Home Theater project - need input
So here is the setup as of now:
CASE: COOLER MASTER Elite 360
MOBO: MSI MS-7184 v1.0
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ w/Stock HSF
RAM: 2GB DDR SDRam PC3200
Optical: Older OEM HP DVD / CDRW
PSU: ZALMAN ZM500-RS 500 Watts
HD: Kingston SSD 64GB + 2GB WD SATA II
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR2 (DVI/HDMI/DSUB)
I am loading some 720p movies now to Media Center with the suggestions from post above and had some issue with playback. I did some research and purchased / installed CoreAVC to help decode the video form .mkv files & AC3 filter to decode on the audio side. as a result I can now view 720p h/x.264 movies smoothly and output to my LCD TV via the HDMI cable. I am a happy camper!
Lots more to do and tweak but so far I like this setup alot.
CASE: COOLER MASTER Elite 360
MOBO: MSI MS-7184 v1.0
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ w/Stock HSF
RAM: 2GB DDR SDRam PC3200
Optical: Older OEM HP DVD / CDRW
PSU: ZALMAN ZM500-RS 500 Watts
HD: Kingston SSD 64GB + 2GB WD SATA II
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR2 (DVI/HDMI/DSUB)
I am loading some 720p movies now to Media Center with the suggestions from post above and had some issue with playback. I did some research and purchased / installed CoreAVC to help decode the video form .mkv files & AC3 filter to decode on the audio side. as a result I can now view 720p h/x.264 movies smoothly and output to my LCD TV via the HDMI cable. I am a happy camper!
Lots more to do and tweak but so far I like this setup alot.
- eGoCeNTRoNiX
- Posts: 7362
- Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2002 12:51 pm
- Location: HELL
Ugh, issues. Got the vid card in and for some reason no matter what I set the motherboard graphics card at it will not display anything. i tried the vid card on another machine and it works fine. Could my motherboard not support this vidcard? I just tried the DVI & D-Sub outputs, not the HDMI output.
Now to think of it, This motherboard is PCIe v1.0 and this card per Sapphire is backwards compatible to 1.0....but perhaps it is not. Could that be my issue?
I called Sapphire to ensure that this card & mobo are compatible, so mad now..
Now to think of it, This motherboard is PCIe v1.0 and this card per Sapphire is backwards compatible to 1.0....but perhaps it is not. Could that be my issue?
I called Sapphire to ensure that this card & mobo are compatible, so mad now..
I looked it up and all I could find is this one:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-39428-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=228&product=1127351&sw_lang=
It is not citing any fixes to PCIe so I would probably be taking a chance in using it. My luck it will brick the darn thing.
I could go get another board on the forums or ebay I guess. Would a board like a DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D be PCIe 2.1 compliant?
Otherwise, in the interim I'll have to stay with 720P only movies for now and tweak the settings in CoreAVC & AC3 to make the playback reasonable.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-39428-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=228&product=1127351&sw_lang=
It is not citing any fixes to PCIe so I would probably be taking a chance in using it. My luck it will brick the darn thing.
I could go get another board on the forums or ebay I guess. Would a board like a DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D be PCIe 2.1 compliant?
Otherwise, in the interim I'll have to stay with 720P only movies for now and tweak the settings in CoreAVC & AC3 to make the playback reasonable.
Before you say it, yeah i know I am crazy...
I picked up a nice AM2 mobo / cpu / ram purchase for $80.00 which would enable me to use my HDMI vid card and future proof my build to enable the use of a Phenom II X2 processors which can be easily unlocked to work as a Quad. If anybody wants to buy any of the old build that is not listed here just send me a PM.
Here's the new specs:
CASE: Lian Li PC 65 (I needed more HD storage space!!)
MOBO: MSI 785GT-E63
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (AM2) w/Stock HSF
RAM: 2GB DDR2 Kingston HyperX
Optical: IDE OEM HP DVD / CDRW
PSU: ZALMAN ZM500-RS 500 Watts
HD: Kingston SSD 64GB (boot)
HD2: WD 2TB SATA II
HD3: WD 1TB SATA II DVD RIPS
HD4: WD 1TB SATA II DVD RIPS
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5450 Fan-less (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR2 (DVI/HDMI/DSUB)
OS: Windows 7 32 Bit w/ XBMC
I still haven't invested in a wireless keyboard, but otherwise what else do you think it needs to be up to the task I listed above + be a place to encode video? I think with 2GB more of ram and a Phenom II.
I picked up a nice AM2 mobo / cpu / ram purchase for $80.00 which would enable me to use my HDMI vid card and future proof my build to enable the use of a Phenom II X2 processors which can be easily unlocked to work as a Quad. If anybody wants to buy any of the old build that is not listed here just send me a PM.
Here's the new specs:
CASE: Lian Li PC 65 (I needed more HD storage space!!)
MOBO: MSI 785GT-E63
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (AM2) w/Stock HSF
RAM: 2GB DDR2 Kingston HyperX
Optical: IDE OEM HP DVD / CDRW
PSU: ZALMAN ZM500-RS 500 Watts
HD: Kingston SSD 64GB (boot)
HD2: WD 2TB SATA II
HD3: WD 1TB SATA II DVD RIPS
HD4: WD 1TB SATA II DVD RIPS
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5450 Fan-less (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR2 (DVI/HDMI/DSUB)
OS: Windows 7 32 Bit w/ XBMC
I still haven't invested in a wireless keyboard, but otherwise what else do you think it needs to be up to the task I listed above + be a place to encode video? I think with 2GB more of ram and a Phenom II.