[mythtv-users] Quick opinions

[Brian Wood]

On Friday 29 May 2009 18:48:41 Matthew Keefe wrote:
> I've decided that for the performance I'm getting, the rig that I'm working
> on isn't cutting it.  So, I'm going to sell all the parts I won't be able
> to reuse and build a new machine from scratch.  Unless someone hates this
> mobo, I'm going to go with an Asus M4N82.  The M3N78-EM is also a nice
> board, and if dollars start to get pinched I may go with that one instead.
>
> My question is between two processors, both AMD:  the Athlon 64 X2 5050e
> 2.6 GHz 45w Brisbane or the Athlon 64 X2 7750 2.7GHz 95w Kuma.  Both are
> the same price on Newegg.  Brisbane uses half the wattage, but the Kuma is
> a newer core.
>
> So, thoughts on the subject?  I'm looking for subjective reasons here,
> based on your Myth experience to date.  Is it better to get the newer core
> or the lower power?  This is for a combined BE/FE recording HD (hopefully)
> from cable and perhaps OTA.  Reasons for your choice welcome :)

Power considerations break down into two areas:

Economics: Depends on if you are paying for power (some rentals might include 
electricity), what the rate is, what you are comfortable paying and other 
such issues, which nobody here can evaluate except you.

Ethics: How much do you care about your impact on the planet and its 
occupants? Again, nobody but you can decide this.

Processor requirements are again pretty personal, how long are you willing to 
wait for a commflag job to finish? If you want to watch immediately this is a 
factor, if you tend to watch a program days after it was recorded, it's less 
of a factor. How much do you transcode? How much of a hurry are you in? How 
large a database do you anticipate?

So most factors are pretty much individual when it comes to CPU options. Both 
of those you mentioned will do a good job, the other factors are essentially 
up to you. Both of those CPUs would blow away anything I'm using, and I have 
been very happy with my Myth experience. I doubt that in either case CPU 
speed will be a limiting factor in your enjoyment of Myth.

In general using the newer designs is "better", you want to avoid buyer's 
remorse (I could have had a <insert latest chip here>), yet something tried 
and true is often more reassuring. Again, it's up to you.

You did say subjective :-)

-- 
beww
beww at beww.org