[mythtv-users] new rig ... help with specs

[Steve Reilly]

Mary Strimel wrote:
> hi,
> after 5 years I am replacing my mythtv box ... yay!  I'm pretty sure I
> want another AMD 64.  However, I have had problems with my hard disks
> being unreliable ... every couple years one will go bad, it seems. I
> have few general questions about how to proceed:
> 
> 1. Among the major / widely supported brands of motherboards, which
> are considered well-built, highest quality, long lasting, etc?
> Gigabyte seems to have several models available for AMD; I am
> interested in something really solid... comments?

been using msi here last 5 boxes ive built. (over maybe 7 years) havent
had a problem yet.
> 
> 1.A:  Shuttle touts its "all solid capacitor" mobo, I assume this
> implies quality, however, experiences in this group seem to be mixed
> w/r/t the drive controllers, lan cards, etc and they don't seem
> expandable (not that I care but I want a flexible enough system to
> have for a while.)  Any comments on this one
> (http://us.shuttle.com/G6_6800.aspx)?

doesnt look very expandable, only 2 slots free.

> 
> 2. should I care about AMD X2 versus higher priced Phenom X3 or X4
> CPU?  I want plenty of extra power (just for HTPC, not gaming) but not
> plenty of extra heat The max stress on this system I can imagine would
> be taping 1 show in HD, watching another at the same time, while
> something is transcoding and let's say mythfilldatbase decides to run
> too.  Want a CPU that will be a great HTPC for at least 5 years.  But
> I assume the more CPU cycles, the more heat in the case (see below)?
> What AMD CPU will strike a good balance here?

using an x2 3.2 ghz, 2 gigs ram here, have never had a problem with a
couple shows recording, and watching another, yet another using a
frontend.  id dont transcode anything so cant say for that.

> 
> 3.  Would it help my hard drives live longr if i move up to a full ATX
> motherboard and give them room to "breathe"?  

sounds like a good idea to me, ive always used atx, current
frontend/backend combo has on front 120mm, rear 120mm, and 2 80mm on the
side.  this box does *not* get hot.  ever.

This probably seems like
> a stupid question but I am really at a loss for why my drives have
> been fritzy.  I had one get a bad circuit board, another is throwing
> I/O errors and I've been unable to determine the cause (ran memtests,
> fsck, etc. to no avail).  My case has 2 exhaust fans and seems to
> ventilate OK but the drives seem to run hot.  I'll be getting 2 new
> SATA drives for this box ... comments on reliability, brands, or ways
> to keep them healthy?  Does eSATA support matter for anything?
> 
> 4. One of the boards I am considering has onboard NVIDIA 8300 graphics
> (see asus below), another has ATI radeon 3000 onboard graphics.  Are
> onboard graphics a Bad Idea?  I see threads like this one
> (http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=125246) and get a
> little scared.

steer clear of ati, save yourself the hassle.  the msi board Im using
now has 8300 integrated graphics, I love it.  I run hdmi to the lcd, and
audio lines out from the box goes to my tuner to drive speakers.




-- 
Steve Reilly

http://reillyblog.com