[mythtv-users] Newbie wants criticism of component choices...

[Mark L. Cukier]

Mark:

Looks pretty good, a few comments though:

1) I would get an MB with an AGP/PCIe slot. That way, you can easily add 
a monitor. Also, personally I didn't have much luck with the TV-out on 
the PVR350! I switched to an nVidia with TV-OUT... so it's always best 
to have that video card option available....

2) A celeron will probably be fine for 1 channel record + watch with a 
PVR-350. That being said, you'll be hosed if you ever want to go HD, 
etc. Of course, that's a bridge you can jump off when the time comes... :-)

3) Digital sound out can be achieved through most popular sound cards 
that support it! Check the archives for details... it's not too complicated.

4) You'll also need some RAM ;-)

- Mark

Mark Hood wrote:

>Hi there,
>
>I've scanned the FAQs, searched the web and reviewed the archive, and
>am still overwhelmed by the choices I can make regarding hardware for
>a MythTV box. I'd appreciate any comments you more experienced
>builders would have on my selection (I've not ordered any of these
>yet, so feel free to tell me to change everything!)
>
>My requirements:
>An all-in-one box (frontend & backend together) which will only need
>to record one channel at a time.
>Quiet.
>No need to worry about DVD playback at the moment, I have a good DVD
>player - but maybe one day...
>Beyond that, I'm not too worried...
>
>My choices:
>Motherboard: Gigabyte S478 Intel 845GV MATX no AGP DDR Audio/Visual/LAN
>        This has 3 PCI slots, and I figure I only need 2 (TV card &
>maybe wireless later)
>Processor: Intel Celeron D 330 Socket 478 256Kb 533FSB Inc Fan
>        2.6GHz, and comes with a fan (which I can replace in the
>future if I find it too loud)
>Case: CoolerMaster ATC-630-B21
>        MicroATX, should be the same as the motherboard :) with 200W PSU
>TV-Card: Hauppage TVR-350
>        The only part I'm truly confident of!
>HDD: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus10 300GB UDMA133
>DVD: Pioneer DVD+-R/RW DualLayer 16x IDE 
>
>And the usual cables, mouse keyboard etc.
>
>My questions:
>1. Is this any good? :)
>2. Does anyone with experience of the case know if I need a riser card
>or not? If so, how many of the slots will become unusable?
>3. Am I over-speccing? I would like to think it's future-proofing,
>rather than anything else :)
>4. How do I go about getting digital sound out? 
>
>Thanks in advance for any suggestions - feel free to reply to me
>personally and I'll summarise for the list, or reply in public if you
>prefer, I can't be the only one wondering!
>
>Cheers,
>
>Mark
>_______________________________________________
>mythtv-users mailing list
>mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>
>  
>


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*Mark L. Cukier*, /Design Engineer/      
P&E Microcomputer Systems           
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