So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) - Page 2

**XDanger** · 12-21-09, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XDanger

How is the cpu usage?

Does the graphics card stop it crapping out?

theres been an edit, hope this helps

I have a 3.0ghz prescott that hits 100% playing youtube in 640x480 in 16 colors so wondering how high the CPU usage goes.
I have AGP

Quote:

Originally Posted by ragejg

I wonder if I could throw a P4 with HT in there, one with the highest possible multiplier (doesn't teh BIOS have to support multithreading though?)... I know it'd get kicked down to 400 fsb, but Hyperthreading plus whatever other features the newer 478 cpus had might offer a performance advantage in media playback over the 2.8... just something to think about.

AFAIK the 2.8ghz 400fsb cpu is as high as you can go without a board that will let you OC the fsb to 533.

I had my NW OC'd to 3.2 with stock cooling and thought that was good at the time, Now I think I could have gotten it to 3.4.

ragejg · 12-21-09, 09:03 PM

My mom's husband just called and let me know that he got the 2.8 in just fine... Desktop is 1280x720 or 1360x768, 32 bit, and Hulu is running perfect in non-480p on their crappy DSL connection through a junk Qwest router.

I'm satisfied, and so are they.

They have an identical rig upstairs for a work PC... I put 2gb in that as well, no vidcard though, and I ordered a P4 2.4 to replace the Celly 2.0 in that one... so similar improvements are occuring in that rig as well... intended more to help them breeze through work stuff a little easier.

I couldn't imagine what they'd think if they had my media and desk PC's there instead of these old Dells.

**XDanger** · 12-21-09, 09:36 PM

Might I suggest a sata card and an SSD

ragejg · 12-21-09, 10:27 PM

Nah. It's gonna be an almost always-on rig, so once it's been booted up for a few minutes, everything will open up fast enough. Of course it'd be cool, but heck if we were to do that we might as well have just built a NEW media rig instead of upping the horsepower of an old one.

Woodelf · 12-25-09, 11:12 AM

My media pc/server is,
athlon 64 socket 754 @2.21ghz
vista 64
radeon 9500 agp
2gb pc3200
sb live w/ kx drivers.
no overclocking.

I mostly stick to stagevu downloads running klite codec pack and windows media center.
any other player is choppy.

Viral · 12-25-09, 07:30 PM

Those old celerys were just that bad weren't they. It was amazing how much the performance dropped just from having less cache, they shouldn't have been allowed to sell the damn things they were that bad!

**XDanger** · 12-27-09, 12:47 AM

shteve · 12-27-09, 04:15 AM

Stick a cheap CUDA supporting gfx card in it and it'll do 1080p (my single core Atom/ ION combo handles it fine).

ragejg · 12-27-09, 09:47 AM

Ahh ok, xdanger, just noticed that you posted in this thread about that also.

**XDanger** · 12-27-09, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ragejg

Ahh ok, xdanger, just noticed that you posted in this thread about that also.

deleted

12-21-09, 09:03 PM	#14
ragejg nV News Alumni Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Finger Lakes of Hell, NY Posts: 5,399	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) My mom's husband just called and let me know that he got the 2.8 in just fine... Desktop is 1280x720 or 1360x768, 32 bit, and Hulu is running perfect in non-480p on their crappy DSL connection through a junk Qwest router. I'm satisfied, and so are they. They have an identical rig upstairs for a work PC... I put 2gb in that as well, no vidcard though, and I ordered a P4 2.4 to replace the Celly 2.0 in that one... so similar improvements are occuring in that rig as well... intended more to help them breeze through work stuff a little easier. I couldn't imagine what they'd think if they had my media and desk PC's there instead of these old Dells. __________________ 2010-2011 Reviews: GTX 570 \| GTX 580 \| GTS 450 \| GTX 460 \| GTX 465 Pre-2010 Reviews: 6600 GT \| XMS 4400 DDR \| SilenX Cooler \| 6800 \| 5900 XT \| Personal Cinema \| 5900 NU ______________________________________________ Phenom II x6 1090t @ 4.0 ghz \| Asus M498TD-EVO Am3 SLI nForce 980a \| 2x EVGA GTX 560 SLI \| 2x4gb DDR3-1333 \| Antec EarthWatts EA650 PSU \| 60gb Mushkin Calisto Enhanced Sandforce SSD \| 2x WD2500KS RAID 0 \| Sunbeam Tuniq 3 case \| 24" Asus 19x10 LED LCD \| 26" Panasonic 720p TV \| Sidewinder X5 mouse \| Logitech MX5500 & Revolution mouse \| Altec Lansing 5.1 THX-Certified audio \| Win 7 Ultimate \| desk \| couch "Stars must die so that I may live. I... stepped out of a Supernova."

