[mythtv-users] Newbie Questions

[Brian Wood]

Paul wrote:
> I'm planning my first MythTV setup and need some advice.
> 
> I have a Shuttle XPC (SN41G2) that I'm planning to install Ubuntu on. It's
> got an Athlon XP 3000 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HD, 1 PCI slot, and 1 AGP...
> etc. More detailed specs can be found here:
> http://hq1.shuttle.com/products_page03.jsp?PLLI=86&PI=471
> 
> Mainly I want to be able to skip commercials and watch MP4 encoded movies on
> its hard drive. There might be some TV recording but very little.
> 
> Is this a suitable system for my MythTV needs? Which video card is
> recommended?
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You could certainly make MythTV run on this box. If you needed more than
one capture device you could use a USB-based capture device or an
HDHomerun, in addition to a PCI card like a PVR or PcHDTV.

The GeForce4MX graphics can work, I think it would require the "legacy"
nVidia drivers. With the AGP slot you could put a 5200 or any later
nVidia card in and it should work fine with no problems. Try and get a
fanless card if you can.

You're paying a lot of money for the form factor. Socket A CPUs are
pretty dated, though that one should be OK even for HD.

Personally I'd use a Socket A chip if I had one, but would hesitate to
buy one new, as it's a single core and not all that fast compared to
modern processors.

But, if the FF is very important to you...

BEWW