[mythtv-users] First build - Looking for CPU recommendations

[Chris]

Dewey,  great reply.  Thanks for the info!

I'm still pondering whether I should go with the onboard svideo of the 
MSI 6150 m/b or spend a few more and put in a 5200.  I want good video 
and if spending another $50 is necessary, I won't think twice.
ONLY need svideo for now.  No HD for now either.

Chris

Dewey Smolka wrote:
> On 4/30/06, Chris <ck42 at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>> Nick wrote:
>>> On 30/04/06, Chris <ck42 at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>>>> Need a CPU that can comfortably handle two simultaneous recordings from
>>>> the PVR500 and a recorded playback all at the same time.
>>>> Needs to be able to do all this without any skipping, hesitation, etc.
>>>> I'm also taking into consideration heat generation.  Doesn't necessarily
>>>> need to be the COOLEST running CPU out there, but I don't want box that
>>>> runs hot either.  Price takes a back seat to the above mentioned
>>>> requirements.
>>> My Celeron 1.3GHz slave backend/frontend managed this, in almost
>>> silence. Uses 2x DVB-T cards and 1x PVR-150 card for recording. ATI
>>> Radeon 9000 for output to TV. (No HDTV available in the UK)
>> Celeron 1.3 doing two recordings and a playback(non-HD) w/o any
>> problems?? wow!  That's much less HP than I would've expected!
> 
> The heavy lifting for capture (with the PVR x50/500) cards is done on
> the card. Very little CPU required. The CPU is needed for playback,
> for com flagging and transcoding.
> 
> 
>> Is the 7600GS overkill in my case?  If a 5200 will do what I need w/o a
>> hickup, then that's $$ saved.
> 
> Yes, it's overkill. Lot of the newer cards are designed for
> power-hungry 3D rendering for games and such. MythTV doesn't require
> much in the way of 3D, and you won't really get much of a difference
> in performane or appearance with $200 card vs a $50 gf4 or fx5200.
> 
>> Being new to this, I haven't read anything about commercial flagging and
>> how it relates to system resource demands.  I'll need to read up this to
>> know if this is something I need to consider or not.  Same for transcoding.
> 
> Simply put, com flagging analyzes your recordings to flag where Myth
> thinks the commercials are, allowing you to skip them automatically.
> Not 100%, but very effective on the whole. Transcoding lets you reduce
> the size of your recordings, giving you more room on your disk. Your
> choice of CPU won't really affect Myth's ability to do these things,
> only the speed at which it does them.
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