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

[Brad]

I've checked out the CoolerMaster, and do like it. However, getting 
that and then the other required bits (power supply, fan, etc) pushes 
the price up for the system more than I'm willing to go (heck, I'm 
not even sure all this is going to work yet). I can get the Aria for 
$139 (CDN) with PS, while the Coolermaster is $153 and I still need 
to buy those other parts. Basically, I'm bumping my head on my 
self-imposed $1000 (cdn) budget for this project.

As this is solely meant as a server, I'm not looking for killer 
speed. MythTV is definitely the biggest load on the system. I much 
more concerned with keeping it quiet and thus cool.

It sounded like people were warning me away from the AMD Thoroughbred 
XP2000 due to heat concerns. The processor I'm thinking of using now 
is "AMD MOBILE ATHLON XP-M 2400+ 1.8GHz 266FSB BARTON 45W 1.45V OEM" 
($125), basically the lowest end mobile proc I can find. I can use 
this in a Socket A board? Anything weird I need to know about 
(heatsinc, fan issues perhaps)? If I went the other direction and got 
a Duron 1800, is that powerful enough to handle things like MPEG2 to 
MPEG4 transcoding and DVD decoding? Would that produce even less 
heat? Its definitely a lot cheaper ($75).

I think the motherboard may be a little overkill too actually. 
Considering that I'm not using the built-in video at all (I will only 
need TV out or S-video once its all set up), I think I'm paying a 
premium for that in the Shuttle MN31N. I really wanted an AMD mobo 
with onboard tv-out, 5.1, spdif, firewire, usb2, and gigbit ethernet 
(to talk to my screaming fast mac). I know now that expecting so much 
was folly! ;-) The shuttle seamed a good choice as it offered most of 
what I wanted onboard, except TVout which could be added in the AGP, 
preserving the 3 PCI slots for 2 PVR x50's and leaving one slot for 
gigabit ethernet if I dare (providing this thing isn't literally 
smoking by then). Anyone aware of a better/cheaper mATX mobo that 
could fit my bill?

Thanks again for all the help so far!

Brad