[mythtv-users] Cost of MythTV Machines

[Gavin Haslett]

You know, the true answer to this question really is; how much do you WANT to spend?
 
Me, I got by on my original attempt with around $100... that was because I happened to have the components sitting around wasting space, so building out a PC to host Myth was just a matter of getting the capture card (in my case a PVR-250). Many geeks like me probably have a bits box full of parts that they could build a machine out of. My initial build was an AMD 800 with 768Mb RAM and a 60Gb hard drive. Even the case was an old Gateway Destination (remember those?) case that I happened to have picked up a few years back and never used... so it matched my stereo components rather nicely. OK, so the motherboard's not a perfect fit, but it's good enough (the back panel has no aluminum plate).
 
Once I'd built this out and tested it for a while... and once my wife had decided she really liked it I began to upgrade. I purchased a new mobo, memory and CPU... but ended up not using them because the new mobo fit but I didn't have a power supply with the Pentium 4 connector. Bummer... but just a stupid oversight on my part. At about the same time I had purchased two 160Gb drives, and I installed those in a mirrored set to replace the single 60... much better (I filled 60Gb in a disturbingly short amount of time). Since my upgrade budget was toast, no new PSU... but the mobo's still in storage for future development.
 
Cost of a total Myth setup will also depend on HOW you plan to set it up. Dedicated front and back ends will obviously cost more, but will provide almost unlimited expansion potential. Single-box front/backends will be cheaper, but you might find yourself hitting the upper limits of operability quickly. You pays your money and you takes your choice.
 
Personally, I've found recently that my PIII-700 laptop with 256MB of RAM will run a frontend quite happily with no impact on my AMD 800 backend/frontend box. I paid less than $250 for this on Ebay about a year ago... and it's nice to sit with my wireless card in and seclude myself in a relatively unused corner of the house and watch Battlestar Galactica while my kids watch TV in the family room.
 
So in summary... what do you feel like spending? What have you got you can use to build out a frontend? How motivated are you?

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org on behalf of Tom Hines 
	Sent: Mon 1/23/2006 8:02 AM 
	To: Discussion about mythtv 
	Cc: 
	Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Cost of MythTV Machines
	
	

	I assume the systems to which you are referring are HD capable and
	"just work".  My motive for building my own box was that I wanted to
	tinker with VIA min-itx mobos and it was just time for another DIY
	project.  I forget what the price breakdown was, but I'm in it for
	over $600 now.
	
	VIA EPIA M10000 (provides networking, video out, sound)
	Haupauge PVR-250
	120 GB Hard Drive
	DVD+RW (which I never use)
	Cheap noname micro-atx desktop case
	Quiet replacement fan for the power supply
	Wireless keyboard and mouse
	KnoppMyth
	
	I had fun building it, but I'm not sure if I will rebuild when I go
	for high def.  I'm not too happy with MythTV and might give Tivo a
	try.
	
	Tom
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