<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 10:33 PM, John Drescher <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:drescherjm@gmail.com">drescherjm@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="im">On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 8:31 PM, Tom<<a href="mailto:listmail@athenet.net">listmail@athenet.net</a>> wrote:<br>
</div><div class="im">> For someone planning to build a myth box for the first time, what processor<br>
> should one use, assuming one wants to built a fairly robust combination<br>
> FE/BE with going significantly into the overkill range? I want to have<br>
> plenty of horsepower for new developments in MythTV, but hey, I'm not going<br>
> to play games on it that demand extreme overclocking and liquid cooling and<br>
> dual $500 video cards.<br>
><br>
> I have an HD HomeRun on order from the jungle bookseller, but still in the<br>
> planning stages for the rest of it. I'm planning on using Mythdora. For the<br>
> moment, I need s-video output to the TV, but later it will be HDMI when I<br>
> join the real world and get a decent TV.<br>
><br>
<br>
</div>I would look at the Athlon 250. This CPU has a 6.8W idle power<br>
according to the following review:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.lostcircuits.com/mambo//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=42&limit=1&limitstart=6" target="_blank">http://www.lostcircuits.com/mambo//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=42&limit=1&limitstart=6</a><br>
<br>
It also is way, way more powerful than an Atom cpu and will serve well<br>
as for a combined frontend / backend machine for HD. I would combine<br>
that with a Gigabyte or ASUS AM3 motherboard and 2GB or 4GB of<br>
Corsair, OCZ or GSkill DDR2 ram (get a twin pack). Also for HD I would<br>
get a nVidia 8400 or better fanless card. Pair that with a WD green<br>
1TB or 2TB hard drive.<br></blockquote><div><br>In order to keep power consumption low, is there a AM3 motherboard with integrated video capable of running VDPAU decently? I don't believe I need the greatest deinterlacing. Nvidia-based AM3 boards seem to be hard to come by since AMD+ATI merged. A cheap AM3 motherboard is around $70-$90, but comes with ATI graphics. I could add a 9500GT add-in card, but who knows what the total power footprint would be.<br>
<br>/Brian/<br></div><br></div>