[mythtv-users] PCI motherboard, or switch to PCIe/USB/net?

[Marco Nelissen]

On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 3:09 AM, Mike Perkins <mikep at randomtraveller.org.uk>
wrote:

> On 31/08/14 05:46, Andrew C. (AFPup) Stadt wrote:
>
>>
>> On 14-08-30 09:25 PM, Marco Nelissen wrote:
>>
>>> My motherboard died and so I need a replacement. The thing is that I
>>> currently
>>> have three PCI capture cards, and motherboards with 3 PCI slots are
>>> increasingly hard to find, and apparently don't last very long (this one
>>> lasted 2 years).
>>> I'm wondering whether it would be worthwhile to switch to PCIe, USB or
>>> networked capture cards, or whether I should stick with PCI. Also,
>>> suggestions
>>> for an LGA1155 motherboard that will last more than 2 years are welcome.
>>>
>>>
>>>  While I don't feel comfortable commenting on a specific board without
>> knowing
>> any of your other requirements, if your case has sufficient space, you
>> could
>> change to a PCIe board, and just use a PCIe to PCI adapter, such as
>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158165.
>>
>> As far as longevity goes, I've had pretty good luck with both Gigabyte (in
>> fairness, one of my Gigabyte boards did die recently, after 7 1/2 years
>> of 24
>> hrs up time) and EVga (zero failures to date) boards in recent years,
>> while
>> nothing but pain from MSI (3x DOA, and 2 dead within 6 months).
>>
>>  The drawback with that adapter is that it gets him *one* PCI slot per
> *one* PCIe adapter, and to top it the PCI cards have to be low-profile.
>

Even at one PCI slot per adapter, that opens up a whole new world of
possibilities. While motherboards with 3 PCI slots are getting rare, there
are plenty that have one or two. Until yesterday I didn't even realize
these adapters existed, so now I have many more boards to choose from. All
of the cards are low profile, so that's not an issue.


> You might be better off going for USB or PCIe, even though this means
> upgrading your tuners.
>
> In recent years changes to digital mean that often newer tuners will be
> better suited to receive the improved services that are offered (stop
> laughing at the back there!) and will also be lower power. I always found
> PCI cards to be power hungry.


I never measured their power use, but they do get pretty warm/hot. I wonder
if that's what eventually kills the motherboard.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/attachments/20140831/50b5db69/attachment.html>