[mythtv-users] Seeking Motherboard Advice

[Brian Long]

On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 6:15 PM, Kenneth Emerson
<kenneth.emerson at gmail.com>wrote:

> I have combed through the archives and have found much on hardware
> recommendations but am still confused about video.
>
> I am branching out of my comfort zone of a single BE/FE box to an
> additional FE box.  I want it to be small as it will be sitting on a
> bookcase in the kitchen eating area.  I have been convinced that I
> need to not skimp on the processor so am looking at an I3 or I5
> processor in the 3.2->3.3GHz range. I seem to understand with that
> much processing power I can do decoding in the CPU and not rely on the
> GPU (vdpau).
>
> So the question that begs to be asked, do I have to have an NVIDIA
> video board (either on-board or add-in)?  I am looking at the ASROCK
> mobo (ASRock H67M-ITX LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini
> ITX Intel Motherboard) which has the Intel graphics 2000/3000 built
> in.  I have seen that there has been work within MythTV for VA-API
> which originally came from Intel (but not much discussion about it).
>
> So, can I use the Intel graphics on this mobo for H.264 playback as
> well as mpeg2 1080p files without stuttering?  Does the va-api support
> within MythTV provide any GPU acceleration similar to VDPAU?  Is this
> a wise choice for a FE?
>

Ken,
If you want to get something up and running in the next few weeks and you
want it to be reliable, I would recommend you add a low-end NVidia card to
your shopping list.  You can find half-height, quiet NVidia cards and
you'll be glad you didn't try the experimental VA-API.

Just my $0.02.

/Brian/
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