Having become utterly disgusted at my X-Box 360s failure as an all-round media player I've decided I want to build an ultra-cheap mini system I can use to push HD content to my telly. I don't want it to take on any transcoding/encoding duties, I just want to install ffdshow and Media Player Classic to play content directly on the screen. Also, the content will be stored elsewhere and shared over the network.
Here's the kit I'm thinking of:
Antec Solo Quiet Mini Tower Case - Piano Black/Silver - No PSU
MSI K9AGM2-FIH (on-board HDMI output is the real sweetener here!)
Athlon64 X2 3600+ (65nm process)
Crucial 1GB kit (512MBx2) DDR2 PC2-4200
Seagate 80GB Barracuda SATAII 7200RPM 8MB Cache
The price comes to just over £200 ($400) which I couldn't believe at first! This will need to play at least 1280x720 h.264 content.
Such a system seems the only way to me as media player devices are crippled by their limited codec options. Any ideas/input/advice?
EDIT: I already have 580w power supply I would put in it so that's why I haven't included it.
Here's the kit I'm thinking of:
Antec Solo Quiet Mini Tower Case - Piano Black/Silver - No PSU
MSI K9AGM2-FIH (on-board HDMI output is the real sweetener here!)
Athlon64 X2 3600+ (65nm process)
Crucial 1GB kit (512MBx2) DDR2 PC2-4200
Seagate 80GB Barracuda SATAII 7200RPM 8MB Cache
The price comes to just over £200 ($400) which I couldn't believe at first! This will need to play at least 1280x720 h.264 content.
Such a system seems the only way to me as media player devices are crippled by their limited codec options. Any ideas/input/advice?
EDIT: I already have 580w power supply I would put in it so that's why I haven't included it.