On 5/24/05, Ben Bargabus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Folks, > I'm brand new to the MythTV world, I've been lurking here for a day and > read the HOWTO but haven't yet touched the software. I have MANY > questions but I'll stick to just the few that are most pressing to me in > this first post. > > I'd like to experiment with this in a system with separate machines for > back and front ends. I'll be purchasing hardware for the backend but > trying to make do with mostly spare parts on the front end. First of > all I'm interested in comments any of you have regarding the hardware > I'm looking at for the backend... > > MoBo/CPU: > Chaintech SPT800 Motherboard and Intel Pentium 4 3.0Ghz Processor > http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1209284&CatId=1235 > > Harddrive: > Seagate's Barracuda 300GB (Model: 7200.8) > http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1388892 > > Tuner Card: > Hauppauge PVR-350 > http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=473901 > > DVD/CD Source: > NEC ND3520 16x8x16x DVD+RW, 4x DVD+R DL, 48x24x48x CD-RW > http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1337277&Sku=N27-1876 > > Other stuff: > 1GB DDR400 RAM, Rackmount Case, LinkSys Gigabit NIC > > It appears I can get all that stuff for a little under $1000.00 and from > what I've read it should be capable of handling the load and then some. > Anyone see holes in my plan so far? A couple specific questions about > my hardware... > > 1) that mother board uses VIA chips, I've seen warnings about their DMA, > is that a problem of the past or should I go with an Intel chipset > board? > > 2) my backend will be handling record duties for scheduled programs but > won't be playing anything back directly, I kind of got the impression > that the PVR-350's advantage was in decoding as well as encoding, should > I save some money and go with a PVR-150 or 250? > > 3) is a single gigabit NIC going to handle the network traffic necessary > for high quality video? What about when I expand my network to four or > five front ends? > > I think that's enough of the questions for one email. I'll hit you guys > with my front end questions once we tackle these. :) > > Thanks for your time, > Ben. > > > _______________________________________________ > mythtv-users mailing list > [email protected] > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users > > >
1. I've not had trouble with the VIA DMA problem. I seem to recall some talk that it could be an FC3 on VIA problem. Maybe I shouldn't say that since I can't recall specifics of the conversation. YMMV 2. You don't need a 350 on the backend. The decoding capability is a frontend thing. 3. Gigabit NIC is more than enough bandwidth. -- Tim www.magicitx.com _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list [email protected] http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
