[mythtv-users] looking for a motherboard...
William Powers
wepprop at sbcglobal.net
Sat Apr 15 22:51:45 UTC 2006
Mark Lehrer wrote:
> Ack!!!! Intel is a horrible idea. I have an AMD x2 3800 and it is great.
> I had a Prescott and it was a nightmare. If you are not doing hi def then
> you'll be OK, but otherwise go AMD.
Not to run down AMD, because I would *MUCH* prefer to have gone with
AMD, but Intel is considerably cheaper for low-end dual core. I was
doing OTA high def on a slave backend/frontend with a 2.8 gig P4
Northwood and it was fast enough for playback, but if the transcoder
kicked off, or anything else needed to run, it was nothing but stutter -
stutter, jerk - jerk. I needed to upgrade. I wanted to get an X2
3800+, but that would have been a $400 upgrade, what with CPU, m/b and a
PCI-e graphics card.
After looking at all the alternatives, I ended up getting a Pentium D
820 (dual 2.8 gig Prescott cores) along with an Asus P5VD1-X motherboard
(which let me keep my existing AGP graphics card and DDR memory) for
$220. Yes, it runs hotter than Hades under load, but It only uses 120%
CPU (of 200% total) for 1080i playback, vs. 100% CPU with the
Northwood. Playback is now always smooth, even while transocoding and
recording a program at the same time.
I still wish, however, that AMD had released an X2 3200+ for under $200
Bill
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