Modifying Cheap Computer for HTPC

[aiannar974]

I found this on geeks.com for about $90. With the addition of a dedicated graphics card and some more ram (i have other hard drives and a nas to hook it up to and external dvd burner), can this be a capable hdmi configured HTPC?

What card would recommend and what might be the system limitations as far as codecs? Would it handle a bluray drive?

Thank you,

Anthony


Features/Specifications:
IBM ThinkCentre Pentium 4 2.8 GHz PC


General Features:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional pre-installed w/CoA
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor
256 MB of DDR RAM
40 GB hard disk drive
CD-ROM drive
1.44 MB floppy disk drive
Integrated video
Integrated audio
Integrated Ethernet


Motherboard Features:
One (1) AGP slot
Three (3) PCI slots
Four (4) DIMM sockets


I/O Ports:
Two (2) PS/2 ports
One (1) 9-pin serial port
One (1) 15-pin VGA port
One (1) 25-pin parallel port
Eight (8) USB ports (six on back and two on front)
One (1) RJ-45 Ethernet jack
Line-in, line-out microphone jacks

 

[Jim_L9]

The difficult part might be getting an AGP card with HDMI.

 

[aiannar974]

I did some searching. All I have found is card with DVI such as this for about $45.

ATi Radeon 9200 256 MB DDR AGP Video Card

General Features:
ATi Radeon 9200 GPU
256 MB DDR Memory
AGP interface
SmartShader technology
SmoothVision technology
FullStream technology
Video Immersion technology
ATi Catalyst

Connectors:
DVI
VGA
S-Video/TV-Out