[mythtv-users] building a MythTV backend

Brian Stell bstell at ix.netcom.com
Thu Dec 11 07:24:39 UTC 2008


This is a great forum to learn about MythTV!  (I've been lurking for a
few weeks learning :-)

This email is my modest attempt to share so others coming along later
might benefit from my experience as I have from those before me.
------

My long term plan is to build a backend (basement) and 2-3 frontends
(living-room, bedroom, office?).

I initially thought I would build a silent media pc for the living
room and then the other parts. But I saw that there are a variety of
low cost quiet systems that would make fine frontends (but not
backends). Making a silent hybrid that has "enough CPU for commercial
detection", with "lots of slots for tuners", and "lots of
expandability for HDD" ended up looking fairly expensive (and too big
for the living room).

Thus I decided to build a "moderately" quiet backend that could
initially work as a hybrid in the living room. It only needs to be
moderately quiet since it will later move to the basement. Once the
backend(hybrid) is working I will buy systems for the frontends.

Here are my requirements for the backend system:
* lots of expansion slots so I can have lots of tuners
* lots of HDD expandability
* fairly quiet since it will live in the living room for a few months
* SDTV output (that's what I have now and after it goes in the
basement who cares)
* very good user reviews on all the parts
* as cheap as possible

For me the take away is: while it is exciting to get started building
something; it is beneficial to take a little time to think of the long
term plan and how each part fits in over time.

Cheers,

Brian

=============================================================

For those curious about what I ended up buying from Newegg:
-----------------------------------------
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R
- $120 ($105 after $15 rebate)
- 7 slots: 1 PCIe x16 / 3 PCIe x1 / 3 PCI
- ATX: lots of slots for tuners (micro ATX motherboards only have 4 slots)
- HDD: 8 sata (and 8 USB)
- no video :-(
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz
- $120
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115132

Heatsink: XIGMATEK HDT-SD964
- $28 ($18 after a $10 rebate)
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233014

RAM: CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066
- $45 ($15 after a $30 rebate)
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145043

HDD: Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB
- $60
- AACS is "Green" (compared to AAKS)
  -- Read/Write: 5.4 Watts (vs 8.77 for the AAKS)
  -- Idle: 2.5 Watts (vs 8.4 for the AAKS)
- AACS is 3-4 dBA quieter than AAKS
- average latency is 5.6ms (vs 4.2ms for the AAKS)
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136149

Case: Antec NSK6580B
- $80 (now $130) (I looked at $40 cases but was concerned about the
PSUs and noise)
- ATX
- PSU: Earthwatts 430
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129045

Video Card: Galaxy 72SEE4HDHCXX
- $30 ($10 after $20 rebate)
- s-video out
- pretty good reviews (but not great) but not a prob since this is a "toss away"
- really cheap
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162001

Total is $483 ($408 after $75 rebate (if I get them))

I also got a keyboard and mouse from Fry's for $25, and Arctic Silver
thermal paste $8.

I will probably buy a used LCD monitor for $50 (it will all end up in
the basement).

For what it is worth: when I thought I needed HDTV these were my top
motherboard contenders:
- GIGABYTE GA-E7AUM-DS2H
- ASUS P5N7A-VM
- MSI P7NGM


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