[Saixbmc]

Hi guys just need your opinion on this setup

Specs are the following..
Intel core duo e2160 @ 1.79ghz (Overclocked to 3Ghz Perfectly)
4gb DDR3 ram
Gigabyte G41M-Combo Mobo
500gb wd greenpower hdd
DVD rewriter
ATI Hd 5450 Sapphire passive graphics card
D-vine home theatre pc case with VFD
Internal card reader + Extra USB Slot

Do you think the graphics card is good enough or should i ditch it for an gt 210 ?

thanks for looking

[nemek]

Do you think the graphics card is good enough or should i ditch it for an gt 210 ?

That depends on your needs. On win7 it should play everything for linux you may use this or follow many guides available here and get it working by yourself.

[eskro]

true, you should be fine with WIndows7....
but not for LINUX...

[wicky]

Yea the HD 5450 is a perfect card for decoding in windows vista/7, I ran one for a long time before switching to the zacate platform im using now. You could prolly knock the chip back to stock speeds and save a few watts and cut heat output, since using a GPU for decoding pretty much guarantees your cpu will never see more than about 20% load while watching typical 1080p content.

Even if you thought about upgrading for some reason, I'd suggest holding off a bit longer anyway as the new midrange cards from ATI and Nvidia will not be a long ways off, then you'll get a passively cooled gpu with upgraded decoding engine, and HDMI 1.4 compliance. You wont really gain anything by upgrading the card now.

[Saixbmc]

Thanks guys for your input