Mobo and CPU for SageTV setup

[TechBill]

I been using my standard desktop for SageTV for several months now until I get enough money to build a standalone system for it.

Now I am ready to order the parts and need some inputs or recommendations from experience folks. I have built PC many time but never one speicialized just for PVR so I am going to use my current tuner which is a PVR-500 connect to 2 DirectTV irds for SDTV and a HDTV tuner to use for OTA HDTV local stations.


HDD - I already ordered a seagate 750 hdd which was on sale at geeks http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ST3750640AS-R I paid 139 for it which I am plan on partationing it with 50Gig for XP and SageTV install then remaining space for Video/Recording Storage at 64k clusters.

CPU - I am looking at 2 choices of CPU both AMDs
Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103194 seem to be a nice CPU but I am thinking maybe it an overkill but I was also thinking to give some buffer room for future HDTV programming which might require higher CPU

the other CPU I am looking at is Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103778 which is also a nice CPU.


Mobo - I am not sure to go full size or MircoATX size but I found one mobo that really look good for PVR ASUS M2NPV-VM AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131014 however the review rating have me concern about selecting this motherboard. I am leaning toward going with MircoATX with built in nvidia video that are capable of doing SDTV or HDTV out so I could use my analog TV until I save up for a HDTV tv and wait for the holiday season sales. I still researching on motherboard and I am all open ears for motherboard recommendations.

HTPC Cases seem to be pricey I guess it because there not many manfacture building HTPC cases so if anyone know a certain brand that seem to be a nice looking htpc cases with good prices .. 100 or less is nice .. but anything up to 125 dollar is good with power supply included .. let me know! I like cases with no flip doors at all or anything that can break off and only 1 DVD opening so small as possible is good and mirco atx size too probably since I might be going toward this.


Thanks for your inputs!
Bill

[CollinR]

Intel over Intel prefferably Asus with Crucial memory and Seagate SV SATA drives.

[autoboy]

Go for the new nvidia 7000 class motherboards or the AMD690. They perform better than the 6150 does. The cheaper CPU will suit you just fine. 100mhz is not going to make much difference at all.

[davephan]

That Asus mobo only has two PCI slots. Are you sure you won't need more PCI slots in the future?

I used to only build up AMD systems, but now I think Intel is a better choice. You might consider a lower end Intel dual core in the same price range, and overclock it if you need more performance.

I was going to get an Asus, until I read too many bad Asus reviews. It seems there are bad reviews on almost every product on New Egg, but there were fewer bad reviews on Abit mobos.


Dave

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by davephan

That Asus mobo only has two PCI slots. Are you sure you won't need more PCI slots in the future?

I used to only build up AMD systems, but now I think Intel is a better choice. You might consider a lower end Intel dual core in the same price range, and overclock it if you need more performance.

I was going to get an Asus, until I read too many bad Asus reviews. It seems there are bad reviews on almost every product on New Egg, but there were fewer bad reviews on Abit mobos.


Dave

Well I can afford a high end Intel Duo Core 2 chip but since it only a PVR box and pretty much for SDTV recording since you really cannot record a HDTV unless you spend a mega buck for that "special kit" in your ird box which probably will no longer do any good after they switch to mpeg4 so I came to thinking that low price high-end AMD is the way to go for a PVR only unit with micro-atx board.

Intel is still my choice for Work Desktop or 3D Gaming PCs and I would never consider using AMD in those PCs.

Only 2 pci slot is all I need as long it have onboard video and audio and ethernet .. PVR-500 dual tuner card and a HDTV Pci card for OTA viewing which I probably will hardly ever watch and that I can always swap out to a HDTV USB tuner if I needed the PCI slot for something else or want to add another PVR 500 for more SDTV recordings.

I have used asus board with Intel in the past and it been good to me. Right now I am currently using Gigabyte boards with Intel of course. I don't know why Asus is not getting so good review on that board but I am still researching on mobos.


Bill

[TechBill]

Can anyone share your experience on using ATI video chipset in PVR units?

Found a nice motherboard GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128056

But it's an ATI and in the past I had read horror stories about ATI and PVR uses but that mostly linux like MythTV that have issues with ATI video chipset.

Bill

[bialio]

I think you should steer away from onboard video cards - especially if you intend to view any HD content - now or in the future. If you are just going to watch SD material you will be happy with onboard GPU. I own a motherboard with integrated 7050 series NVIDIA GPU and it just doesn't cut it for HD.

I recommend picking out the case that you want first. It will determine what size motherboard you can handle. There are a lot more options if you go full size - decent micro ATX boards are not as common.

