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43106
November 6th, 2013 06:00
Dell Optiplex GX260 (Small Form Factor) Desktop
Hi Guys
Hope a wizard here can help me. I have a GX260 Small Form Factor Desktop i would very much like to use as a HTPC.
I would like to be able to Watch HD Video on it, I know with its stock spec this isn't going to happen.
So can anyone recommend the upgrades that i would need to achieve this. Iv got no worries in replacing the entire motherboard if thats even possible because i know the small form factors have proprietary hardware.
I know i can get an upgraded 3rd party power supply; http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/180-watt-dell-power-supply-1n405.php?psu=1N405-GX260SmallDesktop
Can i get another mother board that will fit? So i can get a better CPU / Memory etc
Anything i can do basically?
speedstep
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47K Posts
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November 6th, 2013 06:00
260 is too old and too slow. I would recommend a GX280 with Radeon HD5450.
The Silent ASUS card fits all models Except the USFF. GX280 Tower is a better choice because you can use much better cards.
USFF isn't upgradeable due to no slots.
cappilio
7 Posts
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November 6th, 2013 06:00
260 Simply not going to be able to do it at ALL. no matter what i spend on it then?
All the thing really needs to do is run ubuntu and xbmc with a pci satellite tuner and a decent agp graphics card or even a pci one if i can somehow free it up as at the moment the profile renders it useless.
no motherboard i can fit in the case at all?
cappilio
7 Posts
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November 6th, 2013 07:00
Roger That,
Also i need to keep the formfactor low as this is going to by a HTPC, so needs to be as small as possible.
Im looking at some 620 and 280's on ebay will know in 6 hours if anything is fruitful.
Lets say i get the lower 280, and get a PCI-E Video Card? can you recommend any type for HD playback? (Pref HDMI out)
Regards
J Harrison
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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November 6th, 2013 07:00
You will spend more on hard to find Ancient parts with Vacuum Tubes than it will cost to get a GX280, GX620 or better. HD video via Netflix or Youtube has steep requirements for RAM and Video and OS and Flash version etc.
GX620's can run Windows 7 with very few extra drivers and can run Windows 8 with Bios A11 and a processor that supports NX aka Excecute Disable Bit in bios under security.
The Later Tower Models of GX280 are the same as the GX620.
Tower Models are the best investment because they use standard power supplies.
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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November 6th, 2013 07:00
The Youtube Video in the post above is an SFF GX280 with ASUS EAH5450 Silent GPU. The Asus is the ONLY one I recommend because others use taller heatsinks and parts and WILL NOT FIT in a SFF or Desktop physically being too tall and or too fat to fit in the slot.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1875243
Its not going to do 1080P video because the Processor is too slow. The GX280 does not support Pentium D processors but the GX620 does with Bios A11.
A GX620 TOWER with Pentium D 960 and a Radeon 6570 and 3.5 gigs ram with Windows 7 would be bare minimum I would Recommend for doing 1080P HD Video also having
3GB of RAM with 512MB of graphics memory.
4 Gigs min ram x64 if using INTEL HD or AMD integrated Video.
Without GPU you are looking for
Intel
Intel Core i5 650 3.2GHz or above.
AMD
AMD Phenom X4 945 3.0GHz or above.