[mythtv-users] What would be the best route to go?

[Mark Dobossy]

Jarod-

Thanks for the advice.  I am tending to agree with you (as is my 
wallet) that route 1 is the way to go.  2 more questions before I make 
the final plunge-

As long as I am putting it together, will an Athlon XP 2400 last me a 
while with  MythTV?  If I don't plan on going HDTV any time soon, 
should it be good for the foreseeable future? Or should fork over a few 
more bucks, and get something like  a 2600?  Or heck- can I go with an 
even slower processor and be safe?

Second question- Can I save the video streams to a remote media 
machine?  So if in the future, I set up a big array of drives (say a TB 
in a separate room) would I get sufficient performance over a 10/100 
line to save the stream on that other machine?

-Mark

On Tuesday, September 16, 2003, at 10:47  PM, Jarod C. Wilson wrote:

> On Tuesday, Sep 16, 2003, at 18:50 US/Pacific, Mark Dobossy wrote:
>
>> First off, I am new to the list, and MythTV.  After seeing the site, 
>> and drooling over it for several weeks, I think I am ready to make 
>> the plunge.  I have spec'd out a few boxes, and have narrowed it down 
>> to two possibilities:
>>
>> I currently have an Athlon 1.1ghz, w/512mb RAM. This machine is my 
>> internet gateway for the house, as well as my web/database server. I 
>> also do quite a bit of computing for my grad school research, and I 
>> use this machine to do some processing. This machine is running 
>> Mandrake 9.0.
>>
>> I am also planning on purchasing a new computer- something much more 
>> up to date, to set up a HTPC system with. The way I see it, I have 2 
>> choices-
>>
>> 1) Leave the current router/server as is, and make no changes to it. 
>> Then, get a modest system for MythTV- say an Athlon XP 2400, 512mb 
>> ram, 160gb hard drive, Win-PVR-250 tuner, GF4MX440 64 meg video card, 
>> and wrap it up with a DVD drive, in a nice looking case. Then just 
>> put this machine in the HT, and have it be a stand-alone unit.
>>
>> 2) Purchase a more powerful system- say a P4 2.8, 1gb RAM, 160gb HD, 
>> etc.. As well as the PVR-250. Replace the current router/web server 
>> (trust me, this thing isnt under a huge load or anything) with the 
>> new P4 system. This system would then also be the MythTV backend- 
>> have the tuner card, and be interfaced with the DirecTV reciever. I 
>> could then take the weaker Athlon system, and turn it into the slave 
>> machine, running the MythTV frontend, and have it hooked up to the 
>> HT. This way, I figure I could use some of the computing power of the 
>> P4 2.8 when necessary, and also have a HTPC setup.
>>
>> I suppose I could also do option 1, with the P4 2.8, but that seems 
>> WAY overkill for a stand-alone PVR system.
>
> Gross excess, unless you're getting a pcHDTV card...
>
>> Any thoughts on which route would be better?
>
> I'd say option #1. You could easily go either route, and both would 
> work, but if you are getting a new system anyhow, and only have a 
> single frontend, you'll get a more responsive system if everything is 
> all on the same machine (capture and playback). Personally, I would 
> avoid splitting the two, unless there is some really compelling reason 
> to do so. Remember, you can also use the processing power of the HTPC 
> for stuff other than TV, just the same as you can use your current 
> gateway machine (think VNC & ssh if you want to use if from a monitor 
> in a location other than in front of the TV).
>
> --Jarod
>
> -- 
> Jarod C. Wilson, RHCE
>
> Got a question? Read this first...
> http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
> MythTV, Red Hat Linux 9 & ATrpms documentation:
> http://pvrhw.goldfish.org/tiki-page.php?pageName=rh9pvr250
>
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