[mythtv-users] Need Help/Advice new Frontend/Backend Build

[Daniel Agar]

Sounds like a good system, although a core i7 is overkill. You could
easily save more than $350 with a core 2 quad system. You could also
get a less expensive motherboard with only one gigbait lan and add
another with a pci card.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=31415&vpn=BX80580Q8200&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1065
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=34003&vpn=GA-EP45-UD3P&manufacture=Gigabyte

Nice case, here's a comparable alternative
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35509&vpn=HTPC-6000B&manufacture=NMedia%20System

ATX power supplies are most efficient around 50% load. I don't know
about a core i7 system, but a 350 Watt power supply on a core 2 quad
with this video card and a couple drives would be more than
sufficient. Cable management with zip ties is cheaper than spending
more for a modular power supply.

You'll probably want an HD-PVR if you want to record from a cable box
in HD. Don't waste your time with firewire on a cable box in Canada.
It's inconsistent at best, as the things you're permitted to record
change constantly.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116030&Tpk=hd%20pvr%201212

You might want to spend a couple minutes investigating OTA.
http://tvfool.com/

Another option is building a headless server to go in the basement or
closet,  then just having diskless ION frontends. The single core
version is fanless, plays 1080p and does audio over hdmi. This is my
current setup and probably makes more sense than having your mail
server and PBX under your television that someone might reset just
because mythfrontend is having trouble.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500028&Tpk=ionitx-c
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/215072/M350/Mini-Box/

Daniel

On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 03:08, Erik Sejr <eriks at ssimicro.com> wrote:
> Hello,
> My former Mythtv frontend/backend died a horrible horrible death. As
> such I need to replace it and I'm looking for some advice/assistance on
> the build. My goals for this machine are as follows:
>
> -Run both MythTV frontend and backend, including VDPAU support.
> -Capable of recording both HD (via HDMI or composite) and standard
> analog cable. I live in Canada so we have no OTA HD, it would be off a
> cable box. Possibly via firewire as well.
> -Run a local-only instance of Sendmail
> -Run a small IMAP mail server for personal e-mail
> -Run a instance of asterisk for a small home-brew PBX
> -HTTPd for Mythweb, Webmail and FreePBX
>
> I had all this going (minus the HD stuff) on a single core Athlon64,
> 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM before it died. That machine just had a WinTV PVR 3xx
> tuner/MPEG2 encoder, it didn't record any HD and could barely play HD
> videos/trailers back at 1080p.
>
> Here's what I've been thinking of so far, and the reason I was going to
> use it:
>
> * Geforce GT220 Based Video Card - The brand doesn't matter much, and a
> realize that there's not many (if any) fanless options here. Thats OK
> though, can someone recommend a relatively quiet one? I'd also like to
> use HDMI w/audio for the output to the TV.
>
> * Antec Fusion Remote MAX Case -
> http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=46220&vpn=FUSION%20REMOTE%20MAX&manufacture=Antec
>
> I know this is a large case, but I may need to use a ATX motherboard as
> most mATX don't have 2x GigE ports and enough expansion slots to add
> another tuner if needed. I'm not too concerned about the size. If anyone
> has a similar recommended case I'd love to know about it.
>
> * Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 -
> http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=34543&vpn=GA-EX58-UD5&manufacture=Gigabyte
>
> Chosen just because it has all the features I need, and they're giving a
> deal on RAM if you buy it and a i7.
>
> * CPU will be a lower-end i7 (cheapest one) w/ 3GB RAM
>
> * Tuner - Can someone suggest one based on the information above? I'm
> new to HD in combination with MythTV (I've been working with just SD for
> a long time) I'm not really familiar with my options in regards to HD
> capture cards/tuners.
>
> * PSU - Antec Truepower 550W Modular -
> http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=36262&vpn=TP-550&manufacture=Antec
>
> Should be plenty to run this system, really just looking for a quiet
> modular PSU so I don't have a cable jungle in the case.
>
> * HD - One smallish hard drive just for the system, I have a 4TB Gigabit
> NAS to take care of the storage of recordings.
>
> * CD/DVD - Elcheapo CD/DVD ROM, not looking for blu-ray (yet).
>
> This comes in just under my budget of $1500.
>
> Any recommendations you can make are appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Erik
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