[gfrobe]

Sorry if this has been answered before but I've searched and am still really confused about the minimum spec to run XBMC on a Windows PC. The XBMC page says XBMC needs an 86 based computer with a GPU capable of handling OpenGL 2.0. I have an old P3 that I'd like to use but not sure how to know if it's capable of handling OpenGL.2.0. Is there a way to tell? Also, if it can't currently handle it, would purchasing a graphics card work or is the P3 not powerful to run the necessary graphics card. Also, how much RAM is necessary?

I see that the XBMC site also says that for Linux a P4 is needed but not sure if that minimum also applies to the Windows version of XBMC.

Thanks in advance for clearing up all of this confusion for me!

[cold_realms]

Sorry if this has been answered before but I've searched and am still really confused about the minimum spec to run XBMC on a Windows PC. The XBMC page says XBMC needs an 86 based computer with a GPU capable of handling OpenGL 2.0. I have an old P3 that I'd like to use but not sure how to know if it's capable of handling OpenGL.2.0. Is there a way to tell? Also, if it can't currently handle it, would purchasing a graphics card work or is the P3 not powerful to run the necessary graphics card. Also, how much RAM is necessary?

I see that the XBMC site also says that for Linux a P4 is needed but not sure if that minimum also applies to the Windows version of XBMC.

Thanks in advance for clearing up all of this confusion for me!

A PIII will NOT suffice... Thats what the old xbox had and that was very optimised to run on that system. The builds for linux and windows requier MUCH more CPU, esp as most of the video playback is handled by the CPU currently.
Try for a modern CPU like a C2D or whatever crap AMD has out now....

[gfrobe]

Thanks. Currently running XBMC on an old XBOX and wanted to run another XMBC in bedroom. Starting from scratch, I guess it's still much cheaper to simply pick up another used Xbox rather than a used PC that will handle the CPU requirements.

Will turn my PIII into a NAS instead!

[xbs08]

What's the cpu clock speed?

XBMC will run on a OpenGL 1.4 graphic card.

[gfrobe]

What's the cpu clock speed?

XBMC will run on a OpenGL 1.4 graphic card.

It's a PIII 800mhz, which, judging by cold_realm's response, it not enough even with a OpenGL 1.4 graphics card.

[cold_realms]

Yea cause it's not using the gfx card to process video decoding. So most of it must be done in cpu...