[mythtv-users] Myth/HDTV dream system?

[Steve Adeff]

On Sunday 20 November 2005 16:16, Bertrand wrote:
> Steve Adeff wrote:
> > On Sunday 20 November 2005 07:31, Bertrand wrote:
> >>I would like to ask a similar question to my previous in a different
> >>manner.
> >>
> >>
> >>You want to build a new HDTV ready (ATSC/US) Myth system,
> >>
> >>microATX,
> >>
> >>front&back in one machine,
> >>
> >>wirelessly networked,
> >>
> >>money is not a big problem,
> >>
> >>which internal components would you choose?
> >
> > Will you require an ATSC tuner or will you be using your cablebox over
> > firewire?
>
> tuner required, but I'm mostly curious what people would do with a blank
> slate in general.

This is what I did:

Silverstone LC16M-S
Athlon64 3200+
512MB RAM
2x 320G SATA150 HD
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
PVR150
HD3000

I did this because I had an extra DVI capable AGP GeForce card. I also used my 
slightly older (1yr) LiteOn DVDR.
I also lucked out and the motherboard I chose uses VIA firewire chips which 
are crap and don't work, so don't buy this motherboard!

I have the disadvantage of not being able to grab a lot via cable box firewire 
due to 5C. This can make a HUGE difference. If your able to, the best method 
is to get a Firewire card ($10-20) and connect 2-3 cableboxes via firewire 
and do all your capturing this way. Otherwise do what I am doing and get a 
PVR-150/500 to capture the video and use firewire for changing channels.

You really have to decide how your going to capture your video.
You've said no cablebox, so the PVR150 or 500 are prbly your best choices for 
NTSC. A 500 saves you space by giving you two tuners in one PCI slot.

An ATSC tuner per HDTV recording you wish to do at once.

Processor: I recommend going with an Athlon64 on an nForce chipset board. More 
bang for your buck and have worked fine for me.

Sound: The Realtek ALC850 and ALC650 are both good choices for onboard sound 
if you plan on using SPDIF output, make sure to find one that has optical and 
coax SPDIF output on board, most do, but not all.

STAY AWAY FROM VIA 6306 FIREWIRE! TI makes an excellent firewire chip though.

RAM, 512 is enough, 1G is more than enough.

For HDTV, a fanless GeForce card with DVI output, perferably one of the newer 
GPU's that support interlaced output(unless you will be using a 720p or 1080p 
native HDTV). Another option is one of the newer ones with HDTV output chips 
that let you run component to your TV. quality won't be quite as good as DVI, 
but it'll be slightly easier to setup.

For motherboard, get a good stable board with the Realtek audio chipsets 
mentioned. If you get one with firewire on board, pay attention to the note 
above. Get as many PCI slots as you'll need for your tunercards/firewire 
cards. Read reviews online to make sure there are no major issues/stability 
problems.

A few 300G or 320G SATA drives. RAID 5 is supported by some boards, which if 
you plan to RAID seems to be the best option. I went with two 320G's no RAID.
A smaller, 40G drive for installing the OS on, no worries about keeping it on 
the same drive as your recordings, etc.

a fanless powersupply, no less than 500W.

uhm. thats about it.

-- 
Steve