current htpc spec
barton 2500xp
1gig ddr
agp 6200 (nv44a)
120gb SATA HDD.
PS2 remote
keysonic wireless keyboard with touchpad
hiper media chassis - water cooled with radiator and pump hiding behind TV.
MCE 2005
speedfan (controls fans on radiator to keep it quiet)
girder 3.3 (reads PS2 zapper and controls MCE)
codecs
koepis Xvid
Ac3 filter (SPDIF passthrough)
haali
coreavc
Nvidia purevideo
Divx 5.02??
connected to toshiba 32wlt58 via vga @ 1368x768 /60HZ and sony STRDE695 receiver via optical cable.
low spec -yes but works a treat.
plays all downloaded HD/DD5.1 tv progs brilliantly.
I normally download heroes/24/lost/prison break x264 .mkv files. ~1.25gb per episode.
plays these brilliantly
have tried HD TS files - these work a treat but they take ~4.5gb per episode.
will not play 720p hd-wmv files smoothly from microsofts website. but it will play them from other sites (weird).
plan was to do it on the cheap using old pc bits. all watercooling gear bought from ebay.
prices soon mount up
case ~£60
slot loading dvd ~£50
6200 ~£30
512mb ram ~£25
pump £15
rad £10
waterblocks (cpu/gpu/northbridge) ~£35
super joybox 5 £?? cant remember
cpu/Mb/another stick of 512mb/ PS2 remote/ ir sensor/ were all things I had lying around.
added optical out by removing connector from an old dvd player and wiring it to the spdif header on the Motherboard.
originally had it air cooled - but to keep the CPU temp below 70deg C meant having the fan running at full speed (louder than a dyson!!).
doubt it will play downloaded hd-dvd/ blu-ray rips. May try one day just to experiment.
Tried vista - wouldnt output ac3 over the optical cable and wouldnt allow me to use the resolution of 1368x768.