will a PII 450mhz system work as a media center?

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: 0123456789876543210
ok, i just found out I can upgrade to a 1.4MHz Celeron for less than $100 with the powerleap slot-1 adaptor... this will definitely be able to run everything i want right? is this worthwhile?

Good choice.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
then again once you pay that 80 bux, you coulda gotten a 2400+ with ecs at frys which could rape it also able to use pos ram.

slocket t was only worth it for a very short time, long ago. i know cuz i had 2

Then he would need a new case and PS. There is no way he could get a new processor, mobo, case and PS for anywhere near as cheap as the option I gave him. And "raping" has nothing to do with it. There isn't any need for excess speed in the application he's using the box for.

 

[0roo0roo]

really? i used my old cases for my tually's, and old supplies for tuallys which had housed old p2's 450s and celeron 850's before. i also used my old psu's for my athlons. works fine.

just don't go crazy overclocking or run raid with a pile or raptor drives.

i think your thinking of AT cases and psu's which were during the day of p1 and k6. slightly too far back.

 

[SpeedFreak03]

Just to add something else to think about, my box is a Pentium 3 500MHz (Slot 1), with 256MB PC100 SDRAM, ATI Radeon 9000 128MB DDR (but I had the same results as far as movies go with a Nvidia GeForce256 32MB AGP), Pinnacle PCTV PCI, 80GB 7200RPM WD Special Edition 8MB drive, and a 16X Pioneer DVDROM. Anyway, the software that comes with the PCTV has Tivo-like functions (like i can pause record live tv etc), but it is sooooo slow if it is recording and playing back at the same time. Also, when recording TV using PowerVCR, the finished product is a little choppy, so this CPU doesnt make a good Tivo machine at all. I watch DivX movies all the time, using the codecs included in Nimo's codec pack, DirectX9.0B, and I use Windows Media Player 9 under Win2K Pro SP4. The movies play great! As for DVDs, they also play great, except some scenes of heavy action (The Matrix comes to mind...), it skips a little. BTW, I use PowerDVD XP 4.0 to play DVDs.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
really? i used my old cases for my tually's, and old supplies for tuallys which had housed old p2's 450s and celeron 850's before. i also used my old psu's for my athlons. works fine.

just don't go crazy overclocking or run raid with a pile or raptor drives.

i think your thinking of AT cases and psu's which were during the day of p1 and k6. slightly too far back.

Dell used to (and to some extent still does) use proprietary case and PS designs - slightly modified from the standard ATX spec.

 

[0roo0roo]

that blows. i plugged in a p2, then celly 566@850 then a tually 1.1 @ 1.5ghz into the same m/b, case, psu then i put in an athlon xp.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: sparkyclarky

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
really? i used my old cases for my tually's, and old supplies for tuallys which had housed old p2's 450s and celeron 850's before. i also used my old psu's for my athlons. works fine.

just don't go crazy overclocking or run raid with a pile or raptor drives.

i think your thinking of AT cases and psu's which were during the day of p1 and k6. slightly too far back.

Dell used to (and to some extent still does) use proprietary case and PS designs - slightly modified from the standard ATX spec.

Yep.

 

[dmw16]

would getting a PCI video decoder card help?
-doug

 

[RickH]

Let us know when you have spent the money on an Tul-adapter and expensive/slow PC100 memory and the old Dell board goes up in smoke. R

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
have you tried playing higher bitrate higher resolution divx on that 350? 450? thats where they choke.

What would be a sample of higher bitrate divx I could use to test it? I just use it to play divxs and xvids. I don't encode much of them... All I can say is the Matrix reloaded looks awesome playing on a 50 in lcd tv.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: RickH
Let us know when you have spent the money on an Tul-adapter and expensive/slow PC100 memory and the old Dell board goes up in smoke. R

Troll

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Anonemous

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
have you tried playing higher bitrate higher resolution divx on that 350? 450? thats where they choke.

What would be a sample of higher bitrate divx I could use to test it? I just use it to play divxs and xvids. I don't encode much of them... All I can say is the Matrix reloaded looks awesome playing on a 50 in lcd tv.

you buy a 50" tv and you still pirate movies?

high resolution divx 672xXXX and higher. bi directional encoding, gmc, and oneother setting i forgot will up the cpu usage too.

 

[FMann]

Hate to bring up an old thread, but...

Just for the people who don't know what the Powerleap adapter does: It's basically a power regulator and slot adapter for Tuatalin core processors. I think they have another model for Coppermine processors. I believe the Slot-T adapter does not have the same power regulation capabilities as the Powerleap product.

So RickH, read the product literature, the reviews, and the database of successfully upgraded machines before you rag on it.

 

[RanDum72]

I believe the Slot-T adapter does not have the same power regulation capabilities as the Powerleap product.

The Slot-T can regulate voltage since the Tualatin CPU's have different voltages than Coppermine CPU's but it doesn't have a built-in power supply like the Powerleaps. The Powerleaps are more fool-proof because some older motherboards have power circuits that can't supply enough juice to faster, more power hungry CPU's. The Slot-T's uses the motherboard's power supply, then regulates the voltage to match the Tualatin CPU.
The Slot-T's are a lot less expensive though and can pass CPU info such temps and voltages to the mobo. The Powerleaps cannot pass CPU temps/voltage info (unless there is an revision that I don't know about).

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: RanDum72

I believe the Slot-T adapter does not have the same power regulation capabilities as the Powerleap product.

The Slot-T can regulate voltage since the Tualatin CPU's have different voltages than Coppermine CPU's but it doesn't have a built-in power supply like the Powerleaps. The Powerleaps are more fool-proof because some older motherboards have power circuits that can't supply enough juice to faster, more power hungry CPU's. The Slot-T's uses the motherboard's power supply, then regulates the voltage to match the Tualatin CPU.
The Slot-T's are a lot less expensive though and can pass CPU info such temps and voltages to the mobo. The Powerleaps cannot pass CPU temps/voltage info (unless there is an revision that I don't know about).

The Slot-Ts have been tried successfully in Dell BX mobos. There is some question about long term viability, but no stories of fried mobos yet. I believe this is because Dell's BX mobos were made by Intel, and are built like tanks.

I say what the hell. If I fry an old BX mobo (a Dell, no less), big deal

 

[RickH]

FMann-------------I have read all the info--years ago. The PowerLeap is a much better product than the $20 adapter. It has it's own power connector--so you don't fry the motherboard. The problem is the price, $150 for a Celeron 1.4. You can get a new motherboard and XP something for the same cost. With the Powerleap or the cheap adapter you have increased the processor speed, but performance is bottlenecked by the slow memory and hard drive interface. R