[mythtv-users] What hardware do I need to be able to dual record using Comcast cable?

[John Drescher]

> Usage delta between idle/encoding on a Q6600: ~50W
> Local cost for 1kW of electricity: ~$0.09

Hmm. Cheap electricity.

<rant>
I believe my rate is $0.12 to $0.16 but the main reason is not the
cost of the power but the lines ... The electricity is like the 3th
most expensive item (transmission, distribution then electricity). I
am getting way off topic so I will end..
</rant>

> Time to transcode 1hr episode from MPEG2 -> H.264 (2 pass encoding): ~4hrs
> Original file size (commercial cut): ~5GB
> Encoded file size: 1.5GB
>
Only 5GB / hr?
My football games are 40GB for 4hrs. Now this I would like to
transcode if possible.

>
> Power used while encoding     = 50W/hr * 4hrs   = 200W
> Cost of power used to encode = .200kW * $0.09 = $0.018
> Space saved by encoding       = 5GB - 1.5GB     = 3.5GB
>
> Cost of space gained by encoding = $0.018/3.5GB = $0.005/GB
>
>
> Since the lowest price of new media is around $0.10/GB these days,
> transcoding (given this situation) appears to be an order of magnitude
> cheaper still.  This little experiment also does gloss over many other
> variables one could throw into the mix, but nothing (I could think of)
> that would skew the results far enough to change the result.  Other
> people with vastly different energy prices, lower efficiency
> processors or a host of other things could also end up with quite
> different results.
>

Thanks for the analysis.

John