[mythtv-users] New system advice

[Damian]

> Damian wrote:
>
>> - Needs to be quiet .. almost silent! (My wife is incredibly sound 
>> sensitive)
>> - The machine will also be the house network server, so needs at 
>> least a 1TB HD and will be left turned on all of the time.
>
> I use an HP Microserver for a backend - which seem to be on permanent 
> cashback offer from HP :
> http://www.ebuyer.com/281915-hp-proliant-turion-ii-n40l-microserver-100-cashback-658553-421 
>
> (mine's the earlier N36 with slightly lower specs)
>
> Can't say what it would be like running a fronend with it, but as a 
> backend it can sit there and only pulls 40-50W depending on what you 
> stuff in it.
>
> It's incredibly quiet - it's cooled by a very big fan that fills a 
> good area of the back panel - so it can run slowly and quietly.
>
>> - The machine will also be the house network server, so needs at 
>> least a 1TB HD and will be left turned on all of the time.
>
> It's got four slots for drives, plus a 5 1/4 space in the top for an 
> optical drive or an HD if you use an adapter cradle.
>
>> - I only need to access the 'Freeview' channels through a standard 
>> ariel. We don't pay for any extra channels.
>
> I'm using a couple of Hauppage HVR cards (1200 or 1300 IIRC). Only 
> Freeview SD channels, no HD support. Might try a TBS6280 or nanoStick 
> T2 290e at some point.
> If running a combined FE/BE then a USB tuner would be a benefit since 
> there are only two half-height/half-length PCIe slots (a 1x and a 16x) 
> in the Microserver.
>
>> - The 'screen' of the machine is currently a 480p projector. I'll 
>> upgrade to a HD one at some point, but probably not until this one dies.
>
> The Microserver has a VGA output, but I run the machine headless and 
> text-only so I've no idea how capable it is. lspci says it's got "VGA 
> compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M880G [Mobility Radeon HD 
> 4200]".
> You always have the option of putting a card in if there's a suitable 
> card that will fit in half-height/half-length slot.
>
>
> Oh, and it has an incredibly bright "HP" logo on the front with a blue 
> LED behind it. With the right driver it should be capable of turning 
> yellow for errors, but uou'll most likely want to stick black tape 
> over it.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was hoping that there would be a 'buy 
this and it will do everything' solution, but it looks like I'm into the 
world of finding a suitable bare bones system and adding the appropriate 
additions myself.

Thanks again,
Damian