[mythtv-users] 2nd try at a MythTV FE/BE design

[Don Jerman]

On 10/10/07, Chuck Rudolph <rudolph4404 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> After reading over the many welcome comments in my first attempt at
> designing my
> first MythTV box
> (http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/289526),
> I've put together my revised shopping list.
>
[...]

I've been happy with a $99 Silverstone LC13 case - no frills, solid
construction, lousy fans (but only $20 to replace those with quiet
ones). I like the placement of USB and firewire ports, and the lack of
bright displays.  It's a little expensive for such a bare box, but it
doesn't have a bunch of plastic bays to cover up.

Turns out I could have left off the front fan, it never gets hot
enough inside to make it run.  If you're satisfied with a regular-pc
case you can spend a little less, but you may want to buy one without
a power supply if you want it quiet...

>       FSP Group (Fortron Source) FSP400-60THN ATX2.0 400W Power Supply - OEM
>
> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817104032
>       Model #: FSP400-60THN OEM
>       Item #: N82E16817104032
>       $41.99
> Not sure if this is quite enough. Just going by what the reviews say about
> it.
> Is 400W enough for this base system plus a couple of more disks and another
> capture card?

I bought a 500W ps for my fileserver a while ago without looking into
the noise factor and i can still hear it in the next room.  I think
400W is probably overkill for your setup but then again it won't be
running at capacity so maybe it won't run hot.  I bought a Zalman 400W
supply for my mythtv box and, as advertised, I can't hear it.  My wife
has particularly sensitive hearing so I put a few extra $$ into
silence.

>
>       ASUS M2NBP-VM CSM AM2 NVIDIA Quadro NVS 210S Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
>
> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131072
>       Model #: M2NBP-VM CSM
>       Item #: N82E16813131072
>       $76.99
I chose the M2NPV-VM - has firewire and comes with composite and
component output ports for TV out.  Well worth the extra $15, imho,
since you're likely to need some kind of adapter for the TV otherwise.

>       Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE White box PCI Interface Personal Video
> Recorder
[..]
> I'd like to add another PVR 500 in the not too distant future.

Go ahead, you can put the VCR "channel 4" output on one of the cards,
to transcribe those videotapes.  Just don't add that second card to
mythtv until you're done, so it doesn't try to change the channel. (I
have not figured out how to connect separate inputs to the two coax
adapters on the card and have them function - the card seems to always
use the internal splitter.  Perhaps if I read the manuals....)

>
>       AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model
> ADA4200CUBOX
>
> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103747
>       Model #: ADA4200CUBOX
>       Item #: N82E16819103747
>       $74.00
> Do I need a fan or heat sink for this? It and the MOBO do support
> Cool'n'Quite.

Yes, but since this is the boxed version it comes with an adequate
cooler. It _will_ shut down if run without the fan (whether it starts
again is an open question).  I got the BE-2350 (0.1Ghz slower, 45
watts vs 67...) and it runs quiet enough with the stock cooler, with
the case fans alternating between "off" and "slow" under the
fancontrol daemon.  I've read reviews both ways on the 4200 (which I
originally planned to buy) but for anything hotter you probably want a
custom "silent" cooler.

I find that the BE-2350 keeps up with 4 channels of commflagging and
the occasional transcode while playing SD 4:3 720x480.  If I transcode
everything by default, the job queue never catches up, so if you're
doing HD soon you may want a hotter processor, and probably a custom
cooler (since the hotter ones will probably run louder).

>       Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard
> Drive - OEM
>
> http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822148151
>       Model #: ST3500630NS
>       Item #: N82E16822148151
>       $149.99
> I'll add more disk as I need it. Is the ES version worth the extra $40?

Possibly, but they may be loud.  I went with Western Digital Caviar
SE16s (500G) - they were the least noisy drives I could find tests
for. Fwiw they were cheaper and they still work after a month...

> I'm also thinking about wireless LAN. My wired switch is half way across the
> house. It's a Netgear WGT624v2. Any card/USB dongle recommendations?

My advice: Don't. I had trouble with usb wireless dongles (seems like
manufacturers keep changing chipsets so you can't buy one that has a
stable driver, just my experience) and you only have 2 PCI slots (on
your chosen mobo or on the one I recommend) so you don't want to spend
one on a wireless card.

Get a wireless/ethernet bridge and use the motherboard's ethernet.
It's a little more expensive but it moots the configuration issues,
and you don't have to keep buying usb dongles until you find one that
works :).  I had to re-install a couple of times before I traced my
stability issues to the wireless drivers, since I got rid of them the
system has worked well.