[esoterix]

Thanks for the photo mate

No AGP on this board, just PCI

I take it a PCI-E card will not work on my PCI slots ?

No, it will not.

[spartan711]

That card is perfect! Nice job on the find.
Live will >95% just work out of the box!

Actually, I think you should try OpenELEC's version of xbmc first. Its a much smaller distribution, and due to your setup I think it is perfectly suited for it.
http://www.openelec.tv/

Remember to enable DDS fanart! Check the wiki.

Edit: you can also purchase this if you have an aversion to used for 8 bucks more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814187042

[rbrohman]

I don't have the same problem as you regarding jpeg loading. When I select any file, it opens pretty much instantaneously.

Here are some PCI cards for you to consider. One of the 8400GS cards would be a good bet, I have a PCI-E version in a different box that works great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLis...55%3A20548

[Mallet21]

I think you're pretty limited with that board to get a decent HTPC experience. DDR RAM, no AGP slot and no PCI-e slot are probably gonna make this venture more work than it is worth.

[callumogrady]

Spartan - OpenELEC looks fantastic, thanks very much for that find

DDS Fanart, I take it that just makes graphics to run through the onboard Intel GPU?

The newegg ones looks great, but I'm down in Australia and postage would set me back around 3 weeks unfortunately

rbrohman - Thanks for the info and the link, I'm looking at buying in Australia as Newegg is just too slow in shipping to here, I'm so jealous that you guys have that website, Australia dosen't have anything that good unfortunately, its good to reference too though (:

Mallet21 - I think you hit the nail on the head there (hehe if you get what i mean )

I won't be investing any money into this box just yet, just going to wait and see with the Live CD's and distro's. But your definitely correct, I won't be putting any more than $50 into this project, hopefully I won't put any into it because your right, its just not worth it.

[spartan711]

Yup pretty much, or a dedicated graphics card. Actually, you can play 1080p files with the graphics card I listed.

Oh usually I just post newegg because its a good reference place, but feel free to get an 8400gs any way possible.

@mallet

I don't think he's investing really any money. Remember, he got this for free, and planning to use it for the kids. No HD or surround sound needed. He would be fine without the video card (I think...), but I DEFINITELY suggest that he gets it, as he will save on electricity after a year due to P4 energy hog.

[callumogrady]

Okay guys,
Installed Open ELEC via my USB today
Took the good end of um 5 minutes! haha
Stoked, booted up my PC and it runs flawlessly
Menu's are snappy and photos load up quickly.

Am yet to try a movie file or any network file, but so far so good (:

May not even need the Graphics Card after all (:

I ran into a slight problem today but.
I have a VGA to Composite Adapter (VGA to TV)
Hooked it all up to the TV and no damn signal!
Advice?

[spartan711]

If you have S-video out it is much easier to get a signal to the tv. Old TV's are veryyyy finicky with VGA to TV adapters - they're totally different signals. But if you want to take a crack at it, or have a buddy...
http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/vga2rgbs.html

[callumogrady]

Thanks for the page Spartan, I was lost in the first diagram though haha (:

Might just pick up a VGA converter box or something on eBay
Looks the easiest route at the moment I would think.

Can't wait to build the machine for the living room,
Good to work all this stuff out now though (:

[rbrohman]

IMO, you would be much better off picking up a video card with svideo out, assuming your tv has svideo input. I'm batting about .500 trying to get converters/adapters/etc to work, whereas if your tv supports it, svideo will "just work".