I just decided to move forward with creating my own PVR. The machine I will be installing will also be running my family webserver.
I have been reading through the list archives on hardware recommendations and various other sources people have mentioned. Basically it appears any CPU I get today will be adequate. I will want to watch, tape and pause live TV. My house has cable and that is my only source for TV. I also will want to convert some VHS tapes to DVD. Many posts have mentioned how important it is to have a quiet system if it will be running anywhere near where you are watching TV. Since this will also double as the DVD player, I assumed I would put it right behind the TV. I am hoping this will work. I am assuming I will need to pick up a Hauppauge card to perform the capture. No idea if I should get the PVR 350 or 250, suggestions welcome. I can buy this system, which looks promising due to the quiet nature. I see some other people have used other Biostar boards, and managed to get them to work. I am as green as it comes to all of this, so please point out any issues related to any of this hardware? *** Choice 1 *** Biostar P4 2.4GHz Small Form Factor (SFF) System Biostar iDEQ200S SFF system *EXTREMELY SMALL & QUIET* Intel Prescott P4 2.26Ghz 533FSB CPU (1meg Cache) Corsair Value Select 256MB DDR 400Mhz PC3200 WD 40GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM) Lite-On 4x DVD Burner On-board SiS Video Graphics Chipset Controller On-board C-Media 3D Sound System Controller On-board 10/100 Ethernet Network Controller On-board USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394(Firewire) Ports Lightweight Aluminum Case w/ Infrared Interface *** Choice 1 *** *** Choice 2 *** AMD Athlon 64 3000+ System EPOX 8KDA3I nForce3 Chipset Mainboard AMD Athlon 64 3000+ CPU & AMD Fan Corsair Value Select 256MB 400Mhz (PC3200) DDR Ram WD 40G (7200 RPM) Hard Drive Lite-on 52X CD-RW + 16X DVD-ROM Combo Drive ATI Radeon 9250 128MB AGP Video w/TV Out Sound & 10/100 NIC On Board PS/2 Keyboard & Mouse 110 ATX USB Case w/ P4 Power Supply *** Choice 2 *** For choice 2, ATI's are not recommended on Linux. I suspect I would be using Fedora3. These were some of the options available for nVidia cards: nVidia AGP 8X ABIT Siluro GeForce4 TI4200 128M DDR with TV & DVI Output (Retail Box) 109 nVidia AGP 8X ABIT GeForce4 TI4200 128M DDR with TV & DVI Output OTES (Retail Box) 109 nVidia AGP 8X MSI FX5200 128meg DDR with TV & DVI Output 89 nVidia AGP 8X MSI FX5700LE 256M DDR 8X with TV Input & Output & DVI Output (Box) 199 nVidia AGP 8X MSI FX5700LE 128M DDR 8X with TV & DVI Output (Box) 149 nVidia AGP 8X MSI FX5900XT 128M DDR 8X with TV Output & DVI Output (Box) 299 nVidia AGP 8X XFX X6800 128M DDR with Dual DVI & TV Output 459 nVidia AGP 8X BFG X6800 GT O/C 256M DDR with TV & DVI Output (OEM) 579 nVidia AGP 8X XFX X6800 ULTRA 256M DDR3 with Dual DVI & TV Output 799 They all seem to have TV Out, so I am not sure which ones are adequate. Can I go with the cheapest $89 one (MSI FX5200 128meg DDR with TV & DVI Output)? Or are other ones recommended? I appreciate any insight you might have. Thanks, Dave
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