[mythtv-users] Killer system or overkill?

[Len Reed]

I'm going to upgrade to a HD myth system soon.  I already have the TV, a 
Mitsubishi 1080p 50".

The system I'm considering would serve as a back-end for high def (and 
some or all NTSC, too).  It would also be a front end to the HDTV. It 
would connect to other myth systems in the house via Gb and 100Mb Ethernet.

Super low-noise is not a great concern: I can hide a mini tower under 
the 75 gallon fish tank near the TV.  That greatly attenuates the noise.

Here's what I'm considering:

MSI K8N Neo4 board
Althon 64 3800+ dual core
Nvidia TC256 FC6200 based PCI-X card
2x512MB PC3200 RAM (2 free slots for now)
expandsion TI-based IEEE1394 board

HD5000 for direct capture of unscrambled QAM
firewire from DTC6200
PVR-250 for hopelessly copy-protected channels

DVI-D to HDMI for video
on-board optical sound to the surround-system amp

I haven't decided on disk space yet.  I'm thinking of four 250 or 300GB 
SATA drives and software RAID5.

Questions:

Is dual-core overkill?  It's reasonable on the margin from a single core 
3800+, but if a 3200+ single-core is sufficient, that's a lot cheaper.

Is this board a reasonable choice with a dual-core Athlon?

Thanks for any insight,
Le