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Buzz Foster · 03-17-2008, 02:28 PM

I have an ASUS A7N8X mobo with an Athlon xp 2400+, one or two gigs of ram, and 750GB hard drive space. The video card is nothing special, but does have DVI out.

I am thinking that it would be worth the money to buy one or two of the tuner cards I have seen that can get analog cable + OTA HDTV and onboard encoders and ditch DirecTV completely. I'm essentially paying $100/month to watch "The Soup", and a bunch of programming that is free OTA, anyway. (And CBS is downgraded to standard def on satellite, anyway! Geesh!)

I do have a network connection behind the set. Is this enough of a system to pull it off? Could I maybe up the processing power and RAM and get away with it? Would I need XP Media edition, or will my existing XP Pro installation be enough?

Thanks!
Buzz

03-17-2008, 02:28 PM	#1 of 22
Buzz Foster *Steve* Member Join Date: Jan 1999 Local Time: 08:15 PM Local Date: 09-07-2008 Posts: 3,891	Possible to build HD HTPC on the cheap? I have an ASUS A7N8X mobo with an Athlon xp 2400+, one or two gigs of ram, and 750GB hard drive space. The video card is nothing special, but does have DVI out. I am thinking that it would be worth the money to buy one or two of the tuner cards I have seen that can get analog cable + OTA HDTV and onboard encoders and ditch DirecTV completely. I'm essentially paying $100/month to watch "The Soup", and a bunch of programming that is free OTA, anyway. (And CBS is downgraded to standard def on satellite, anyway! Geesh!) I do have a network connection behind the set. Is this enough of a system to pull it off? Could I maybe up the processing power and RAM and get away with it? Would I need XP Media edition, or will my existing XP Pro installation be enough? Thanks! Buzz Suque, chaser of frisbee, terror of kitties and bunnies.