[mythtv-users] FYI - New HW video accellAPI from NVIDIA

[Nicolas Will]

On Sun, 2008-11-16 at 09:01 -0500, Michael T. Dean wrote:
> 
> Oh, and there's also the whole, you really don't /need/ GPU-assisted 
> decode, anyway.  My system happily handles US MPEG-2 HDTV.  If you're 
> using an HD-PVR to record HDTV to MPEG-4 AVC from (rented) 
> cable/satellite STB's (with a monthly cable bill), the extra $20 to
> $30 
> you spend to get a supported card is really a negligible part of your
> TV 
> cost, but you can always buy a system that can play that back even 
> without the GPU assist (and the support for HD-PVR output is getting 
> better every day).

I'm quite with you, on most part. $30 is cheap compared to the cost of
an HD-capable MythTV system.

But, I differ on your point about not needing something like GPU decode.

Using the generic CPU works if you go the expensive way. This also means
noise on the FE, as the CPU fan will start to spin up. Agreed, if you
watch HD, you will probably have some sound covering the fans, this is
what happens at my place.

But going with a cheaper CPU, a cheap GPU that can assist HD decoding
gives less noise and less money spent.

An for most, why waste a good CPU when there is a GPU than can do the
same job with less efforts, heat and noise?

Nico