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

[Chris Jones]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org [mailto:mythtv-users-
> bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Mary Strimel
> Sent: 19 September 2009 7:10 PM
> To: Mythtv Mailing List
> Subject: [mythtv-users] new rig ... help with specs
> 
> 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?
> 
[|] I have a Gigabyte GA-MA790X-D54 which I built into an Antec case about
15 months ago. Having had an Asus board fail on me a few weeks ago, my
Windoze 2003 box now also runs on a Gigabyte board.

> 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?
> 
[|] My AMD chip is a 6000+ X2 Dual Core - plenty fast enough for MythTV when
I can get it running, of course.

> 3.  Would it help my hard drives live longr if i move up to a full ATX
> motherboard and give them room to "breathe"?  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?
> 
[|] I used to swear on Seagate (many years ago now). Not nowadays, following
no less than three drives failing in the last couple of years. Nowadays I
use only WD5000 drives - both my Fedora box and my Win2003 box have a Raid 1
array of WD5000 drives, and my Fedora box has an additional WD5000 drive
that was the previous Fedora root drive.

> 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.

[|] My board does not have onboard graphics, so I installed a (compatible)
ATI Radeon RV630 board which worked fine with MythTV on Fedora 10, but could
be a problem with Fedora 11 - I am still investigating this one.

> 
> Below are a couple of MOBO / CPU (or prebuilt machine) I am
> considering:
> 
> Asus M4N78 PRO Motherboard & AMD Phenom II X2 545 Dual Core Processor
> (tigerdirect: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-
> details.asp?EdpNo=5202516&CatId=4297)
> 
> Shuttle G6 6800  http://us.shuttle.com/G6_6800.aspx
> 
> Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (socket AM3)
> http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0310
> 239)
> 
> Shuttle SA76G2 AMD Socket AM2+ / AM3 AMD 760G 2 x 240Pin ATI Radeon
> 3000
> (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101083&Tpk=sa
> 76g2)
>   THIS ONE HAS ATI ONBOARD
> 
> Thank you for listening.  I've done tons of research but am still l
> very confused.
> 
> Mary


-- 
Chris Jones