[mythtv-users] Building another system, hardware questions

Chad masterclc at gmail.com
Sat Apr 1 08:05:48 UTC 2006


On 3/12/06, Greg Foster <greg.foster at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 3/7/06, Chad <masterclc at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hello!
> >
> > I'm in the process of building another frontend.  This time I want
> > something small and quiet :D  Who doesn't right?  So I'm looking at
> > using the VGA output from the P4V8X-MX since it has the Via P4M800
> > that does the hardware mpeg2/4 acceleration.  So...  I assume I won't
> > need such a beefy CPU, which I figure translates to less heat and in
> > turn translates to quieter PC (less power for smaller CPU, less heat,
> > quieter fan to dissipate heat).  But I'm still not sure what to do.  A
> > Celeron D looks cheap and puts out 2.5Ghz for 50 bucks.  However, I
> > would think that a 1.9Ghz P4 (533mhz FSB) would put out less heat and
> > has a 512KB L2 versus the Celly's 256KB, but the P4 costs about 70
> > bucks (20 bucks more than the Celly).  Any hardware nut out there to
> > clarify this for me?  More importantly, can anyone tell me if running
> > a MythTV frontend would enjoy using the extra L2 cache, or if I'm just
> > being a paranoid delusional freak?
> >
> > Ok, so onto the other part of all this:
> > I want, I REALLY want, DVI output.  I don't see it as an option with
> > any motherboard that has the P4M800 chipset from Via (unichrome Pro).
> > So, I looked for CN400 motherboards.  The motherboard I found was a
> > Commell LV-667D (
> > http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath/78_76/products_id/406
> > ).  Another option was the SP series Epia's and get the LVDS to DVI
> > addon daughterboard (
> > http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/cPath/78_72/products_id/507
> > ) But with either of those options, just for the motherboard I'm into
> > it ~260 bucks.  Add on a decent case and RAM (from caseoutlet.com )
> > and I'm touching $420.00 bucks.  Why?  Because I want DVI?
> >
> > Form factor is important, but the P4 is mATX and is still small, AND
> > has a slew of cases to choose from (some of which are very nice
> > looking and very nicely priced).  The case choice is limited and cost
> > is outrageous for an Epia with a CN400 chipset.
> > Ok, so what am I getting at?  I've recently acquired a decent
> > projector (an Optoma H27).  The projector is not an HD projector.  Do
> > I really need the DVI?  Would the average human see a difference in
> > the DVI versus the VGA output from these 2 different motherboards?
> >
> > A few trailing questions:
> > Does anyone think 128 is too little RAM to run a MythTV frontend that
> > is doing *most* of it's decoding through hardware, and not much else
> > (no comm flagging, no transcoding, yes deinterlacing).
> > Does a standalone videocard exist (for us average buyers) that has
> > mpeg4 acceleration as well as full frame HD mpeg2 hardware decoding?
> > I'd just stuff an FX5200 in there and call it good except I would be
> > cooking my system anytime I watched a transcoded (mpeg4) file.
>
> [snip]
>
> Chad,
>
> Just wondering how you made out with this board.  I've *just* picked
> one up myself, and am wondering whether the onboard P4M800 worked for
> you with this config ? Have the setup stuffed in an Antec Aria case.
> Not the slimmest in the world, but the built-in cardreader might even
> allow for a completely HD-less setup if I can store my setup config
> for Knoppmyth on a CF/SD card.
>
> Any gotchas one should look out for ?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Greg.
> _______________________________________________

Better late than never, and I'll be adding my experience to a few
wiki's around the net, but the skinny:

It wasn't cut and dry.  Getting X to work was not the easiest thing to
do ( I wanted to go Xorg-7 so that made things a little easier
actually).  I was able to get the openchrome via driver working and
loaded eventually, and then I could startx.  Then I tackled DRM and
getting XvMC to work (which required some editing of files, in
particular the drm/linux-core/via_pciids.txt file) and then some
recompiling of my applications (including mythtv) to get it working. 
I also had to use some tweaks to help XvMCWrapper work with my system,
but all in all, doing a diskless frontend on not-too-well-documented
hardware, this went fairly nice!

Chad


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