cheap media center PC?

[Andy87]

well i have an old p3 machine sitting around with 256 mb of the ole pc133 memory in it, and a 40 gig hard drive. well i was wondering if i added another stick of 256 memory to it ($25) and another hard drive most likely 250 gigs ($100) and a video card and a tv tuner card. would it be a decent (for the money) media center pc you think? i would like to put dvds (that i own already) on the hard drive for fast access and watch them on a 32" tv via an s video out. also would like to record different tv shows.

two more questions

am i missing any parts that i would need to do this?

also, what would be a good video card (moderately priced) to accomplish this?

Thanks in Advance

 

[lhuser]

What's the CPU speed?

 

[Andy87]

one gigahertz

 

[lhuser]

OK, you might as well buy them, but, don't swear at anything if it gets laggy. I'd say that you can buy a new PC with it. To save you time and...well...compability issues with PSU and such

 

[Andy87]

wont it mainly depend on the video card and the quality of the hard drive? do you really think lag will be that much of an issue?

 

[kev]

Yes and a computer like that you are going to be limited on videocards im sure it only has AGP 4x. If you must go AGP you will want 8x and perhaps the 7800GS

 

[lhuser]

OK, if you want a video card that will work with Media Center, get a Geforce 5200. This PC s not made for gaming. Next, buyall you need and then Windows XP MCE is ready for you

Yes and a computer like that you are going to be limited on videocards im sure it only has AGP 4x. If you must go AGP you will want 8x and perhaps the 7800GS

He doesn't NEED a 7800GS...he won't game. Our purpose is not to waste money

 

[Andy87]

yes a 7800gs would be overkill, if i was going to buy one of those, i would just build a better computer; however, my tax return was not what i thought it would be. i was thinking along the lines of a 6600 series, 256mb and yes i only have one agp4x and 3 more pci slots available. i have already purchased a maxtor 250 gig drive (brand new) from ebay for 50 bucks, and no shipping because he lives 10 miles away from me. so i am already 50 bucks ahead on my budget!

 

[kev]

But he wants to power a 32inch screen a 5200 wont do that.

 

[lhuser]

But he wants to power a 32inch screen a 5200 wont do that.

Ahem, yes it will. I know it sinc eI have that card