Would this work for HD Playback?

[WellThen]

My family room Sage client - a laptop - has died (or really, I've given up on getting HD playback out of it), and money is very short. I have a HP D530S small form factor desktop P4 2.66 Ghz with 1GB memory that's not in use. I'm wondering if putting in a decent video card would bring it up to the level of being able to play back 720p and 1080i HD content recorded from TV. I'm not hoping for BluRay or other 1080P content. I already have 3 other clients running Sage on Windows, but I'd be willing to run Linux on this box if it does anything to bring it up to the required performance level.

If this machine is viable for what I'm asking, any suggestions on a small form factor video card to drop in? I found a recommendation for this PC for this card http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6106&CatId=318 but I don't know if it's up to 1080i Sage playback.

I know the conventional wisdom is to get an HD200, but I don't know if my server (Athlon 3800 that I also use for HD playback) is up to also transcoding the content for the HD200.

Thanks for any suggestions...

[Olias]

I know the conventional wisdom is to get an HD200, but I don't know if my server (Athlon 3800 that I also use for HD playback) is up to also transcoding the content for the HD200.

Thanks for any suggestions...

I'd pick up an HD200. The server does not do transcoding for the HD200, it's handled internally in the HD200 itself. All the server does is stream the content. As a bonus, you do get the capability to play BluRay