Is this system fast enough?

[BigFatCow]

i guess this question goes in this forum, if not just move it.

I need to know if dual celeron 400s is enough to watch divx movies on, and to watch tv on with my hauppage Win tv card. This system will have 256 mb of ram, a TNT 2 video card and probally windows 2000.

 

[Rufio]

get a dvd decoder card...it will be fast enough for sure...

or spend a couple hundred dollars and get a faster system.

 

[BigFatCow]

Originally posted by: Rufio
get a dvd decoder card...it will be fast enough for sure...

or spend a couple hundred dollars and get a faster system.

i actually have a dvd decoder card, but will it actually make a difference for watching TV and Divx movies? I also do have other better computers i just want this one for TV and movies in my room.

 

[gtd2000]

It sounds fast enough.

DVD's normally need 350Mhz+ I assume Divx takes less CPU power?

TV cards run fine on crappy old AMD K6-2 300Mhz machines that I have used in the past

 

[Ilmater]

If I were you, assuming you're going to use this as an HTPC, I'd get an AXP 1700+ and undervolt it. Get PC Power & Cooling Silencer fans for the case (trust me, they're dead silent), and a Zalman heatsink. It's either that or buying a new computer that isn't guaranteed to work. If you run an AXP 1700+ at about 1.45V at roughly 1200+ speeds with 256MB of DCDDR, you'll have no problem playing DVDs, it'll be quiet, and you won't break your pocket-book.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: BigFatCow
i guess this question goes in this forum, if not just move it.

I need to know if dual celeron 400s is enough to watch divx movies on, and to watch tv on with my hauppage Win tv card. This system will have 256 mb of ram, a TNT 2 video card and probally windows 2000.

Yeah, it'll run it just fine.

And no, a DVD decoder card will not help divx movies.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: gtd 2000
It sounds fast enough.

DVD's normally need 350Mhz+ I assume Divx takes less CPU power?

no, divx is a more complex format that requires much more CPU power -- Tomshardware and other people here have recommended at least 600-800 MHz. Since playback won't use the second CPU a 400 MHz CPU is probably going to be choppy / stuttery on any hires divx.

And no, the mpeg-2 decoder card won't help with decoding divx.

 

[StraightPipe]

I've got a 450 mhz P3 at home that plays divx fine. only problem I noticed was that on some full length movies(2 hours) the sound tracking gets off a little bit, (but that might be my divx player. (got it at DIVX.com)

it's got a 3dfx 3000 vid card.
edit: 512 sd ram