bripab007

Yes, I believe that's a PCI Express slot. Dude, if it's a factory-built HP, just go to their website, type in the model name and check out the specs and factory manual.

But I'm pretty sure that's PCI Express.

Loki047

iTrader: (6)

Yeah looks like a PCI-E to me. Your definitely good to go.

m2cupcar

iTrader: (5)

I agree - pci-E.
re: ATI cards- I'd spend $20-$50 more and get a current gen 2600 card. That will give you a technology margin for future media you might want to manage like hidef video (dvd/pvr). The 2600pro is adequate, but for a little more you can get the XT with hardware decoding which eases cpu duty. I just picked up this XT with the $28 rebate.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

So with a PCI-E card and an external HD I should be good to go. Is there anything im missing?
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Loki047

iTrader: (6)

I dont like externals. If you have no reason to move it just get a cheaper internal

bripab007

Yes, the only reason to go external would be if you're setting up a NAS.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

Well what would be best for storage. I want to be able to store any movies/music I download
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Loki047

iTrader: (6)

And hard drive. I like seagate, at least they used to be good. It changes every 3 or 4 years. I dont know who is good now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148137

m2cupcar

iTrader: (5)

Get the biggest drive you can afford. Even you strip out all the junk from your movies, it doesn't take long for a collection (~4gb each) to fill up a drive. I got two 1tb external hitachi SATA (I see a sata port in your pic) drives for my work NAS at $200/ea. I got a 500gb last year and it filled up with movies and tv damn quick.

Loki047

iTrader: (6)

I re encode my movies to xvid so they are only 2 gigs each.

DVDdecrypt, then encode with xvid. Cuts everything in half (i dont take special features, just the movie)

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

Is the sata port the white port on the bottom right of the pic?
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Newbsauce

iTrader: (2)

If anyone's interested.. I can hook them up w/ my low profile Media PC for like 125 + shipping. It doesn't get much usage anymore.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

Specs?
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

bripab007

Using h.264/x.264 codec will help a bit with filesize. I think I'm usually around ~600-650MB per hour of footage, at 480i/p resolution, 128kbit audio, and about 1500kbit video. Most of my stuff is 24frames/sec.

Newbsauce

iTrader: (2)

I will have to look.. I pretty much had it stripped down for low power consumption. I use it for internet movie streaming, and as a media server for my PS3/house. I will include only the OS 80GB HD.. not the big boy HD in it.

AMD Low power Athalon Mobile I forgot clock speed
512 Ram
80 GB HD

This case:
http://www.digilinkcomputers.com/pro...roducts_id=935

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

Ok so I bought this video card- http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814161178 as recommended by m2cupcar. I need help now. I installed it last night and now I have no sound. Someone please help me.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Loki047

iTrader: (6)

Did you hook up the audio?

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

what do you mean? I plugged the wire into the output if thats what your asking.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Loki047

iTrader: (6)

into which output?

m2cupcar

iTrader: (5)

That's a video card . I guess we need some details on what you're doing. You need a way to get audio out of the computer. That means using the onboard audio (on the mobo) or a pci card. I use a diamond pci audio card that sends an optical signal to my tuner which does the decoding.