There's a nice list of motherboard for HTPC recommendations over at avsforum :
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=710828

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by bialio

I think you should steer away from onboard video cards - especially if you intend to view any HD content - now or in the future. If you are just going to watch SD material you will be happy with onboard GPU. I own a motherboard with integrated 7050 series NVIDIA GPU and it just doesn't cut it for HD.

I recommend picking out the case that you want first. It will determine what size motherboard you can handle. There are a lot more options if you go full size - decent micro ATX boards are not as common.

There's a nice list of motherboard for HTPC recommendations over at avsforum :
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=710828

I agree with you that a mirco atx with onboard video most likely will not cut out for HD contents. And I even think that AMD aren't gonna cut it for SDTV programming either being an Intel fanboy and all however researching today is leading me toward to a different view now on AMD CPU and it in a very low affordable range to spend on for just only a PVR unit. Tech are getting smaller and better everyday so I am just seeing that now. Hell I was scare of using ATI video chipset too 8-P and now I am reading that ATI is more opening their driver source which mean that they may come ahead of Nividia in future when it comes to HD content on any OSes.

But

I been readin that AVS forum and everyone is raving about that mobo I mentioned earlier giving it a postive result/review on it that they are claiming to be able to play HD content on it from bluray or hddvd disc as long you meet the miniuim cpu or o/c it.

So I am thinking well I am only gonna be playing OTA HD local programming rarely maybe 2% HDTV and 98% SDTV and probably will not be recording any HD content off the DirectTV programming for a long time until someone find a way to record it to a HTPC without a 600 dollar modification on the ird and I don't see no uses for bluray/hdvd support on my HTPC yet since SageTV can't imbed it yet and that I might get by with this newest mobo and a good AMD cpu to back it up. Even with SA running for commerical skip.


Does anyone have any experience with this ram? G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098 ?

Bill

[kevine]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Does anyone have any experience with this ram? G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098 ?

No but I got these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211066

Also, on the same AVSforum mentioned for good overclocking. The ones you mentioned may be fine too.

[bjterry62]

Originally Posted by TechBill

I agree with you that a mirco atx with onboard video most likely will not cut out for HD contents. And I even think that AMD aren't gonna cut it for SDTV programming either being an Intel fanboy and all however researching today is leading me toward to a different view now on AMD CPU and it in a very low affordable range to spend on for just only a PVR unit. Tech are getting smaller and better everyday so I am just seeing that now. Hell I was scare of using ATI video chipset too 8-P and now I am reading that ATI is more opening their driver source which mean that they may come ahead of Nividia in future when it comes to HD content on any OS.

C'mon, Everybody here knows that even the old single core CPUs ran SD fine. Also, I'm running OTA HD fine on a single core system with NV7600GT. On-board video is touchy though.

Anyway, Intel or AMD can both do the job so pick what you want. If you're going with on-board video, then be careful what chipset you go with. Check the forums for opinions and trouble spots. I've run SD on the old ATI 480s and NV 6100s with no issues. HD is another ball game though.

BT

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by TechBill

Can anyone share your experience on using ATI video chipset in PVR units?

Found a nice motherboard GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128056

But it's an ATI and in the past I had read horror stories about ATI and PVR uses but that mostly linux like MythTV that have issues with ATI video chipset.

Bill

My HTPC was ATI driven for a while and it worked great, even tollerable with HD and it was only a AIW-9600 pro. Only got rid of it becuase the little cooling fan decided to quit and a new fan cost half as much as a newer card (passivly cooled this time). I had fewer driver issues and the included decoders were pretty good, the reviews say they're not as good as the nVidia but very close and they're free.

[TechBill]

Originally Posted by Djc208

My HTPC was ATI driven for a while and it worked great, even tollerable with HD and it was only a AIW-9600 pro. Only got rid of it becuase the little cooling fan decided to quit and a new fan cost half as much as a newer card (passivly cooled this time). I had fewer driver issues and the included decoders were pretty good, the reviews say they're not as good as the nVidia but very close and they're free.

Your speaking of nVidia PureView decoder right not talking about the nVidia chipset itself?

I didn't even know ATI came out with it own decoder and offer it for free.

Another thing I am wondering about is the PowerDVD decoder because it what I am using right now on my slower system which have nVidia chipset and I like it very much so I hope it will work as good on ATI chipset.

Someone told me he think SDTV look better on nVidia than on ATI chipset so that why I haven't jump into ordering it yet. I am still trying to research and get more information or reviews on it.


Bill