[mythtv-users] Advice on a silent PC/Mini ITX for DVI and DVB-T (maybe -S)

[Steve Smith]

On 01/04/2008, Nicholas Piper <nick-mythtv at nickpiper.co.uk> wrote:
> Chad,
>
>
>  On Mon, 31 Mar 2008, Chad wrote:
>
>  > >  Does anyone have a recommendation for a Mini ITX motherboard which
>  > >  would have DVI output, is cheap (so slow is OK), but has a supported
>  > >  hardware mpeg2 decoder to make up for the lack of overall CPU power?
>  >
>  > If you can find one, the Commell LV-667D makes a nice option in this area.
>
>
> Thanks for this suggestion. I can't find a D variant stocked anywhere
>  yet. I've written to a vendor to see if they can help. Ideally, I'd
>  want the E8 variant too (800 Mhz Eden, fanless) I believe.
>
>  I can find the regular one:
>  http://www.icp-epia.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=101 to
>  which I could add a Mini-AGP DVI card
>  http://www.bvm-store.com/ProductDetail.asp?fdProductId=156 ? Is that
>  how Mini-AGP works, or would then I not be using the Unichrome
>  processor anymore?
>
>
>  > If size is not that much of an issue I'd strongly suggest you look at
>  > something MicroATX instead or even look at an Intel-based mini-ITX
>  > system (though that really will kill your above mentioned budget).
>  > The VIA systems, for lack of a nicer term, suck, due to lack of real
>  > help from Via that is actually usable to the vast majority of Linux
>  > users.  I've got an SP13000 and a Commell LV-667T that are fairly
>  > useless for anything HD or mpeg4.  I've done a lot of work to get them
>  > to the usable point they are at right now, and cannot imagine how much
>  > effort would be involved in getting them to actually do the mpeg4
>  > acceleration that VIA claims or fully work with MythTV and HDTV.
>
>
> Your LV-667T has a CN700, which apparently can do 2048x2048 mpeg2 -
>
> http://wiki.openchrome.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=HardwareCaveats
>
> which sounds 'HD'?
>
>   Regards,
>
>   Nick
>
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Nick,

Although I'm a die hard SD user (well you can get really nice CRT
screens for NOTHING literally nothing these days), with Freesat the UK
is on the cusp of going HD. So if you're going to spend money on a
Mythbox now, you should probably make it HD capable.

For that you're probably going to have to ditch the mini-ITX idea (for
the Frontend at least), the power of these boards just isn't up to HD
and linux driver compatability remains a bit of an issue. (I suppose
one way might be to run the evolving Windows Mythfrontend client with
Windows drivers?)

Have you considered a near-silent frontend? You can build something
pretty quiet these days either using off the shelf parts or doing some
hardware hacking yourself. E.g. my P3 933mhz, Nvidia 5200, 3x
harddrive runs quiet enough that me and the girlfriend have slept in
the same room as it (in fact its the overly bright hard disc light
that distracts us most!).

With a bit of work you should be able to get a Core based box running
pretty silent, some of the AMD processors can work pretty well
undervolted which really helps out with the noise.. Check out
www.silentpcreview.com for help. Then you can go with a tried and
trusted Nvidia video card to get your HD output with the connector
types you want for your TV.

What you could use the mini-ITX idea for, is a low powered back end.
Use USB tuners, and a 2 way PCI riser. (In the UK commflagging is a
bit of a loss at the moment so you won't need huge lumps of power).
With a separate backend you can keep the FE powered off (& absolutely
silent) when you're not using it.

Of course if you want to stick with SD, the mini-itx should be pretty
good, some of the more powerfull ones should be able to cope with SD
Mpeg4 (my p3 runs about 30-40% on most SD mpeg4s so a 1.5ghz C3 should
just be able to cope)

Sorry for the ramble...

Cheers

Steve