[mythtv-users] Yet another noobie sanity check ;-)

[J. Donavan Stanley]

Thomas Börkel wrote:

>> for my Mac, probably via SMB, but I can work that out later. Its, 
>> hopefully, going to be in my living room - so it needs to be quiet. I 
>> want to be able to add more video capture cards in the future and 
>> possibly a separate myth frontend for the bedroom.
>
>
> Hauppauge cards and the CPU create a lot of heat. So, you probably 
> need some fans.

Not all that likely if the case has any airflow.  I have two in a case 
with a a single exhaust fan (60mm running a low voltage) and they're fine.


> TV OUT        Aopen GE Force4 MX440SE
>
> I would go for a FX5200 or higher. I think I read that the MX440 is 
> missing some features. My ASUS FX5200 card cost around $70.

The MX line is fine for HTPCs...  This isn't a Windows gaming box he's 
building.


>> 4) can I really get away with 256Mb Ram? I'm trying to keep the costs 
>> down (its already more than I was prepared to spend)
>
>
> A friend of mine tells me, it works OK. But most recommaned 512 MB.

382 is about the minimum you can use and not have excessive swapping, 
but yeah 512 is the way to go.


> 5) how much space is needed for the system? I'm hoping to install a 
> small HD with just the system on it. I have a few *old* drives, maybe 
> 1.6G - 3G lying around... is that enough? I'm probably dreaming, but 
> I'd like not to have to buy a 40G just for the system.
>
> Here it needs 3.8 GB. But I have installed more than needed. 


I allocate 10gb for everything other than media / DB on my systems and I 
have plenty of that left.

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda2             9.7G  5.8G  3.4G  64% /
/dev/hda1              99M   15M   80M  16% /boot
none                  220M     0  220M   0% /dev/shm
/dev/MythVolumeGroup00/MythStorage00
                      174G  131G   43G  76% /myth