[mythtv-users] Upgrade Options for $150

Steven Adeff adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com
Wed Jan 24 17:52:20 UTC 2007


On 1/24/07, Nate Crosno <nate at crosno.net> wrote:
> Brian Wood wrote:
> > On Jan 23, 2007, at 5:19 PM, Nate Crosno wrote:
> >
> >> To that end, I'm looking at two possibilities:
> >>
> >> Option 1. Reuse the P4 with this MB and Video card ($104 shipped)
> >>
> >> Option 2. Forgo the P4 altogether and go AMD:
> >>     ($133 shipped)
> >>     AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 2.0GHz Socket 939
> >>     $59 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103535
> >>     JetWay J939GT3-PTD Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD
> >>     $60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813153047
> >>
> >
> > You've done a pretty good job of analyzing the situation.
> >
> > I try and stay away from VIA chipsets, especially ones of that old
> > vintage as they had DMA problems , especially important on Myth
> > systems where you need to move a lot of data around. Of course YMMV
> > and some people have had good luck with those chipsets, I have not.
> >
> > If it were me I'd go with a socket 939 and an nForce chipset. there
> > are some really good deals on 939 CPUs these days, and they use the
> > DDR RAM that you have. The 3200 CPU might be a bit weak for HD
> > playback without XvMC but your CPU upgrade options will be more open.
> > You can get an Opteron 165 for $150 or even an FX-60 for under $400
> > these days.
> >
> > You just have to balance initial outlay vs. upgradability vs.
> > performance vs. what you can get a deal on. Check out Tiger and
> > Compgeeks for other offers, it's sometime surprising what you can
> > find when you keep your eyes open.
> >
>
> Well, I've placed my order.  After searching around for several hours on
> various sites, I'm still going with the Jetway board because it was the
> only 939 board I could find with DVI out, plus it has component out,
> which I'd like to try. It also had the nvidia chipsets.  After reviewing
> some processor performance charts (with a grain of salt), I opted for an
> Athlon 64 3400 at 2.2Ghz and a cheap heatsink/fan combo.  According to a
> cpu chart that tested transcoding a DVD, it looks like that will be
> about a 10% bump in performance over the 3200 I listed before. The
> damage came to $137 out the door.
>
> AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Venice 2.2GHz Socket 939
>     http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103023
> JetWay J939GT3-PTD Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX
>     http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153047
>
> Thanks for all the advice, everyone.  I'm crossing my fingers that this
> will get me smooth HD playback in Myth without XvMC, minimal down time,
> and room to upgrade in the future when dual cores come down some more.

good luck with the JetWay board, I've heard poor things but if it
works for you then who cares right?
As for the 3400+, it should be more than enough to run HD without XvMC
and deinterlacing, search this list for the "UseEvents" setting.
If this same system is running your backend I'd recommend using an
HDHomeRun for recording over a PCI ATSC tuner, both to save processing
power and to save room for a PVR-150/PVR-500.

-- 
Steve
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