[mythtv-users] Biting the bullet...new frontend recommendations

[Barry Martin]

Hi Tom!

> I'm thinking it's finally time to bite the bullet and think about
> building a new frontend,
I'll pretty much agree with Jerry's response as  'just about anything 
works' though have staid with Intel and nVidia as they seem to be better 
supported -- both by Linux and them supporting/cooperating with Linux.  
I've built and in some cases rebuilt several Frontends over the years.  
Probably sounds like a dumb comment but the CPU speed does make a 
difference, not in video playback but in 'reaction time': the time it 
takes to load a new show (not to mention boot!).  Probably don't need 
anything more than a good dual core.  For memory it seems 2 GB is right 
for a dedicated Frontend.  Now if you are planning to use the Frontend 
as an auxiliary computer for mail, etc., I'd go with a more robust 
system (and I have here).

FWIW as a 'spare' Frontend you could go with a Raspberry Pi 3 B+.  Here 
I use an RPi 3B as a secondary Frontend (I have two Backends and some 
FEs look at one and others the second. Pixellation issues; sometimes one 
BE records properly and sometimes the other does.)  Anyway the little 
ol' RPi does great as a Frontend.  There is a bit of a lag while loading 
but AFACT 1080 stereo playback is flawless.  In some ways the RPi works 
better than the desktop FE it sits next to.  Here I did find the WiFi 
connection was borderline, but as you stated you were using a wired 
connection that's not an issue.  If you decide to try this option I 
would suggest getting the newer RPI 3B+ which is a little bit faster 
plus offers 5GHz wireless.

Barry







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