Anyone know how to upgrade to blu-ray?

[Popinski]

I have a old AMD computer (Athlon XP 3000+) with 2.5 gigs of ram.

What are the minimum requirements to upgrade to blu-ray? I'm totally lost. I already have a HD monitor; what else do I need besides a blu-ray player?

 

[Jason2007]

Im not sure but the drives should have minimum requirements listed with them.

 

[OVERKILL]

Well, you are going to need a drive to play the discs in to start

 

[Popinski]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Well, you are going to need a drive to play the discs in to start

well, I did already ask what I needed besides a blu-ray player.

 

[wirelessF]

Do you have a video card that is HDCP compliant?

ATI series x19xx and up and nvidia geforce series 7xxx and up support HDCP.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Popinski
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Well, you are going to need a drive to play the discs in to start

well, I did already ask what I needed besides a blu-ray player.


I know, I'm just bugging you

But the suggestion above about video card choice is likely going to be the most important aspect.

 

[Popinski]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Popinski
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Well, you are going to need a drive to play the discs in to start

well, I did already ask what I needed besides a blu-ray player.


I know, I'm just bugging you

But the suggestion above about video card choice is likely going to be the most important aspect.


So, all I need is a HDCP compliant video card, HDCP monitor and a blu-ray player?

oh LOL.

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
Do you have a video card that is HDCP compliant?

ATI series x19xx and up and nvidia geforce series 7xxx and up support HDCP.

 

[OVERKILL]

Yup, LOL!

 

[Brons2]

Your video card will need to offload a significant portion of the video decoding. The Athlon XP3000+ will not have enough horsepower to enable software rendering. I believe that ATI made a Radeon HD4650 version in AGP, which is the video port that I assume your machine has. That will be your most powerful video option.

 

[Brons2]

Here's a review of an AGP 4650 card, it has an HDMI output! great way to upgrade an older computer.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-4650-agp,2383-2.html

Personally though, I'd build a new one and scavenge as many parts as I could from the old one. They had a special at Fry's last weekend for a triple core Athlon and motherboard for $59. This week's special is not quite as cheap, but it does have onboard HD hardware decoding and a Black Edition Phenom dual core @3.1 Ghz:

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/ads/...S2P-Motherboard