[mythtv-users] mythtv hardware plans

[Steven Adeff]

On 2/5/07, jason maxwell <decepticon at gmail.com> wrote:
> I guess after I actually get a box up and running, then I can see what
> my TV habits become and go from there. So I'll pose a new question, or
> at least reword my old question.
>
> If you had up to ~$800 for hardware to build the best dual tuner HD/SD
> capable box that you could afford, what would your shopping list
> include? For the time being I will use my wireless keyboard for
> navigation, but will probably get a nice logitech/harmony remote or
> something eventually. I have optical drives, and plenty of IDE drives
> for the OS, but will need mobo, cpu, ram, power, storage, case,
> tuners, and video.
>
> WWYD?
> Thank you all for the guidance so far.

I think I'm going to start an "Adeff's recommended MythTV Hardware"
wiki or weekly email or something...

This is about as close as I can get, this is for a combined fe/be,
with the added bonus that the motherboard would make a great
standalone frontend if you decide to build a dedicated backend (but
your really wouldn't need to).

Aver A180 HDTV tuner $80 (buy.com)
     - Can double with NTSC tuning if desired, though it will use CPU time
PVR-150 $55 (newegg)
ABIT NF-M2 nView Socket AM2 $95 (newegg)
    - Nvidia 6150 builtin with DVI output, with optical SPDIF and
analog output depending on what you need.
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 $80 (newegg)
AMD AthlonX2 3800+ $135 (newegg)
     - Minimum recommended for an HD capable combo system
SILVERSTONE LASCALA SST-LC11S-M $190 (newegg)
     - VFD  and IR built in, plus it looks nice and should be relatively quiet.

For storage you have a couple options. That case can only hold 3x3.5
drives, so with one as your system drive you have space for 2 more.
You can either go with a single large drive  or two smaller drives.
Two smaller drives allow you to RAID for speed, though with just these
two tuners you most likely won't need it.
500GB drives can be found for $140 on sale given the week, or a couple
320GB for about $90 each.

and of course, if you decide to upgrade to a dedicated backend in the
future you can still use the basics for your frontend and move all the
other parts over to the new backend.

-- 
Steve
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