[mythtv-users] small form factor PCs?

Joe Reeves mysfitt at kered.org
Fri Nov 7 11:01:49 EST 2003


On Fri, 7 Nov 2003, Chris Wieringa wrote:

> I'm looking at possibly building a new Myth box, but want something that will fit into an entertainment center and look nice.  So I'm looking at different possibilities with small form factors.
> 
> I've originally been looking at getting a Mini-ITX Nehemiah M10000 and buying a Cubid 2699R case.  However, after pricing this out I'd be spending around $500 for a 1Ghz machine.  I'd rather be able to build a computer using regular AMD or Intel processors, as I'd like a little more horsepower than 1Ghz.  
> 
> So I'm looking for a few things:
>   1.  Slim-cases that look nice in an entertainment center.  I really am not handy enough to make my own case, so I definately will want to buy a case.  A horizontal case (instead of vertical) would be ideal.
>   2.  A motherboard that will accept an Athlon XP or Pentium4 processor with integrated graphics / sound / network, and fits into the case.
>   3.  Ability to have one PCI slot for a PVR-250.
>   4.  As small as possible, while staying as quiet as possible.
> 
> Are there really any good contenders besides the Mini-ITX stuff?
> 

I use a Shuttle SN41G2 with a 1.4 Ghz Athlon. It supports the Athlon XP 
series through the Barton cores and has a Nforce2 chipset. All the of 
integrated hardware works well under linux as long as you use an Alan Cox 
kernel. I actually use a WinTV DBX (model 401) for my tuner and do all of 
my encode/decode in software and it works great. The form factor is what 
Shuttle is calling it's XPC line. It looks pretty nice in my entertainment 
center since it has a brushed aluminum case with a pretty blue power LED 
on the front ;-)

~Joe

-- 
"In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves:
the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy."

~courtesy of fortune


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