[mythtv-users] Killer system or overkill?

Grant Horning ghorning at stalsorphanage.org
Tue Dec 13 12:52:18 EST 2005


Let me clarify...
	Software RAID 5 will consume approx 20% cpu under a heavy I/O
load. The disk performance will be very good but you must remember that
cpu time is also very important. With dual cores, software raid 5 won't
be a problem at all. With a single core, I would be worried about maxing
out the cpu. You can see some benchmarks at
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~gelb/castle_raid.html

Also, don't worry about the onboard raid chip. You wont be using it
anyway. Linux has its own software raid. Try 'man md'. 

My advice for a kick-ass system that will do more than just let you
watch HDTV.
		Get dual cores
		Get 2GB ram (see benchmarks)
		Use software raid 5
		Get a case with great airflow + lots of power

I'm not sure if JFS or XFS perform the same as EXT3 or Reiser under RAID
5. That might be worth looking into. 

-Grant

-----Original Message-----
From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
[mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Brandon Stoll
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 11:33 AM
To: Discussion about mythtv
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Killer system or overkill?

>
> I think the RAID might be a bad idea. Onboard SATA raid is software
> raid. This is bad because software raid does NOT perform well under
> heavy I/O loads.(at least from what ive read). If you want speed,
maybe
> go with a Raptor 10k drive and write a script that will "dd" your
> recordings to a large drive every night.
>
> -Grant

    Not sure what gave you this impression, but this isn't true close
to true for my case.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
> [mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Len Reed
> Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 10:29 AM
> To: Discussion about mythtv
> Subject: [mythtv-users] Killer system or overkill?
>
> Is dual-core overkill?  It's reasonable on the margin from a single
core
>
> 3800+, but if a 3200+ single-core is sufficient, that's a lot cheaper.
>
> Is this board a reasonable choice with a dual-core Athlon?
>
> Thanks for any insight,
> Le

    I'm running a FE on a sempron 3100 thats playing HDTV too- granted
I wouldn't build another machine with this in mind but dual cores is a
bit of an "overkill" if you JUST want to play HDTV.  Now, if you want
to do transcoding, you've pretty much got a perfect system.
    Also, time saving tip: avoid those crappy on board raid chip sets
like the plague.  Software raid does the same thing but with code that
isn't going to randomly cause problems for you.
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