[mythtv-users] Upgrading: Advice wanted

[Carl L. Gilbert]

On Sat, 2008-05-17 at 00:19 -0400, Rod Smith wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I'm thinking of doing some upgrades to my MythTV system in the near future. 
> I've currently got an Intel Celeron-D 3.06GHz on a Biostar PT880 Pro 
> motherboard with an nVidia GeForce FX5200 video card. This system is fast 
> enough for most purposes; however, I have three problems:
> 
> - the video is a bit uneven when playing back HD content (I've currently only
>   got an SD TV, but I can record HD and get a cleaner picture that way on
>   some channels).
> 
> - All my video capture devices produce glitches when the system is under load
>   (transcoding, etc.), which I suspect may be a symptom of my motherboard's
>   VIA chipset (but that's really just a guess).
> 
> - I've never been able to get my pcHDTV 3000 card working satisfactorily in
>   this system; video glitches render the picture unviewable. Again, I suspect
>   this is a motherboard interaction problem, but that's really just a guess.
>   (I use an AverTV A180 for my HD recording.)
> 
> I plan to re-use my current system (after a swapping out the hard disks and 
> some other components) as a desktop computer, so it's not going to waste.
> 
> I've been looking over options at NewEgg, and I'm focusing on AMD motherboards 
> and CPUs. Several look appealing to me, such as:
> 
> Biostar NF520-A2 SE:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138109
> 
> Elitegroup ECS NFORCE6M-A(3.0):
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135083
> 
> Biostar A770 A2+:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138106
> 
> Asus M3A:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131234
> 
> These all have SPDIF outputs, either on the back panel or as headers on the 
> motherboard. (I currently run an on-motherboard SPDIF header out through a 
> connector panel to my AV receiver.) I'm most interested to know if anybody's 
> had experience with these boards in Linux. I'm particularly concerned with 
> audio drivers, network drivers, and general chipset support. The first two 
> use nVidia chipsets (520D and 430, respectively), which people here seem to 
> favor for MythTV use. The second two boards use the AMD 770 / ATI SB600 
> chipset, though, and I've seen no posts here about those (I even checked the 
> archives). If you've got suggestions for other motherboards, hopefully under 
> $100, plase feel free to make them.
> 
> I'm also wondering about CPU speed. I'm thinking about getting a dual-core CPU 
> so that the system will be better able to handle multiple tasks (transcoding, 
> watching recorded shows, preparing a DVD, etc.). Based on my understanding of 
> AMD and Intel CPU speeds, I'm guessing that a dual-core AMD Athlon 64 in 
> the "5000+" range (about 2.6GHz) will be plenty fast -- even one of the cores 
> should handily outperform what I've got now.
> 
> So, any comments or suggestions on this? Thanks for any input.


Im currently looking at the m2n-VM as I prefer the nvidia chipset though
AMD chipsets have been OK.  Only go dual core if the fastest single core
is not enough.  Im trying to get a cheap board for a simple decoding and
displaying application.  I want quality though and Asus has been
resonably good to me.


CL


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