[mythtv-users] Questions about new hardware purchase

[Brian Wood]

On Mar 28, 2008, at 8:31 AM, John Drescher wrote:
>>
> From what they are offering it would be definitely cheaper to buy the
> parts and build it your self if you are comfortable with that. Every
> single component in this system is on the very low side of things
> almost the lowest you can get new in 2008. However it will work for a
> Myth box. I am not sure it would do HD though.

Also be aware that most machines sold as servers do not have any audio  
capability, either on the mobo or as a card.

So you'll have to factor in the cost of a sound card.

Not sure what video hardware it has. Servers generally come with  
minimal video, as that's all that's normally needed. You might need to  
buy a video card. The machine has only an 8x PCI-Express slot, not a  
16x.

You will be limited to 2 PCI capture devices, only 1 if you need to  
use a PCI slot for audio. This might not be a problem depending on  
what capture hardware you plan to use.

A "server class" machine might make a good backend, but frontends  
usually want more desktopish features, like accelerated video and sound.

By the time you buy a sound card and a video card this might not be a  
great deal.

beww