[mythtv-users] core 2 duo mobile or athlon 64 x2?

[Steven Adeff]

On 2/9/07, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> On Feb 9, 2007, at 9:09 AM, Steven Adeff wrote:
> >  If you go Athlon64, definitely get an AM2 socket.
>
> I'm curious why you say that. Granted that it's the "new" AMD
> standard if you are going to build a dedicated Myth box I don't see
> what you gain over a 939 chip. The ability to use DDR2 RAM would not
> seem to improve Myth's performance.
>
> Of course if you are looking at a machine that could perhaps be
> upgraded to a quad-processor in the future the AM2 is the way to go,
> but perhaps not for a dedicated PVR. DDR1  may also become hard to
> find in the future, but assuming you put enough into the machine in
> the first place you really shouldn't have to buy any more except in
> the case of failure.
>
> AM2 also pretty much means you have to go with a PCI-Express video
> card, as I've not seen an AM2 mobo with AGP. A $30 5200 has been
> shown to be as good as anything else in a Myth machine, better in
> some respects than the later cards (chroma-key for example).
>
> 939 and AGP may be old technologies but you can get some incredible
> bargains on them because of that, and they work perfectly well.
>
> I suppose it's really a question of philosophy, and what you consider
> the optimum price/performance/upgradability ratio. Even if you have
> the spare cash it might be better to put it into more storage, a
> nicer case, a better remote, extra tuners or a UPS, as opposed to CPU
> and graphics power you will never use.
>
> Thoughts?

Yes, basically upgrading, the newer faster Athlon64's are only being
released in AM2. Since he's looking at the Core 2 Duo's I'm assuming
the speed is part what he's looking at.

PCIe FX6200's can be had for under $50, perhaps a little more than an
AGP FX5200, but then I would argue that one of the HTPC mATX boards is
your best option with the built in 6150 chipset and onboard DVI
output.

As well, since HDTV is moving to h264 (HD-DVD and BluRay being
possible future options as well), processing power will be a major
concern.

-- 
Steve
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