[Gordo74]

Hey all, I just discovered XBMC and it truly looks like the sophisticated, polished design I've been looking for to deliver my media library onto my TV. I currently have an "extra" computer that is running Windows XP with the following specs.

AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 3000+ (Venice Core)
1GB PC3200 DDR RAM
ATI 3450 AGP Low Profile card with HDMI output including sound
160GB HDD

Now I've been looking through all the options and I'm looking for a little guidance. I can either install the build on Windows (which would require me to run various scripts I take it to run it at startup at full screen but would let me use the box for torrents and it would use programs like the renamer to name and sort the files) or I could install the Live distro (or so I think?)

So I'm obviously looking for a little input on that.

Another question I have is how will this setup handle HD playback? I have various 720p and 1080p rips of different things, but I have no clue if this will have the "firepower" to do it. I also have another box that I am not using that has:

Intel 2.4Ghz 533fsb
1GB DDR Ram
ATI 3450 Video card w/HDMI
160GB HDD

Which do you think would do better?

Also I'm just looking for some of the "really helpful" tweaks that I know people like to do once I get this up and running to make XBMC that much better. Any input would be nice in any/all of these areas.

Thank you.

[Gordo74]

Bump. Any advice on the above would be appreciated for a newbie trying to get into this.

[RandomXBMCUser]

My Athlon X2 3800+ will not play HD smoothly by itself, unless paired with Windows 7 and a DXVA-supported graphics card (in my case, a $50.00 HD 5450). With that combo, my system plays everything I throw at it flawlessly.

I'm sure both systems you have would be comparable in performance, but without W7 and a graphics card that supports DXVA, you'll most likely run into performance issues when watching HD content.

[Flomaster]

buy an Nvidia GT210 or GT220 if you want to watch Live TV using the computer and call it a day.

either one should do well running Ubuntu, or XBMC-LIVE.. im not a windows fan.

-=Jason=-

[Gordo74]

According to ATI, the 3450 supports hardware decoding, does XBMC utilize this? The biggest limitation I've found is that these computers both only have AGP slots, so I'm looking for HD out of that somehow. Suggestions?

[Czechmarty]

My best suggestion (and I'm not trying to be a smart as* ) - The software is free. Why don't you download it and give it a shot. There are many factors to consider, not only the PC itself. What is your TV setup, what resolution are your movies, the format of movies, etc. Set it up with a few movies and you will see. I've personally never tried to drive TV with AGP card, but who knows.
Cheers!
Martin

[YodaEXE]

For the record, you don't need to run any fancy "scripts" or anything to use XBMC in Windows. I've got it running on an Aspire Revo attached to my TV running Windows 7, and all I do is have it in the Startup folder in the Start Menu. It just starts up when I boot and goes to town. This also allows me to have SABnzbd+ and SickBeard running in the background.