SageTV Client Computer Recommendations

[mike1961]

jlindborg - can you provide me with the links for the client workstation you got. I'm a little confused because I don't know if the "barebones" workstation you got comes with memory or with CPU and if not I would need to get that as well as possibly a link for a quiet fan that is compatible with that workstation. Then there is also the issue of a remote control and what do you like to use for that and a link for that also. Ideally, I just wish I could have a ready to go system and building a client seems like such a PITA.

Thanks again,
Mike

[jlindborg]

The bare bones system off the New Egg site is the case, power suply, motherboard, heat sink for the CPU (heat pipe system with a quiet 80mm fan on it) and cables/adapters/screws along with the usual motherboard driver DVD. You need a processor, drive and memory to pop in it. Optionally a DVD drive if you want to play DVDs on it as well.

Follow the link to the review in my last post - it has pictures of everything that comes out of the box for it...

[mike1961]

Question though - you said it comes with a fan - is that a fan for the case or the cpu or both. I guess I need to get a CPU (I'm assuming AMD) and also not sure if I need a CPU fan. Also, I'm assuming the motherboard is already in the unit.

How do you go about getting a remote control to work. I actually saw one that Logitech now makes but it has no numbers on it. You would think they would make them so one doesn't need to bother getting a separate USB-UIRT.

Thanks again,
Mike

[mike1961]

Almost forgot - the media extenders seem to be out of stock almost everywhere. Any idea why? I heard a rumor that hauppauge may be redesigning them but I'm not sure why or in what way.

Thanks,
Mike

[jlindborg]

It comes with a fan on the heat sink for the CPU - it's the only one you need (the power supply has a fan as well, of course). I got the 939 socket (AMD) - yeah, you'll need a processor. For just the sage client assuming you're doing nothing else you can get a 3000 Athlon and be just fine - you should be able to pick one up in the $120 range. My 3200 is more than enough. There are other socket types on AOpen's cube series - if you're an Intel man you can get a Celeron capable box and be just fine (or spring for a Pentium Mobile). I'm an AMD guy myself... you can check out all the SFF (Small form factor) boxes out on AOpen's site or follow that SFF review site from my earlier post - lots of options including higher end cube style boxes that do have remotes and receivers built in and such - they usually come bundled with XP Media server and the like so you'll have to cough up more for them... go figure.

If the NVidia 6600 pumps out too much heat for it to handle I'll shoe-horn another 80mm quiet fan in there if necessary but we'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Yes, I'm using USBUIRT units here with Girder to pump the remote codes into the Sage client. It can be handy since you can snake the recever unit to be near (or directly under in my case) the TV while the actual client is off to the side in a cabinate or shelf.

From what I understand, Hauppauge tried to rev their units to handle wireless and it sounds like they had some trouble getting it out the door, ran out of the old wired units and are now hastily modifying their wireless capable units to be not-so-wirelessly-capable to fill orders. Unfortunately the new units don't yet work with Sage so even if you can get your hands on them they wont do you any good till Sage revs their software to handle it. I'm just glad I snagged mine with Radio Shack was dumping them for cheap last year! I'm sure they'll get their supply issues worked out and Sage will get support for the latest rev in soon. If all you want is SD playback on a standard TV, it'll be worth the wait in my opinion. Save a ton of cash and have a nice, compact, completely silent unit. The only reason I'm stretching for the cube is for HD playback, DVD playback and more audio format support - if those things aren't critical to you - I'd wait... but that's jut me.

[mike1961]

AOpen seems to be getting mostly raving reviews. I too prefer AMD because they run cooler. I'll be using mostly Sage for these clients. So, I'm going to go ahead and order this. From the reviews it appears I won't need to replace the fan/power supply because everyone is saying how quiet these units are.

I suppose besides the CPU and memory I just need to install the basic stuff like drives, OS.

By the way - according to the pictures, does this unit already have an SVideo Out? It appears to have one in the photos. Do I really need another graphics card if this unit already has an SVideo out?

(is the nvideo 6600 a graphics card)?

(Edited - I want the cube over the MVP because the MVP won't handle mpeg 4 high profile and when I get a full screen monitor I'll have full internet access from the bedroom or family room).

Thanks again,
Mike

[jlindborg]

yes, you can do SVideo output and component out off the built in video card. As noted it doesn't handle high def output well (little under powered for that). I have not done any DivX (Mpeg4) testing with it myself so I can't testify to how smooth that works, although I'm sure with the proper drivers it's just fine...

[mike1961]

I may just order two of these and return my HP slimline. These seem to be more expandable, reliable and will probably run cooler although one may end up paying a little more in the long run.

You said: "After stripping down the XP services, fiddling with the boot devices in BIOS and removing the XP gui stuff during boot it goes from powered off to loaded client in about 35 seconds. Not too shabby (actually faster than my MVPs)."

