Basic specs for an HD compatible PC ?

[RSK21]

Hi,

I'm looking to put tgether a SFF PC (Shuttle sized or similar) to put under my TV which will feed HD pictures via VGA or DVI to a Sony KDF50 LCD screen.

I don't want any media center software, tv tuners etc as all I need is storage so I can hard wire my music collection by ethernet cable to my Slim Devices Squeezebox plus the ability to play HD files by WMV/WMV DVD , QT, Divx HD etc . Needless to say don't want top spend a fortune either.

Can somebody advise what the basic specs I would need for memory, processor and graphics card are to achieve this plus relevant codecs or third party software players ?

Many thanks

RSK

[lisag]

Basically, I would recommend a 3 to 3.5ghz CPU, 1gb RAM, an nvidia 6150/6200/6600 with purevideo codec, lots of hard drive space, quiet/silent cooling and a funky case.

[guido]

Personally I think that a decent P4 2.4GHz processor and 512Mb RAM would be sufficient (this is what I am running).. this is just IMO.. depends how much crunching and DVD ripping you might want to do and how impatient you are v. depth of pocket! Agree with graphics card... something like a Nvidia 6200 is ample and only costs about £40.

If you really want to save some money.... check out some of the 2nd user business small form factor PCs that can be found on the internet. These usually come with reasonable spec, are quiet, and have a low profile AGP slot up upgrade the graphics... this is what I did and all in including new graphics card, MCE Remote, sound card and TV Tuner, my HTPC cost me £250. Keep meaning to post the full info... but havent got round to it yet!