[mythtv-users] Power to the Masses (CPU Power that is) - LONG!!

[Jeff Simpson]

> Here is the plan for the backend:
> 
> HD-3000 HDTV PCI Card
> 
> Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 (someone said you cannot watch DVD's with this
> card, has that been corrected, or should I stick with the 250..?)

If you are separating the backend / frontend systems, you won't want
to bother with the 350. The only difference between the 250 and the
350 is the TV-out, since since you aren't using it, save yourself some
money and get the 250.

Unless you are planning on using the backend as a frontend as well -
which I guess you can do, but if you're going to have a few frontends
anyway, why bother?

the 350 is really only good for a combined frontend/backend, since the
card itself performs both tasks (and you can't very well split a card
in half)
 
> Questions for the backend system:
> 
> Do I need a real good video card for this system since it will not be
> hooked to a TV at all...?

If it will not be hooked up to a TV at all you don't need any more
than the built in video card. Once it's set up, you won't even need a
monitor at all (you may still need to keep the video card in the
system to make it boot)

> Do I need a decent sound card to capture the sound, or will the ivtv
> driver work for both the 250/350 and the HD-3000

Just the capture card should be enough with the 250/350. Not sure
about the HD, but I believe that is the same way.

> Do I need a separate tuner card in the backend system for each frontend
> system in order for them to watch separate 'live' channels..? SO if I
> had 3 frontend systems that wanted to watch different 'live' channels, I
> would need 3 x PVR-350's..?

Yes, you will need a tuner for each simultaneous channel. You do NOT
need to have 3 350s, however, 3 150s or 250s should be enough (or a
500 and a 150/250). The backend handles just input, the frontend
handles just output.

> On the frontend, I assume that I need
> 
> 1) Hard Drive
> 2) Good Video Card
> 3) Good Sound Card
> 
> The hard drive does not have to be that big because its only going to
> run the front end application correct..? No need for mysql, and all the
> extra stuff that had to been installed in the backend, or am I incorrect
> here..?

correct on all counts. You'll want to make sure the good video card
can do a nice TV-out if you are plugging it into a TV. nvidia is a
good choice, search the archives to get recommendations on particular
models.
 
> On the video card, I was told to use a card that supported XV. I was
> hoping to use a nice ATI or NVidia that would support component out as
> opposed to composite or S-Video. But how powerful of a card do I need
> 
> Also, how powerful a machine and video card do I need on the front end
> to watch the HDTV stuff, or is all of that processing done on the
> backend system and just streamed to the frontend..? I was thinking of
> running the ASUS Pundit as my front end systems (with a different video
> card (if necessary)).

I think you will need a powerful frontend to display the HDTV. That's
a lot of decoding. The backend is just saving the pre-recorded mpeg
from the card right to the disk, I believe.