[mythtv-users] Recommendations for new Mythtv Box

[Tom Trelvik]

John Rives wrote:
> Hardware already owned:
> 4 x Maxtor 80gb Ultra 8mb cache IDE hard drives
> 1 x Maxtor 200gb Ultra 8mb cache IDE hard drive

	Wow, nice!  =)

> Case:

	Eh, people tend to be pretty particular about cases.  I'd suggest just 
finding something you think you'd like (like those two) and googling for 
reviews of them to see what others have had to say about them.

> Processor:
> Athlon XP 2600+ - This is the best bang for the buck right now, IMHO. The P4

	Sounds good.

> Motherboard:
> Perhaps this section should be labeled: "Chipset HELP!". The nforce2 is
> everywhere, and seems to have good performance. The 48khz audio problems
> scare me, however. Also, I have seen references to issues with the IDE
> controller. The KT333 and KT400 chipsets look like a good value - any
> suggestions? My preference, for what it is worth, is to get something that
> is Mythtv/Linux friendly. The more that can be integrated onboard the
> better.

	I'm looking to get a KT400 based system (probably going to order it 
this evening), so I can't speak from experience, but I found this review 
of the KT400A very helpful:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030417/index.html

	This review convinced me /not/ go with the KT400A, but rather the 
KT400.  Specifically these two paragraphs from the last page:

Maybe VIA should have been cautions once again, as there is a strange 
downside to KT400A: it is faster than KT400 when using DDR400, but it 
runs even faster with DDR333! And if this wasn't enough, the KT400A with 
DDR333 is even slower than the KT400 with DDR333. Still with me? ;)

Well, it's quite simple: the KT400A chipset and DDR400 cannot live up to 
the expectations. The KT400 (without "A") combined with fast DDR333 
memory is still the fastest single-channel chipset for Athlon, while 
nForce2 remains the fastest Athlon solution available using two DIMMs 
and DDR333.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030417/kt400a-08.html

	Basically, if I understand correctly, it comes down to the CPU's FSB 
being a bottleneck for the 400MHz (PC3200) RAM, so you'll get the most 
performance (on a Via chipset) by going with the first revision of the 
KT400 chipset and 333MHz (PC2700) RAM.

> Video Card:

	I can't offer any better advice than the info given on this page:

http://pvrhw.goldfish.org/tiki-page.php?pageName=pvrhw_gfx

> Memory:
> PC2700 or PC3200, hopefully on Sale! 512mb enough??

	As pointed out in my comments on motherboard selection, don't bother 
with PC3200 unless you decide on a nForce2 chipset (or possibly one of 
the Athlon's with a 400MHz FSB, but they're still really pricey).

> Linux Distribution:

	From list activity Gentoo, Mandrake, Red Hat & Debian all seem common 
choices that people have gone with.  The documentation specifically 
mentions each of those numerous times.  And the site I linked to for 
video cards has specific install guides for debian & redhat.

	Good luck!

Tom