[mythtv-users] Upgrade old or cut my losses and buy new?

[Brian Wood]

On Mar 5, 2007, at 1:06 PM, Dennis Lou wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "Phil Bridges" <gravityhammer at gmail.com>
>> I run an A64 3000+ frontend/backend doing HDTV fine
>> without XVMC.  I believe my X/mythfrontend CPU usage
>> stays around 50-60% while watching
>> live.  IIRC, I don't have any deinterlacers working, but
>> I'd have to check my machine to be sure.
>
>
> I run a Sempron 2800, socket 754, frontend/backend doing HDTV  
> without XVMC.  X+mythfrontend usage is ~50% watching live.  I run  
> kernel deinterlace.

You say "HDTV", is this 720P, 1080i or what. Also how are you driving  
your monitor and at what resolution?

"HDTV" covers such a broad range of possibilities, from 720P scaled  
to the S-Video output to 1080i driving an LCD at full resolution that  
I suspect this is the source of apparently contradictory reports of  
what a given CPU can do.

Other factors, such as whether a full-blown KDE install or a  
lightweight window manager might make a difference, also things like  
what happens if you try and run a commflag or a transcode job or two  
at the same time, would make for differing reports, as would video  
drivers and their options, system tuning and many other factors.

I'm not talking about you specifically, but I see many reports like  
"so-and-so is working for me" without enough details for someone else  
to decide if it should work for them.

OTOH too many details would turn this list into a hardware litany  
like so many gaming sites.

My SD system's using a 754 Athlon 3700+ and I figured I'd have to  
upgrade it for HD if I wanted to do other things at the same time,  
but you've made me have to think about that :-)