[mythtv-users] Some advice on new hardware

John Drescher drescherjm at gmail.com
Tue Jul 28 18:01:28 UTC 2009


> I am looking to upgrade our main Myth machine, both backend and most used
> frontend. Currently it is a P4-1.8 GHz, with 600something MB RAM (before you
> ask about the odd value, it's a faulty stick, limited to the amount of RAM
> without errors by GRUB), a GeForce 6200 and a IDE 80 GB HDD. Tuner is a
> Hauppauge Nova T 500 for DVB-T, this will remain unchanged. Also the case
> will stay the same, Antec Fusion, so I'll have to pick a µATX mainboard.
> What I am looking to upgrade is:
> Mainboard, CPU, RAM and HDD
>
>
> As I haven't followed the hardware market for years, I am completely unaware
> of what the current standards are regarding CPU socket, most recommendable
> chipset, reasonable CPU and sufficient video card are. To form some specific
> questions:
>
> 1. Should I go for AMD or Intel as the processor?

Either are fine at the required level of performance.

> I do not need a Quad Core
> Hyper Extreme Whatever Edition, a decent dual core should do it for now and
> probably have some reserves for future possible HD playback. I want
> something with low energy consumption and little heat production. An Atom
> won't do it though, will it?
>
> 2. Now that we have decided for a CPU, which chipset is the preferrable? As
> mentioned above, I need a µATX board.
>
Intel chipset for an Intel processor. ATI/AMD chipeset for an AMD processor.

>
> 3. As you have probably noticed by the lack of a video card in the shopping
> list, ideally I would like to have a board with integrated video. Those seem
> to be frequent in µATX form factor, so that should not be a problem. GeForce
> or is Intel GMA good enough? I have not found any ATI integrated video
> solutions while looking at mainboards.
>

nVidia will be the best and the least effort under linux. nVidia has
by far the best driver and also with vdpau it is the only one with GPU
accelerated mpeg output.

>
> 4. Generally, any mainboard brands to avoid? Most frequently I have seen
> Biostar, Asrock or MSI...
>
I would avoid all of these.

>
> 5. Are 2 GB RAM sufficient? Is dual channel helpful?
>
Most current boards are dual channel or better.

>
> 6. HDD: As I also try to keep it cheap, 750 GB will be more than enough,
> almost 10 times of what I have now will enable about 250 recording to be
> kept... I have good experiences with Samsung drives, if anyone can recommend
> any other silent and reliable drives though, please go ahead.
>

I have no recommendations even though I have > 200 drives. All
manufacturers have bad batches. Quality is also getting more
questionable since the prices are $100 US instead of $300 US that they
used to be.


BTW, these questions are asked at least 1 time a month. Search the archives.
John


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