2009-06-29, 21:33
My friend's 8400 is a PCI: http://www3.pny.com/8400-GS-512MB-PCI-Lo...9C269.aspx (don't get irritated by the price, that's ridiculous from PNY)
2009-06-29, 21:36
The lowest on ebay is around $60, I'm looking to spend around $30 for one. Can be used.
2009-06-29, 21:39
If I end up with a new mobo, are there any I should look for that have integrated video that will do well?
2009-06-29, 21:57
Haggy Wrote:if you intend to buy a new mobo go with an nvidia ion, nothing else.How do I find out which boards use the ION chipset? Newegg doesn't have that option for video chipset.
2009-06-29, 22:00
imho the best board atm is the Zotac ION-A which has wifi, a dualcore atom and an external PSU for about 200$
2009-06-29, 22:00
ION is a platform, not a chipset (Intel Atom CPU + NVidia 9300M chipset). Any mobo with nvidia 8xxx/9xxx chipset will get you HW decode under linux.
2009-06-29, 22:02
althekiller Wrote:ION is a platform, not a chipset (Intel Atom CPU + NVidia 9300M chipset). Any mobo with nvidia 8xxx/9xxx chipset will get you HW decode under linux.
exactly, but taking into account the TDP of the system when used as a HTPC, it's not a bad idea to go "the full route" and use a complete set with atom 230 or 330 (better flash performance)
2009-06-29, 22:07
Hannes The Hun Wrote:exactly, but taking into account the TDP of the system when used as a HTPC, it's not a bad idea to go "the full route" and use a complete set with atom 230 or 330 (better flash performance)
That's may be a concern for you and I, but isn't for everyone. Especially if you already have all the other components and can get away with a $60 mobo.
2009-06-29, 22:11
The only parts I currently have is a working P3 system with Geforce MX 440 GPU, that's it. I don't know if it would be worth it to buy a new board, celeron cpu and gpu, or board with integrated video, or just get an xbox. When I get an LCD TV I plan to upgrade the HTPC.
2009-06-29, 22:12
yeah, that's why I love VDPAU so much 
if you don't have any usable spare parts, either get an a330 Ion motherboard from zotac or point of view, or go with the asrock system.
I personally wouldn't recommend using the xbox (you mean the 360 right?) as a media center, even with a windows media center PC it's quite useless IMHO...
if you don't have any usable spare parts, either get an a330 Ion motherboard from zotac or point of view, or go with the asrock system.
I personally wouldn't recommend using the xbox (you mean the 360 right?) as a media center, even with a windows media center PC it's quite useless IMHO...
2009-06-29, 22:19
I'm on a super tight budget, so the Atom systems are out of the question right now. I think I'll just try to find an 8400gs and wait until I get an HDTV to take advantage of a better htpc setup.
2009-06-29, 22:20
Superorb Wrote:The only parts I currently have is a working P3 system with Geforce MX 440 GPU, that's it. I don't know if it would be worth it to buy a new board, celeron cpu and gpu, or board with integrated video, or just get an xbox. When I get an LCD TV I plan to upgrade the HTPC.
Well buying a seperate board, cpu, psu...will be definitely more expensive, louder and suck more power than the ion.
2009-06-29, 22:21
What are some light skins to try out? The current system has 288m RAM, and around 170m free while not watching a video. The cpu is at around 40% while idle, but it doesn't help to enable vsync only on video for some reaosn like it does on my q6600 that I'm trying to sell to raise funds.
