[mythtv-users] Hardware Selection for backend

Steve Adeff adeffs at gmail.com
Mon Oct 24 23:19:45 EDT 2005


On Monday 24 October 2005 22:28, Robert Denier wrote:
> Is some of the transcoding done on the backend?  I haven't checked where
> it is being done yet..
>
> At any rate if the backend does transcoding then springing for a decent
> cpu, especially if a substantially better one is say $20 or so is
> probably worthwhile.  Basically I'd look at prices if your buying new.
> Sometimes spending only a tiny amount more can get a signifcantly better
> cpu, and who knows if you will be using that machine for myth forever..
>
> A quick glance at pricewatch shows
> athlon xp 2600 333 $66
>        xp 2700 333 $72
>        xp 1600 $49
>
> athlon 64 3000 $119  (It might be worthwhile going 64 bit if your going
> for brand new equipment,  but it is a tossup I guess.)
>
> I suppose also, if your running it continually, the cost of providing
> energy should factor in over the lifetime of the unit, but I couldn't
> begin to estimate how that would effect the long term cost.
>
> I do think the nforce recommendation is a good one.  I remember some
> posts about via? being less than ideal for the hauppage pvr cards.  I'm
> using an nforce 2 board I think cost about $50 from newegg.  On the
> other hand, there is probably no reason to go nforce 4, so nforce 2 or 3
> is likely good.
>
> Of course if you have something older that will work so you don't have
> to buy anything then the solution is simple.
>
> Good luck..
> -Robert
>
> On Mon, 2005-10-24 at 20:47 -0400, Steve Adeff wrote:
> > On Monday 24 October 2005 20:18, Jon Solomon wrote:
> > > I am building my first Mythtv Backend from scratch. I plan on using 3
> > > Hauppauge PVR 500's to record 4-6 stearms at time. My question is how
> > > fast of a processor and how much ram should I get? Which Motherboard
> > > would you recommend that have little or no issues with the PVR 500s and
> > > SATA HD?
> > >
> > > Thanks I advanced for the help.
> >
> > CPU speed won't matter much, so if you've got an old P3-ish system use
> > that. If you want to build a new computer, look for an nForce3 based
> > board with pci and agp and SATA. get the cheapest cpu you can find or the
> > board and 512megs of ram. It'll be an Athlon of some sort so it'll be
> > fast enough.
> >
> > Steve


there are very few nforce 4 boards with agp and 5x pci, and the ones that 
exist are expensive. I've recently been working on putting together a machine 
for 3x HD3000 cards and a PVR500. 
I've found newegg.com to be the best prices for the convenience of buying all 
in one place. I might be able to save ~$20 shopping around, but screw that...
Anyway, the best bang-for-buck for my needs is an nforce3 board for $70, and 
an Athlon64 3000. I've already got an AGP fx5200 so I'd basically get in for 
about $500, then get a nice HTPC case. I plan on buying a new 320gig SATA 
drives specificaly for MythTV as well (and prbly a few more to replace some 
aging and smaller ATA drives on my file server), they can be had for $140 w/ 
a 3yr warranty. 

I've currently got a an Athlon64 3200+ on an nForce4 board, it runs great and 
was a snap to get MythTV running, so as long as I can do the 3x HD3000 cards 
and get them working with a PVR500 I'll be good to go!

what I need to do is see if its worth it to rent a few more DCT6200 boxes from 
Comcast and use firewire instead of paying for the HD3000 cards. now that i 
think of it, I think it might be....


Steve


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