All,

I want to build as cheap a PC as I can with the following:

-DVI out for video
-5.1 out for audio

There won't be a tuner card, the box will be a dedicated MCE box (it won't
otherwise be used as a PC). Effectively this will be an "extender", in that
though it is running a full version of MCE, it's only displaying content
from another MCE box that has recorded content.

What's the minimum CPU, memory, video card I could get away with? I want it
to be quiet, it will have a small drive (big enough to hold the OS and a
pagefile...that's it, as all content will come over the network).

Why not just by a Media Center extender you ask? Because unless I have an
XBox 360, an extender can't do high-def video, and even with a 360, it's not
receiving 5.1 audio.

Suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Well, there are certainly motherboards that can do 5.1 or even 7.1 audio.
Whether its any good or not depends on how good your ears are. I'd suggest
as a minimum a 1.5Ghz Intel or an Athlon 3000, with 512Mb of RAM. The
minimum graphics adapter (around $50 or less) would be an nVidia 5200, but
be aware that they don't really support 1080i output via DVI - you need a
much more expensive board for that (nVidia 6600 or better, ATI 9800 or
better).

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"Jim" <ilmm555@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:%232GdaDILGHA.3936@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...

I built mine with :

an old gigabyte board w 5.1
an old Xp 1800 CPU
1gb of ram (512 would prob. be enuf)
an old fx 5200 nvidia card
this can all be had for under $200
seems to work fine.


"Dana Cline - MVP" wrote: