I'm glad you made that point. So I should instead not worry about the size/look of my box and instead focus on making sure I can fit all of the components I need, and then later on get a separate frontend system that is closer to what I want it to look like.
<br><br>I think that's a good plan, and I think it will have a lower initial cost, since I won't be buying any expensive cases.<br><br>I'm thinking about getting the 3.2 ghz Pentium 4... Anybody have any good motherboard suggestions for this particular processor?
<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 3/21/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Rod Smith</b> <<a href="mailto:mythtv@rodsbooks.com">mythtv@rodsbooks.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
On Wednesday 21 March 2007 14:56, Jon Sustar wrote:<br>><br>> I like the idea of having a separate backend box, but I'm concerned about<br>> the increase in cost. I've never used MythTV, so maybe I should just have
<br>> it all on one system (in case for some reason I don't like it, which I<br>> doubt), and then, if it's too loud or I need more space, I could expand to<br>> have a backend too?<br><br>For SD content, I think the better plan, if you decide your initial combined
<br>frontend/backend is too bulky/loud/whatever, would be to convert that system<br>to a dedicated backend, move it someplace convenient, and add a less-capable<br>frontend-only system to where your TV is. This would involve less disruption
<br>to both your hardware and your software configurations, and for SD content,<br>the CPU power is probably better placed on the backend, where it can be used<br>for transcoding and, if you decide to use them, framegrabber capture cards.
<br>The frontend only needs to be able to play back a single stream, which takes<br>~600-1,000MHz of CPU power -- very little by today's standards. Just be aware<br>that the CPU needs change if/when you shift to HD.<br>
<br>> What all would be involved with having a backend? How does that connect to<br>> the front end? Anybody have any specs of their own?<br><br>The backend and frontend have to be able to "talk" to each other on a network,
<br>so you'd either need some sort of network wiring (presumably Ethernet)<br>between the two computers or you'd need to have wireless network adapters for<br>both systems. Your initial system will need some sort of network connection
<br>from the start, so presumably half of this will be done by the time you get<br>that initial system up and running. MythTV uses its own protocol for<br>frontend/backend communication, but you don't need to worry too much about
<br>the specifics -- just provide the network connection, including either static<br>IP addresses or some way to attach fixed hostnames to each machine (or at<br>least the backend).<br><br>--<br>Rod Smith<br><a href="http://www.rodsbooks.com">
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