[mythtv-users] Front end CPU recommendations?

[Joe]

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 1:23 PM, Miroslav Suchý <miroslav at suchy.cz> wrote:

> John Drescher napsal(a):
>
>> - does the decoding benefit from dual cores or would I be better off with
>>> a
>>> single core at a higher clock rate?
>>>
>> Decoding is task which is hard to multitask. So if you only decode you are
> better with higher clock rate or bigger cache. But...
> If you decode and playback in same time it is better to have dual core,
> becouse you will get lower latency, which is what you want.
>

Thanks - this pretty much answers my question.  I figured decoding was
largely single-threaded so throwing a second core at it @ the same clock
probably wouldn't solve the problem.  But, if I'm interpreting what you're
telling me correctly, the second core can offload the playback portion of
the job and help out in that way - it sounds like it's worth it.

I don't believe there is any benefit to getting a single core cpu that
>> was made 2 or more years ago (Is there anyone is making single core
>> cpus?) versus a current generation dual core.
>>
>
>
> Heat?
> Via chips are still single core.
> Intel Atom is single core (dual core just hit market).
>

Yes, and the Sempron/Celeron parts are single-core, very cheap, and have
pretty low thermal ratings - beneficial because I'm hoping to reduce system
noise as well with this upgrade.

Not to change the topic too much, but has anyone tried the Via Epia
platform?  The CPU seems like it would be underpowered for any HD playback,
but otherwise it seems pretty nice as a front end.  If the CPU is capable, I
would consider it.

Thanks!
-Joe
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