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hanj
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:44 am    Post subject: Gentoo/MythTV - proposed hardware list (suggestions?) Reply with quote

Hello all

I'm ready to make the plunge and build a gentoo/mythtv PVR box. After reading many a post and researched on ye ol' interweb, I've compiled a hardware list. I would like to hear anyone's opinions. My main concerns.. hardware related:

1. It needs to be cool temp unit (main reason I went w/Pentium instead of AMD)
2. It needs to be a quiet unit (mostly concerned about CPU fan and the case fans itself, though reviews look promising)
3. It needs to be myth compliant
4. It needs to be linux friendly

Here is my proposed purchase list:


Code:
CASE            Cooler Master Cavalier 2 Black ATX Desktop Case With Analog Dial & 300W Power Supply, Model "CAV-T02-UKA" -RETAIL
MOBO            ABIT "AI7" i865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL
CPU             Intel Pentium 4/ 3.06 GHz 533MHz FSB (Northwood), 512K Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - OEM
HEATSINK        Cooler Master Ultra Vortex Intel P4 / AMD K8 Heatsink - KCC-V91
HDRIVES         2x Seagate 200GB 7200RPM Barracuda 7200.7 SATA Hard Drive, Model ST3200822AS, OEM Drive Only
CAPTURE         Hauppauge PCI Video Recorder, TV/FM Tuner Card, Model "WinTV PVR 350" -REATIL
RAM             2 x 512MB \u2014 CT6464Z40B DDR PC3200 CL=3 Non-parity
DVD             NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3500A BK,OEM


All the above are new with the exception of the graphics card, I'll be pulling this out of one of my older boxes, hoping it will be adequate
Code:
GeForce4 MX420 64MB AGP SDRAM Video Card


I'm going to be using the motherboard's integrated sound, looking forward to the SPDIF In/Out capability.

I've been seeing the full range of mythtv setups out there.. and noticing that harddrives and RAM are all over the place. Is there a 'rule-of-thumb' for minimum drive space and recommended RAM? Am I going over kill with a gig of RAM and 400 gigs of drive space.. or 200 gigs mirrored?

Any suggestions, recommendations, concerns would greatly be appreciated. Thanks for everyone's time!

hanji
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garion911
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 2:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I would say that your CPU is overkill, at least for basic recording.. THe 350 will handle the encoding and if you wanted, it can handle teh decoding on its TV out..

For example, I currently run a Myth box (gentoo based), on a PII 400 w/ the 350, without issue..

If you plan on transcoding and such, then yes, I would definitly have a better CPU..

As for space... how much in the way of recordings do youi want to have on hand?? Personally, since I only record 5-6 programs a week, (and then delete after I watch them after a couple days) a 40G drive was more than enough..

I suppose its all in what you are going to use it for..
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RSay
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a nice looking case for a PVR computer 8)

What made you choose that particular motherboard?
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ohyeah1942
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ditch the cpu, a myth box doesnt need a good cpu. the pvr-350 handles the video stuff. you can easily get by with a PII 400 and maybe lower.

Spend the extra money on a second decoder. Get a pvr-350 and a pvr-250.

That way you can record 2 things at one time. Or watch something you recorded, and record 2 more things. Or watch something live and record something else at the same time.

Ditch the 7200 rpm harddrives. Get 5400 rpm ones, or better yet 4800rpm ones if you can find them. They will be much quiter by themselves, and they will generate much less heat, so you can have less / slower system fans.

Will be a more usable system, and will cost you less money.
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hanj
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah.. I'm liking the Cooler Master case re-al bad. The motherboard.. I saw some mention of this board on multiple forums...specifically from linux users. I also liked the onboard audio.. .read good things about that as well.

So far there has been 2 posts mentioning overkill on the CPU. I'd like to build this box from the ground up, and it's hard for me to pull the trigger on an older processor. I knocked off $100 by going with a slower P4

Intel Pentium 4/ 2.26 GHz 533MHz FSB, 512K L2 Cache Processor - OEM.

I like the idea of picking up a PVR-250 along with the PVR-350. I've been seeing that set up quite abit.

Anybody have thoughts on SATA vs IDE w/myth for drives? Speaking of drives, spending just a few dollars more gets your 200 gigs @ 7200rpm. Again by spending just a little bit more I get alot more in drive space and speed. I understand what you are saying about slower drive = cooler unit.. which is important in my situation.... so I'm really torn on this. Is the heat ratio considerable when incrementing RPMs from 4800 to 5400 to 7200?

Thanks
hanji
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Hobbes-X
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1G of RAM is probably overkill too- lots mentions on the Myth lists with 256MB being 'plenty'. Both my myth boxes are running with 256MB of 266DDR with no hiccups. (One with a PVR250, and an additional BT878, that also does NFS for the other boxen, webserving, and firewall/NAT, so it's got plenty of load :) )
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ohyeah1942
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There will be a big heat difference in 5400 to 7200, and an even bigger one in 4800 to 7200.

However it shouldnt be big enough to make a major difference in performance outside of the general rule "cooler is always better".

I would be more concerned about the noise though. And there is a signifacant amount of noise difference.

I upgraded my tivo from a 4800 40gb unti to a 120gb 7200 rpm unit and the noise is almost annoying now.

But, you can't always easily find 200gb harddrives at 4800rpm and 5400rpm speeds. there just isnt really any point in that other than for DVR type applications, and the price difference isnt that much anyways.

I guess the best way to make the choice is: Get what is convient for you. Whatever you can get a good deal on, go with that, but there will be 0 advantage to a faster drive (from a dvr point of view), so if you have a choice get the slower drive.

Also, get an UPS if you dont have one, and go with an XFS file system.
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