[ragnaroc]

Hi

I'm planning on building a desk PC / htpc platform (with XBMC on windows 7 or linux, don't know yet)
Can you confirm me that this build is powerfull enough to watch 1080 HD files (bluray rips, mkv, etc) ?

Case : Antec NSK2480 (HTPC µATX alim Earthwatt 380W)
MB : Giga 880GM-UD2H (µATX AM3+DDR3+CG+PCI-E)
Proc : AMD Athlon II X2 245 (2.9 Dualcore AM3)
CPuFan : Shuriken(HTPC) 754/939/AM2/AM3/478/775/1156/1366
RAM : 2x2 = 4 Go DDR3-1333 PC10600 Kingston (kit)
64 Go SATA SSD OCZ Onyx MLC

- The MB contains a Ati HD 4250 graphic card. Is this OK ? do I need a dedicated graphic card ?
- What about the processor ? Do i need something more powerfull ? a quad core ? athlon II X3 ? X4? Intel i3 ?
- I heard there is some problems between XBMC and Intel i3, is this true ?

ps: i don't need tnt / recording etc

Thanks a lot

[poofyhairguy]

That is a pretty hefty build. It can do way more than 1080p. The only thing I will say is that if you want to use XBMC Live (aka Linux) you are gonna need to add an Nvidia GPU. In fact, from the get-go even in Windows I would prefer an Nvidia GPU and 2GB of RAM over 4GB of RAM and the onboard GPU.

[ragnaroc]

Thanks for the quick reply

But I didn't get what you said in the last part (english isn't my first langage :p) :

I would prefer an Nvidia GPU and 2GB of RAM over 4GB of RAM and the onboard GPU.

- do you mean that the best choice is a dedicated nvidia graphic card ? (so i could keep the motherboard I wanted and just not use the onboard GPU ?)
- If so, what is the minimum nvidia graphic card to use ?
- And, under linux, having 1 onboard GPU and 1 dedicated GPU at the same time won't cause problems ?

- and why do you talk about the ram ? is that important ? or is it just to notice me that for the same price I can have a nvida graphic card ? (i'll eventually install a windows 7 additionnaly to linux, so it'll be more comfortable with 4GB)


- Ok so my build seems good, nothing to add about the processor? X2 is OK ?

Thanks a lot

[poofyhairguy]

- do you mean that the best choice is a dedicated nvidia graphic card ? (so i could keep the motherboard I wanted and just not use the onboard GPU ?)

Yes.

- If so, what is the minimum nvidia graphic card to use ?

Nvidia GT210

- And, under linux, having 1 onboard GPU and 1 dedicated GPU at the same time won't cause problems ?

No, not at all.

- and why do you talk about the ram ? is that important ? or is it just to notice me that for the same price I can have a nvida graphic card ? (i'll eventually install a windows 7 additionnaly to linux, so it'll be more comfortable with 4GB)

Any RAM more than 2GB won't help any with media playback. You really need and Nvidia card.

- Ok so my build seems good, nothing to add about the processor? X2 is OK ?

That part looks great.