[mythtv-users] "Good Enough" specs for HDTV?

Kevin Kuphal kuphal at dls.net
Sat Aug 12 23:43:03 UTC 2006


Scott wrote:
> After looking through the list for a bit, I've found some posts that 
> half-answer my question, but none that tell me exactly what I need. 
> That being said, I'm hoping that you all could help me figure out just 
> what I'm going to need to spend some money on in the next few weeks... 
> I've got an HD-Ready TV and an older desktop sitting around, so I 
> figure I can make a decent DVR system for my dorm room this coming 
> semester.
>
> As it stands, the desktop has the following hardware:
>
> GIGABYTE GA-7VT600-L Motherboard
> AMD AthlonXP 2500+ (~1.8GHz)
> 512MB DDR RAM
> SBLive! 5.1 Soundcard
> GeForce4 Ti4200 Video card
> 80GB HDD
>
> I'm already planning to purchase a pcHDTV-5500 card for the TV 
> capture, but I'm wondering if my system specs will be good enough to 
> run HD channels smoothly. Sadly, the TV my roommates and I bought 
> (used and fairly cheap... we're college students, after all :P) only 
> supports 1080i for its HDTV display, so that's the only mode I'll be 
> able to use. I've read that the CPU requirement is a P4 3GHz for HD 
> video, but I've also read that using an nVidia card + XvMC can reduce 
> the CPU requirement. It wouldn't be a big problem to pick up an FX5200 
> considering they're pretty cheap, but I'd rather not have to buy a new 
> motherboard + CPU. Would a slightly more expensive GeForce 6200 card 
> serve me better, or do you all think the FX5200 would be fine?
>
> The way I see it, once I have a decent base system (motherboard, CPU, 
> video card, sound card) everything else can be upgraded fairly 
> inexpensively, so I'm hoping to get all of that squared away now. Any 
> thoughts/help you all could provide would be much appreciated! :D Do 
> try to keep in mind, however, that I'm attempting to keep the costs of 
> this project down as much as possible...
I have an Athlon 1800 working with an Nvidia card and XvMC so I can say 
that it does work (I'm not driving 1080i though so I can't speak to that).

Kevin


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