[mythtv-users] New system spec -- seeking comments.

[Allen Edwards]

Thanks all for the input.  I have narrowed it down to one item per
category and made some changes.  I will list my reasoning.  I will be
ordering this week so if I have made some mistake, please let me know.


Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ Brisbane 2.8GHz Socket AM2 65W
Dual-Core Processor Model ADO5400DOBOX - Retail  $87.50.  About the
same price as the discontinued one I listed and I get 2.8GHz.   I
understand it is desirable to have a processor that is N x 400MHz to
get full speed memory.

Power Supply.
Antec earthwatts EA380 380W ATX12V v2.0 Power Supply - Retail $59.99
The cheaper supply was only 20 pins.  I need 20+4 pins for these MBs.
This is a high efficiency poser supply and looks solid.  Going a
little more money here to get some reliability and low noise as
suggested.

VGA.
ASUS EN6200LE TC1G/TD/512M GeForce 6200LE 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI
Express x16 Video Card $31.99
The TurobCache spooks me.  I am staying with all onboard memory.  I
trust ASUS even though there are no reviews.

Case:
hec 7106BB Black Steel ATX Desktop Computer Case $34.99
Still the only black desktop ATX case at a reasonable price

Hard Disk.
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Hard Drive     $109.99  Fast and well ranked

Motherboard.
ASUS M3A AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard     $89.99
I went with the more popular board.  Also, both MB and Video will be
from same vendor, and advantage imho.

RAM.
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) $59.99
For only a few more $s, I went with the higher speed

REMOTE.  I have a MX-500 that I need to program.  I still have no clue what
to do here but assume I can figure it out when the time comes.

Regarding S/PDIF vs USB.  I was able to make my Outlaw Pre-Processor
USB input work just fine.  However, I was not able to get it and the
L+R on the MB to work at the same time.  I need that for the TV as I
don't want to have to turn the Pre-processor on so my wife can watch
Good Morning America.  I am sure it can be done and if the onboard
S/PDIF gives me trouble, I will use the USB.  Hopefully the onboard
coax S/PDIF will be fine.  In any event, I get a high end MB and the
hope that I won't have to figure out how to enable dual sound cards.
I found postings on how to do it, but as usual they don't work
(command not found stuff).

Thanks to everyone who looked over my spec and to anyone who wants to
give me comments on this list.