[mythtv-users] expansible and powersaving motherboard for backend??

[Raymond Wagner]

On 9/30/2009 09:17, Manu wrote:
> I am looking for a good motherboard with ideally: 2 gbit network, sata
> (not too much 2 is ok, 4 is perfect), and a couple CPU/Chipset very
> quiet and using very little power (I guess atom would be perfect), plus
> I'd need at least 1 or 2 PCI and 1 or 2 PCI-e slots as I plan to put
> all my tv cards in it so that I dont have to run sat and tv cable all
> around the house.
>    
Why do you need two network interfaces? Is this going to function as 
your internet router as well?

It is hard to find a modern board with less than 4 SATA ports.

If you want an Atom board with multiple expansion slots, you are going 
to be sorely disappointed.  Intel tried to mandate that Atom boards only 
have one single PCI slot.  I've seen boards with one PCIe x16, or one 
mini-pcie, but never more than one slot.  You would have to get by with 
USB and network attached tuners.  The better option would just be to buy 
a low end C2D or AthX2.  If you're really concerned about power 
consumption, you can undervolt/underclock those machines into the same 
operating range of an Atom system (20-40W).