What services did you remove/tweak?

Thanks again,
Mike

[mike1961]

Any recommendations on NewEgg for memory for the AOpen? Also - which do you like best between: Athlon 64 FX/Athlon 64/Sempron

Thanks

[jlindborg]

I'm not fussy about my memory - not loyal to any particular brand.

Athlon 64 is the way to go. The 3000 is plenty, 3200 is more than enough for a client. The 3200s are a rock - I've installed probably 11 or 12 of them in various boxes and never had a lick of trouble with them. 3 run 24/7 in my house.

Lots of services you can disable depending on what you're using the box for. Here's a good page that has a walk through on some things you can do includng a list of the services that are safe to remove:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1786122,00.asp

[mike1961]

One more thing - I was looking on the site and there seem to be two AMD's of the same type: ADA3200BPBOX - and ADA3200BWBOX

I don't understand the difference between the BP and BW if any besides price. Thanks again and I really appreciate the feedback.

Mike

[jlindborg]

Well, one of the things AMD has trouble with is all the revisions of all their processors - no one can keep them straight and figure out what the differences between them all are (some folks think they can, though). I'm no authority but I have seen folks out on the various forums chatting about this very thing (the same part number revs can be found on their other Athlon chips). The short story seems to be that the technical difference between the BP part number is the original "E3" rev and the BW number is the "E6" rev. Looks like the E6 rev fixed a few minor errors:

-Errata #113 - Enhanced Write-Combining Feature Causes System Hang
-Errata #114 - DDR Data Pin Drive Strength Also Affects Command/Address Pins
-Errata #116 - DDR Chip Selects Tristated One Clock Early in Power Down Mode.

and probably some others - some of the kids out there are crabbing that the E6 rev is harder to overclock - whatever... overclocking is for the young and foolish in my opinion. Personally, I'd go with the cheaper one, but that's just me. They've sold many thousands of them and they work just dandy.

[mike1961]

I went with the cheaper one because there were tons and tons of reviews and feedback while only a handful with the other one so I figured most were buying the cheaper one.

Thanks again,
Mike

[mattdcknsn]

One thing you might want to try is using nlite to make a custom OS installation. I have been using it for years and after a small learning curve you can get a windows xp sp2 install stripped down to about 400 megs on the CD around a gig post install.

It is more advanced but with nlite you can remove windows components and disable services before the OS is even installed. Like I said, it does have a slight learning curve, but once you get over that its really easy to get a custom OS install for your different machines. I havent done a standard OS install in over a year and half since using it.

Originally Posted by mike1961

You said: "After stripping down the XP services, fiddling with the boot devices in BIOS and removing the XP gui stuff during boot it goes from powered off to loaded client in about 35 seconds. Not too shabby (actually faster than my MVPs)."

What services did you remove/tweak?

Thanks again,
Mike

[jlindborg]

Just a follow up here since I'm sure folks are on pins and needles about the fanless 6600 performance.

I got the card early (power of NewEgg) and slapped it in the little cube today. It was a refurb which was cheap but when they say it might come without any cables/connectors/info they mean it - just the card. Good thing I had all the connectors I needed for Component and SVideo output already from another NVidia card or I'd have been very annoyed...

Tried out all the possible video settings and various resolutions. I found that VMR9 did not behave well with FSE or without - but with just Overlay it works fabulously. HD content looks great, no stuttering no nuthin'. DVD playback was beauty. After running about an hour of HD content (recorded some March madness) with lots of jumping back and forth and stressing the CPU out, the temperature on the CPU hovered right around 51 C - a tad on the warm side but within acceptable limits. The case temps stayed under 40 but the HD sensor was sneaking up on me a bit. So I popped a quiet 80mm fan in there blowing out of the case by the video card - all the temps (other than the CPU) dropped a good 5 C across the boards - I'm happy.

Overall it's still very quiet - I can hear it if the living room is all quiet but it's not overly noticible at all and with the TV playing, of course, it's dandy. Remote is snappy, content looks good.

It'd be nice if I could get the same form factor (or a mini cube) with the built in video card that could smoothly handle HD content but for now, this is great. Worked out well - WAF is on the rise - life is good.

[Steerpike]

Originally Posted by mike1961

One more thing - I was looking on the site and there seem to be two AMD's of the same type: ADA3200BPBOX - and ADA3200BWBOX

I don't understand the difference between the BP and BW if any besides price. Thanks again and I really appreciate the feedback.

Mike

FYI, you can find out some basic info about AMD processors by going to this site:
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/Default.aspx

The box on the right side allows you to enter the codes above (choose 'OPN').

[mike1961]

The cube arrived today and I put one together and it looks like it's going to work just great. I really like it. Now I just have to get my remote to work but I posted questions on that in another thread.

Thanks for recommending this box; it's really power packed and very quiet.

Mike