mp3 playback with a P166

[Snuffaluffaguss]

Do mp3 play back well with such a slow computer?, Reason for the question is, I have an old Aptiva collecting dust that I want to turn into mp3 player for the home stereo, would it work?

 

[Mookow]

My old Pentium 200MMX running Win98SE with integrated sound handled MP3s fine as long as too much wasnt going on in the background

 

[Snuffaluffaguss]

Would it help if I used a secondary sound card instead of the intergrated?

 

[alocurto]

I think it would help but the machine should be able to run MP3s fine just as long as you does expect it to do much else.

 

[Mookow]

yeah, real sound cards help. Also, try slapping on a cheap HSF and some ASII, and then OCing that to 200MHz. It should be no problem. I know 200MHz handles it, as long as other tasks are not overwhelming your CPU

 

[Maetryx]

The first time I played an MP3 (Republica's "Ready To Go", incidentally) I was on a Cyrix 5x86-120. The 5x86-120 were essentially hyper-486's at higher clock speeds. Anyway, if I didn't do something hardware intenstive like move the mouse, or touch the keyboard, or fart, then the computer could play the MP3 back without glitching.

 

[Snuffaluffaguss]

Thanks for the replies, What program should I use, Is Winamp ok?

 

[MiExStacY]

yah just winamp my old compaq with p133 and onboard ess sound played mp3 pretty well

 

[Mookow]

Both WinAmp and WMP worked for me

 

[Priit]

With good (low CPU usage) player, P75 is enough even when doing sht. else with computer while playing MP3.

 

[RC5Bri]

I had a P90 running winamp, and it would stutter whenever I opened a program, or went to the Start button. As long as there was low CPU usage, everything played fine.

 

[Migroo]

I had a P166, running Winamp 2.30. It was fine. Should work ok