[mythtv-users] Front end CPU recommendations?

[Joe]

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 2:35 PM, Travis Tabbal <travis at tabbal.net> wrote:

> On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 10:23 AM, Joe <jfwd at phlobus.net> wrote:
>
>
>> So I'm in the market for an upgrade, and I was curious if anyone had some
>> recommendations on what features I should look for.  More specifically:
>
>
>
> What's your content source? ATSC isn't too hard to decode on modern parts.
> I used an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ with enough CPU left over to do a commflag job
> in the background. H264 on the other hand, is a CPU hog. I had to upgrade to
> an X2 6000+ to get the job done. So far, the HD-PVR users are reporting 3Ghz
> to be about what you need. I've found that the new CPU can decode anything
> I've thrown at it, though some streams do sometimes hit about 85% CPU on one
> of the cores. I suspect that's due to the stream not having "slices" so it
> has to use a single core for most of the work.


Content source is over-the-air ATSC broadcast - not sure of the
resolution/encoding rate that the stations around here use (CT-USA), but if
there's some way to find out I could post back.  Is there a utility that I
could point at one of the recorded mpeg files that will show the details of
the encoding?  It might shed some light as to why some play smooth and some
do not.

At any rate, I have a dedicated back end, so the system I'm looking to
upgrade is just a front end.  It's currently a sempron 2800+ socket 754 @
1.6 ghz (basically spare parts that I had).  It's more than enough for SD
broadcasts.

Interestingly, all recordings play back OK if I watch them as recorded shows
- live TV is where the issue shows up.  The picture and audio stutter when
watching live TV on some HD channels, other HD channels are OK.  If I watch
a recorded show from the same channel (even if it's recording the show at
the time) it will play back fine.  Given that CPU usage is at 100% even
during "good" playback, I assumed that live TV  puts just enough extra load
so the system cannot keep up.


> I haven't seen any issue with noise, but that's more about the case and
> fans. I'm using a nice Antec case


This is why I was hoping to use a low power part when I upgrade - less power
means less heat and less air movement needed to maintain the same
temperature.  There are some pretty quiet fans out there, but you can't beat
one that doesn't have to spin.

My current thought is that I'll just order the highest-clocked athlon X2 or
Core2 duo I can find at <= 45W thermal power.

Thanks to everyone for all the input!
-Joe
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