Video Asylum TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Video Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Building a home theater PC on the cheap. Need advice.

Posted by soundnut (A) on November 18, 2010 at 06:46:35

Hey all.

I'm wanting to build a HTPC (home theater PC) on the dirt cheap to get me by for awhile 'til I can upgrade. Here's what I have laying around that I'm planning on using for the project:

1) 2.1 GHz Compaq Presario CPU
2) 1GB RAM
3) a couple of 1TB drives
4) Windows XP
5) DVD-RW drive

Here's what I want it to do:

1) Record one stream of 720p TV from the outdoor antennna using a PCI DVR card (which I haven't bought yet)
2) Stream NetFlix (requires Windows for Silverlight plugin. Otherwise, I'd be using Linux.)
3) Playback saved DivX movies ripped from my DVD collection.
4) Playback DVDs.

Will this system be fast enough to do this stuff on a fairly reliable basis? I'm kinda cash-strapped at the moment, so I can't afford to spend a lot of dough on this project.

Any recommendations on a good HDTV PCI DVR card with remote that would be a good fit and work under Windows XP and Windows 7? (I want to be able to use the card in a later system under Windows 7 with Media Center.)

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Cheers,
Bobbo :-)

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Parts Connexion

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---