[mythtv-users] Hardware Selection for backend

[Robert Denier]

Is some of the transcoding done on the backend?  I haven't checked where
it is being done yet..

At any rate if the backend does transcoding then springing for a decent
cpu, especially if a substantially better one is say $20 or so is
probably worthwhile.  Basically I'd look at prices if your buying new.
Sometimes spending only a tiny amount more can get a signifcantly better
cpu, and who knows if you will be using that machine for myth forever.. 

A quick glance at pricewatch shows 
athlon xp 2600 333 $66
       xp 2700 333 $72
       xp 1600 $49

athlon 64 3000 $119  (It might be worthwhile going 64 bit if your going
for brand new equipment,  but it is a tossup I guess.)

I suppose also, if your running it continually, the cost of providing
energy should factor in over the lifetime of the unit, but I couldn't
begin to estimate how that would effect the long term cost.

I do think the nforce recommendation is a good one.  I remember some
posts about via? being less than ideal for the hauppage pvr cards.  I'm
using an nforce 2 board I think cost about $50 from newegg.  On the
other hand, there is probably no reason to go nforce 4, so nforce 2 or 3
is likely good.

Of course if you have something older that will work so you don't have
to buy anything then the solution is simple.

Good luck..
-Robert



On Mon, 2005-10-24 at 20:47 -0400, Steve Adeff wrote:
> On Monday 24 October 2005 20:18, Jon Solomon wrote:
> > I am building my first Mythtv Backend from scratch. I plan on using 3
> > Hauppauge PVR 500's to record 4-6 stearms at time. My question is how fast
> > of a processor and how much ram should I get? Which Motherboard would you
> > recommend that have little or no issues with the PVR 500s and SATA HD?
> >
> > Thanks I advanced for the help.
> 
> CPU speed won't matter much, so if you've got an old P3-ish system use that. 
> If you want to build a new computer, look for an nForce3 based board with pci 
> and agp and SATA. get the cheapest cpu you can find or the board and 512megs 
> of ram. It'll be an Athlon of some sort so it'll be fast enough.
> 
> Steve
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