General HTPC Question

[isekii]

What specs should I be looking to build for an HTPC ?

Would something like a P3 work ?

 

[Raduque]

What're you going to be doing with it?

 

[Wentelteefje]

In theory yes... In reality you might better look at an Athlon XP, or even better a Sempron (S754)... But as long as it can be cooled quietly, you have the basics for a HTPC...

@ Raduque: I had to ask that question too... D*mn...

 

[Raduque]

I tend to think in terms of Windows MCE, which needs a pretty beefy cpu/ram/vidcard combo. I keep forgetting about Beyond, Myth and so on. If it's a faster p3 (1.3 tualatin, or severely OCed celeron tualatin) you might be able to get by with it.

 

[EatSpam]

Get a Pentium-M system. Fast, quiet, low power.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

My first Media Center PC was an Athlon 1200 and I would consider that the bottom end. It was usable, but I had to disable GUI animations in Media Center and it felt sluggish.

Both my current MCE systems are running under Athlon 2000+ CPUs and performance is great.