system specs to view HD DVD on a PC

[QueBert]

bought a Gateway 24" LCD today, thinking about getting an Xbox 360 HD DVD so I can watch movies on it. my system specs

A64 3800+ 939
1 gig Corsair XMS
X800 256 meg AGP

I know HD/Blu-Ray is very demanding on a system, I'm going to be upgrading my system this summer because my x800 won't push many games in the screens native resolution. But if I wanted to upgrade one thing now, what would be the most beneficial for watching HD movies in their full glory?

 

[bloodthirster]

Upgrade the CPU to a X2 3800+ at the least.
Upgrade your AGP Video to a ATI X1950Pro.

Buy PowerDVD Ultra or WinDVD when they release thier BD/HD player.
Nero is also working on a BD/HD DVD plug-in too.

 

[kedlav]

Probably could get away with just upgrading your graphics card as mentioned above. Dual core is absolutely not necessary for hddvd/br

 

[bloodthirster]

I tried on my brothers A64 4000+ OC'ed to 2.6ghz. Constantly dropping frames in PowerDVD ultra. He Switched to a 3800 X2 and it was smooth.

 

[chizow]

AT recently did a review of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD playback and I'm pretty sure they found the CPU had the bigger impact on playback performance.

Blu-Ray playback Final Words

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: bloodthirster
I tried on my brothers A64 4000+ OC'ed to 2.6ghz. Constantly dropping frames in PowerDVD ultra. He Switched to a 3800 X2 and it was smooth.

what kind of video card does he run? I've read both the video card is important, and other places it doesn't matter much.

I want to get an X2 anywho so that would be pretty sweet, not too expensive of an upgrade. If I'm going to need a video card, I might as well get a PCI-E MB so I can possibly do SLI. Don't think any newer games would run 1920x1200 with my x800 haha.
but if I could get buy with a CPU for now, that would be lovely.

 

[BassBomb]

Wait if youre going to use your Xbox to watch the movies, then it wont connect to your pc at all

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
Wait if youre going to use your Xbox to watch the movies, then it wont connect to your pc at all

was going to get the HD DVD Xbox drive that hooks directly to a PC. Probably going to get an Xbox360 so I can play some of the games that'll never hit the PC like Fight Night & Def Jam Icon.

 

[bloodthirster]

what kind of video card does he run?

Albetron 7950GT.

 

[Yreka]

Originally posted by: bloodthirster
I tried on my brothers A64 4000+ OC'ed to 2.6ghz. Constantly dropping frames in PowerDVD ultra.

I had a similar experience. My HTPC A64 4000+ @ 2.7, 7800GT, 2GB Ram would not play HD-DVD without dropping frames like crazy.

Gonna grab a dual core for it when I have some extra cash, and maybe an 8600GT-HDCP so I dont have to decrypt movies to watch them. For now, I just use the 360 to watch movies in the living room.

 

[QueBert]

crap I just realised what BassBomb said, if I get the Xbox + the HD drive I won't need to worry about my pc specs at all *doh* I should probably upgrade my PC anyways