[mythtv-users] nVidia card choices, and processors for HDTV playback

[Scott Alfter]

On Wed, Jan 05, 2005 at 12:42:38PM -0500, Bill Smith wrote:
> If you can find a 5200 without a fan, that would be my recommendation as a
> starting point.

A couple of brands that use passive cooling on their 5200s are Gainward (in
my MythTV box) and Albatron (just bought one yesterday to replace an
All-In-Wonder Radeon).  I bought both of these at Fry's; they're probably
available elsewhere for a little less than the $70 I paid, but local
availability is a Good Thing.  Drivers are available for both x86 and AMD64.  

On a sidenote, I downloaded the HDTV samples Jarod Wilson (?) had put up a
while back.  I was able to get the 1080i sample to play back smoothly for
the first time yesterday on a Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500, once I replaced the
AIW Radeon.  I suppose I could upgrade the MythTV box from its current
Athlon XP 2400 to an Athlon 64, but (1) I'm having trouble getting
mythfrontend running on Gentoo Linux for AMD64 and and (2) a processor
upgrade would be cheaper and simpler.  If I just get the fastest Athlon XP I
can find (Newegg lists a Barton-core 3200 with 512K cache), will this
provide smooth playback of 1080i HDTV?  (The 2400 I have now plays 720p
acceptably, but 1080i playback is jerky.)

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