[mythtv-users] new PC build that's MythTV compatible

Mark Kendall mark.kendall at gmail.com
Mon Nov 2 09:56:42 UTC 2020


On Sun, 1 Nov 2020 at 23:00, James Abernathy <jfabernathy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Looking for advice on what folks have working in their setup.
>
> I'm replacing my old Core i7 2700K system that uses an Nvidia GT-1030 GFX card. The reasons are other than Mythtv, but I want Mythtv to work just as well as it does today.
>
> I know the Core i7 10600K is a respectable 6 Core 12 thread CPU and it has Intel GFX. I'm not disappointed with what my GT-1030 is giving me, so I can always put that old card into the new system if the Intel GFX sucks. But then I'm wasting money on GFX I'm not using.
>
> I've been looking at the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 which is 6/12 core/thread and is very respected. If I get a 500 series motherboard it would also support the 5000 Zen 3 processors when they come out.  I could use my GT-1030 GFX card or add a Radeon RX 570 GFX card and still be cheaper than the Intel Core i7 10600K.system.
>

Jim

As others have said, this is complete overkill for a mythtv only
frontend - but I'm assuming from your comments that you have other
requirements.

For reference, my main development system has a dual core celeron
(G4920 - CoffeeLake).

VAAPI support is flawless:

VAAPIDec: EGL DMABUF available for best VAAPI performance
VAAPIDec: MPEG2 Simple (Max size: 4096x4096)
MPEG2 Main (Max size: 4096x4096)
H264 Constrained (Max size: 4096x4096)
H264 Main (Max size: 4096x4096)
H264 High (Max size: 4096x4096)
VC1 Simple (Max size: 4096x4096)
VC1 Main (Max size: 4096x4096)
VC1 Advanced (Max size: 4096x4096)
VP8 (Max size: 4096x4096)
HEVC Main (Max size: 4096x4096)
HEVC Main10 (Max size: 4096x4096)
VP9 Level 0 (Max size: 4096x4096)
VP9 Level 2 (Max size: 4096x4096)

It will playback just about any sensible clip I can throw at it (i.e.
5k/8k is a no go).

Other use cases aside, with the current generation of CPUs I don't
believe you need anything more than 2cores/4threads for pretty
comfortable CPU performance (this does of course assume hardware
decoding).

Any integrated intel GPU from CoffeeLake above should be fine and
VAAPI is, imho, the best supported and best performing API around for
linux video.

Integrated AMD GPUs should be fine as well - though I've only tested a
cheapish external AMD gpu. AMD supports both VAAPI and VDPAU - but
VAAPI is again the way to go.

I've started looking around for an upgrade and am looking at a Ryzen 5
3400G. 4cores/8threads, Vega 11 graphics, reasonably priced. Put that
in a reasonable motherboard and it should also offer an upgrade path
for zen3 if needed.

The only other concern I have when looking for new parts is to ensure
HDM2.X support to ensure full 4K HDR support at 60fps. For integrated
GPUs that is usually a motherboard issue/constraint.

Regards
Mark

P.S. I also find NVidia is becoming increasingly troublesome to use
when compared to intel/amd parts. I can just swap out cards etc with
intel/amd and they just work - no need to uninstall/reinstall
proprietary drivers and/or deal with the issues that seem to always
arise with new nvidia driver releases.


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list