my brother and I) have been using old PCs for MediaPortal clients. We end up doing just small upgrades to them because most of them are old demoted “gaming class” towers/desktops. I have found this is a good suggested minimum:</p><p>Pentium-4 2.4ghz (or AMD equivalent)</p><p>128mb DX9 compatible nVidia 5200, ATI 9800, AMD 3200</p><p>1024mb RAM</p><p>Wired 100mb ethernet (to these "client" rooms)</p><p>Win-XP and MediaPortal 1.x</p><p></p><p>Main MP systems in Living Room have:</p><p>Above minimum hardware or better</p><p>1000 (gigabit) ethernet networking to main switch</p><p>Windows XP, Vista, or Win-7 computer</p><p>MediaPortal 1.x</p><p></p><p>What we are playing (steaming from main MP “server” to clients by simple Windows file sharing):</p><p>Full quality DVD 4gb-8gb rips - VIDEO_TS folders with full DD 5.1 sound (and chapters, sub-titles, etc.)</p><p>MP4, AVI, and Xvid (compressed videos)</p><p>MP3 and .WAV music</p><p></p><p>But now, we need more client PCs (to do more rooms) and we have run out of old PCs.</p><p></p><p>My question is … is just about any new Dell or HP off-the-shelf PC capable of running MP (and faster than any old 4 year + computer)? I guess the question is really about the integrated graphics. Does MP need anything more than basic 2D and 3D graphics? Is there something I should look for (or something that disqualifies a PC)? Can the WEI scores help?</p><p></p><p>Instead of buying old used computers (that might die at any second) can we just use a new one … even if it’s not an expensive “gaming class” PC. We don’t mind towers because we have plenty of space, and they can be easily worked on and expanded. The newer machines are even quiet as well.</p><p></p><p>If the $100 Windows-7 license is subtracted from the $350 cost, that means this computer is only $250. I’m not sure I can even buy a dual-core computer in pieces from NewEgg for $250.</p><p></p><p>What about a Dell Inspirion 570? ($350 at BestBuy or Dell.com)</p><p></p><p>AMD Athlon II X2 Processor 245 (2.9ghz Dual Core)</p><p>4GB Memory</p><p>ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics (pretty sure it uses shared memory)</p><p>Spare PCIe 16x graphics slot (for later expansion … like maybe for HD … years from now)</p><p>500GB Hard Drive</p><p>Windows-7 Home Premium</p><p></p><p>I know “shared memory” works because my main MP box works with an on-board ATI 3200 with shared 256mb (so I pulled out the dedicated nVidia 8600). Plus, I see people here talking about using Atom machines. Seems like with the above machine and a Media Center compatible RC-6 Rx/Tx IR Remote Control set … we are all set … for now and the future.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tesla, post: 762614, member: 88010"] In the past, we (my brother and I) have been using old PCs for MediaPortal clients. We end up doing just small upgrades to them because most of them are old demoted “gaming class” towers/desktops. I have found this is a good suggested minimum: Pentium-4 2.4ghz (or AMD equivalent) 128mb DX9 compatible nVidia 5200, ATI 9800, AMD 3200 1024mb RAM Wired 100mb ethernet (to these "client" rooms) Win-XP and MediaPortal 1.x Main MP systems in Living Room have: Above minimum hardware or better 1000 (gigabit) ethernet networking to main switch Windows XP, Vista, or Win-7 computer MediaPortal 1.x What we are playing (steaming from main MP “server” to clients by simple Windows file sharing): Full quality DVD 4gb-8gb rips - VIDEO_TS folders with full DD 5.1 sound (and chapters, sub-titles, etc.) MP4, AVI, and Xvid (compressed videos) MP3 and .WAV music But now, we need more client PCs (to do more rooms) and we have run out of old PCs. My question is … is just about any new Dell or HP off-the-shelf PC capable of running MP (and faster than any old 4 year + computer)? I guess the question is really about the integrated graphics. Does MP need anything more than basic 2D and 3D graphics? Is there something I should look for (or something that disqualifies a PC)? Can the WEI scores help? Instead of buying old used computers (that might die at any second) can we just use a new one … even if it’s not an expensive “gaming class” PC. We don’t mind towers because we have plenty of space, and they can be easily worked on and expanded. The newer machines are even quiet as well. If the $100 Windows-7 license is subtracted from the $350 cost, that means this computer is only $250. I’m not sure I can even buy a dual-core computer in pieces from NewEgg for $250. What about a Dell Inspirion 570? ($350 at BestBuy or Dell.com) AMD Athlon II X2 Processor 245 (2.9ghz Dual Core) 4GB Memory ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics (pretty sure it uses shared memory) Spare PCIe 16x graphics slot (for later expansion … like maybe for HD … years from now) 500GB Hard Drive Windows-7 Home Premium I know “shared memory” works because my main MP box works with an on-board ATI 3200 with shared 256mb (so I pulled out the dedicated nVidia 8600). Plus, I see people here talking about using Atom machines. Seems like with the above machine and a Media Center compatible RC-6 Rx/Tx IR Remote Control set … we are all set … for now and the future. [/QUOTE]
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