what are my upgrade options???

[digitizer123]

Please do not cross post. I locked your other thread, we will leave this one open
bsobel


Hi . . . need help here, bought a HTPC on ebay made by Asus called DAV center . . . I like it a lot except it doesn't have enough juice to dicode and display HD Satellite video. Standard def is fine but HD is real jerky and CPU is at or near 100% . . . .

I am looking to upgrade the processor and memory - problem is I can not get info anywhere regarding what processor this MOBO will take - Look at the listing, info anf photos of all the components and let me know what processor I can upgrade to?? would like to put a Athlon dual core in there sufficient enough to do the HD without any proble. Is the built in Nvidia graphics enough for HD . . ?

Here is the Unit . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...Item&item=250320780561


CPU/Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3800+
Mainboard/Chipset:
Asus M2NPV2-DHS with nVidia nForce 4 chipset
Memory:
2x Apacer 256MB PC2-5300 DDR2 (total 512MB RAM), 2x empty DDR2 memory slots (4 slots total)
GPU/Graphics: nVidia GeForce 6150LE integrated graphics
Sound: SoundMax / Analog Devices AD1988B HD Audio with D2 Audio 5.1 channel amplifier
Hard disk: 320GB 7200RPM SATA
Connectivity: (1) HDMI, (1) Component, (1) S-Video, (1) Composite, (1) RCA Audio, (1) Optical Audio, (1) E-SATA, (3) USB, (1) 1394/FireWire, (1) Gigabit Ethernet
Tuners: (2) Hauppauge 1800 PCI-Express dual tuner (HD+Analog) tuners with hardware MPEG encoder (no FM or RCA inputs)

 

[drealiT]

I don't think you will be able to achieve smooth HD playback with just a processor/memory upgrade to be honest... in reality you'd need a better GPU, CPU, and 4x the amount of memory you already have. If anything I would sell off that thing and rebuild from scratch or sell off the motherboard, cpu, and current memory. Ideally you'd want a 780G (GA-MA78GM-S2H is a fantastic board $75-80) based system... cpu wouldn't matter you'd just need something compatible with the newer socket(cheap BE-2400 - $30 - would be fine although I keep hearing that the new $20 Sempron LE's will work well too but I think it's worth it to pay the extra $10 for a BE-2400 and a 2nd core)... drop in 2GB of cheap DDR2 memory and mod that case however you'd need to.

Frankly, you got ripped off if they claimed to be able to handle HD playback... because there's just no way that would have been able to do it.

Edit: Actually I was just trying to find that motherboard... it could possibly handle Athlon X2's. In that case yes, you may be able to upgrade the processor/memory and then drop in a new GPU. You'd have to mod the case for the GPU but I think you can pull it off. If you can handle the X2's (open your case and confirm the motherboard model number) then my previous recommendation still stands... memory just grab whatever cheap 2GB set you can get... GPU the ATI 3450's should be suitable for HD playback.

 

[evident]

snazzy case, but that is seriously underpowered to do anything worthwhile with. You're going to have to get at least a Dual core A64 X2 4200, 2 gigs of ram, and even then your vid card is gonna bottleneck you. If you can fit in a video card, you may be able to get away with HD playback, but you may be better off starting from scratch as the poster above me said. Since it's a nice case, see if you can replace the mobo with a intel G45 series MATX board, and sell off the rest of those components, if there isn't anything custom in it.

edit: it looks like you may be screwed with that case since the backplate of the case is custom to that motherboard, and there really is no upgrade option for the vid card. re-bay it

 

[drealiT]

You sure about recommending the G45... more expensive when the 780G's can handle what he wants (although I don't know what his audio needs are which is the only reason I would go up from a 780G - better audio options for newer HTPC boards).

 

[evident]

I think either would be good for hd playback.

 

[bradleyem]

Here is the link to download the spec sheet from ASUS.

http://usa.asus.com/100/html/s...xt/60/pdf/M2NPV-VM.zip

I just bought the same media center PC from fleabay. I'm not too concerned about HD because it will be connected to a standard 4:3 XGA projector for watching TV and playing movies & music from my file server, and connecting my kids' game consoles to. It'll be just the ticket for my kids game room with an 83" screen though

 

[quacketj]

To those of you who have bought this same HTPC on eBay, maybe you could help me.

I'm struggling to get the playback to work properly. Have you had any trouble with any drivers or any audio/video playback in Windows Media Center?

I am running Windows Vista Ultimate, 32bit version, with 4GB of ram. My problem is that my analog cable channels will randomly get slightly choppy with the video playback but the audio remains perfect. As for my local OTA HD, the video does the same thing but the audio is this awful buzzing type sound. The awful buzzing sound is the same when I watch a DVD, but the DVD video playback is not affected. If it helps, I can only get my HDMI connection to output to my Sharp Aquos, and I can't get the resolution to look decent at all on my flat panel. Text is impossible to read at a normal resolution, I have to zoom in 1,000 times to read anything.

I installed all the drivers given from the auction and as many Windows Updates as possible.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[NateyK]

Hi I am just getting mine setup. I originally install XP MCE but soon realized all the drivers are for Vista. So I insalled Vista Home Premium but am having issues with my HDMI and my TV. I will let you know how it all pans out once I get it working.

 

[NateyK]

Ok got the HDMI issue resolved by downloading the drivers for the video card from NVIDIA's website in safemode. As for the text issue I used the TV settings utility and I think I used the 720P option to make it easy to read on my 40" Westinghouse. Now on to the Tuner cards.