[mythtv] Box Processor Limits

[Bruce Markey]

Jarret R wrote:
> I was reading the Myth site and was slightly confused by the figures. On 
> the site it says that high quality takes 50-60% of an Athlon 1800+. The 
> TiVo only has a twenty-something megahertz processor in it and it can 
> encode etc without problems. Which process is taking all the CPU time? 
> Is it the encoding scheme used? I decided to build a myth box, and we 
> are trying to figure out if the Duron 650 I have will work or if I 
> should use the Athlon 1100 currently in my extra box. Is the problem 
> when encoding and decoding at the same time?
>  
> Sorry for the newbie questions ;)

Janet, no problem. However, I don't know if you got a
useful answer yet ;-).

To record mpeg4 at 640x480 without dropping frames generally
takes a little less then the equivalent of 1GHz of AMD cycles.
Your Duron may work but only at disappointing resolutions.
The Athlon should easily handle the MythTV default (480x480)
and should be able to record and playback at 640x480 with
little or no jitter.

For playback, decode is surprisingly lightweight and uses
only a fraction of the CPU time that it takes to record.

Hope this helps,

--  bjm