[mythtv-users] Powersaving AMD CPU for my system wanted.

[M D]

>If you say this one is also ok, i will go with that one, wich leaves me
>with the ram to choose. Are there any things i need to know when buying ram?
> And is my mentioned capacity of about 1-2 gb the right choice ?

This may be late for your purchase, in case not....

My experience on computer memory....after a lot of research almost a
year ago  I built a Mythtv FE/BE system based on an AMD Phenom II, 4
core processor using onboard video and sound (using the debian amd64
drivers for amd/ati/HD4200 graphics and sound).  It has 8 Gb of ram
and I find the swap and cache used regularly.   For example, top (via
ssh) reports that currently most of the memory is used, 6.5+ gig is
cached and 295mb is used in the swap so I would probably try to get
more than 2Gb of ram, especially if you are going to do any commercial
flagging.

As for the video .... I always wonder why people do not use the
onboard video and sound, but then add in another video card (an
additional power draw) for machines that are designed for power
saving.  In my case, I decided to try and see if I could make it work
with the on board intel/ATI chips before I went out and bought a
separate nvidea card.  I did have to go to a recent kernel (>2.6.38)
though to get it fully operational.

I had used the kill-a-watt meter from the local library to measure
power draws for this machine after I built it but I can not find my
notes right now.  From memory, the power draw is about 1/4-1/3 of my
older Athalon II dual core chip on a near idle basis (that older cpu
is about 6 years old now,the 2800?, although that power draw is higher
than current models).  While doing an intensive processing task, power
draw is a bit higher than that old athalon II processor, but drops
considerably when it is at "rest" (backend only running and after the
other power saving features in the powersupply, MB and software kick
in).

I went with a higher powered CPU and on-board video with the intention
of using this box as a media server for other backends.  It is safe to
say you need to get the most powerful processor that you can live with
on a power-consumption basis.  However, I think the MB and power
supply and hard drive are also critical in that regard too.

Good luck

Wayne