12-21-09, 09:36 PM	#15
XDanger Whaaat? Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 5,673	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) Might I suggest a sata card and an SSD __________________ 2500K 4.4ghz,P8P67Pro,120gb Force3, 12gb Vengeance,HD6950,TX850v2,W7HP,LaCie Blue 22" crt COMMODORE 64 Silver Label 1Mhz/128D 4Mhz(Z80)

12-21-09, 10:27 PM	#16
ragejg nV News Alumni Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Finger Lakes of Hell, NY Posts: 5,399	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) Nah. It's gonna be an almost always-on rig, so once it's been booted up for a few minutes, everything will open up fast enough. Of course it'd be cool, but heck if we were to do that we might as well have just built a NEW media rig instead of upping the horsepower of an old one. __________________ 2010-2011 Reviews: GTX 570 \| GTX 580 \| GTS 450 \| GTX 460 \| GTX 465 Pre-2010 Reviews: 6600 GT \| XMS 4400 DDR \| SilenX Cooler \| 6800 \| 5900 XT \| Personal Cinema \| 5900 NU ______________________________________________ Phenom II x6 1090t @ 4.0 ghz \| Asus M498TD-EVO Am3 SLI nForce 980a \| 2x EVGA GTX 560 SLI \| 2x4gb DDR3-1333 \| Antec EarthWatts EA650 PSU \| 60gb Mushkin Calisto Enhanced Sandforce SSD \| 2x WD2500KS RAID 0 \| Sunbeam Tuniq 3 case \| 24" Asus 19x10 LED LCD \| 26" Panasonic 720p TV \| Sidewinder X5 mouse \| Logitech MX5500 & Revolution mouse \| Altec Lansing 5.1 THX-Certified audio \| Win 7 Ultimate \| desk \| couch "Stars must die so that I may live. I... stepped out of a Supernova."

12-25-09, 11:12 AM	#17
Woodelf I should be gaming. Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ferelden Posts: 908	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) My media pc/server is, athlon 64 socket 754 @2.21ghz vista 64 radeon 9500 agp 2gb pc3200 sb live w/ kx drivers. no overclocking. I mostly stick to stagevu downloads running klite codec pack and windows media center. any other player is choppy. __________________ i7920 @ 4.0 DO - Gigabyte ud4p - g.skill trident 6x2 ddr3 2000 @1600 7.7.7.18.1 - Cogage true spirit/sythe kaze 2000 - 2x Raid "0" WD 500GB (black) - xfi fatal1ty pro - Asus 5970 900/1200 - Corsair 1000HX - Samsung px2370

12-25-09, 07:30 PM	#18
Viral Registered User of Women Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,523	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) Those old celerys were just that bad weren't they. It was amazing how much the performance dropped just from having less cache, they shouldn't have been allowed to sell the damn things they were that bad! __________________ Q9550 w/ Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme \| 4GB Team Xtreme Dark 800MHz CL4 \| Gigabyte X48-DS5 ASUS Radeon 5870 \| 240GB OCZ Vertex 2 \| 1TB WD Green Power \| BenQ V2400W 24" LCD Corsair HX-1000w \| LG GGW-H20L 6x DL Blu-Ray Burner/HD-DVD Reader \| Coolermaster Cosmos S Acer TravelMate 4002WNLCi: Pentium M 725 @ 1.6GHz \| Mobility Radeon 9700/64MB \| 2GB DDR400 \| 15.4" WXGA

12-27-09, 12:47 AM	#19
XDanger Whaaat? Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 5,673	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) nm __________________ 2500K 4.4ghz,P8P67Pro,120gb Force3, 12gb Vengeance,HD6950,TX850v2,W7HP,LaCie Blue 22" crt COMMODORE 64 Silver Label 1Mhz/128D 4Mhz(Z80)

12-27-09, 04:15 AM	#20
shteve Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: UK Posts: 125	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) Stick a cheap CUDA supporting gfx card in it and it'll do 1080p (my single core Atom/ ION combo handles it fine). __________________ i920@3.3GHz, Corsair Hydro, Asus P6T Dlx V2, 12GB Corsair DDR3 1600, Xonar DX, Palit GTX670, Corsair 1000W, Dell 2407WFP,, LG1710B (secondary), Crucial M4 128GB, 5 1TB drives ..., Win7 HP

12-27-09, 09:47 AM	#21
ragejg nV News Alumni Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Finger Lakes of Hell, NY Posts: 5,399	Re: So I was asked to turn a tired Dell (Celeron/PCI) into a Hulu box... (facepalm) Ahh ok, xdanger, just noticed that you posted in this thread about that also. __________________ 2010-2011 Reviews: GTX 570 \| GTX 580 \| GTS 450 \| GTX 460 \| GTX 465 Pre-2010 Reviews: 6600 GT \| XMS 4400 DDR \| SilenX Cooler \| 6800 \| 5900 XT \| Personal Cinema \| 5900 NU ______________________________________________ Phenom II x6 1090t @ 4.0 ghz \| Asus M498TD-EVO Am3 SLI nForce 980a \| 2x EVGA GTX 560 SLI \| 2x4gb DDR3-1333 \| Antec EarthWatts EA650 PSU \| 60gb Mushkin Calisto Enhanced Sandforce SSD \| 2x WD2500KS RAID 0 \| Sunbeam Tuniq 3 case \| 24" Asus 19x10 LED LCD \| 26" Panasonic 720p TV \| Sidewinder X5 mouse \| Logitech MX5500 & Revolution mouse \| Altec Lansing 5.1 THX-Certified audio \| Win 7 Ultimate \| desk \| couch "Stars must die so that I may live. I... stepped out of a Supernova."