Need to rebuild my HTPC seeking advice!

[vorius]

Well, My SageTV HTPC has served me for almost 2 years now. Or heck is it almost 3 years? I lost track. It's been a rough road especially with getting it working with my HDTV service but it's getting really bad now in general with frequent crashes and video being improperly recorded (i.e. I can play through 15 minutes then suddenly all black - and what's weird is usually I can open the video in VLC player and it has no problems)

So I figured its time for an upgrade and to explore some other options that may now be available that I never heard about so I was hoping some of you guys might help me catch up.

For hardware, I was hoping I can get away with an Atom processor based system ,specifically using the ASUS BGA559 motherboard which has the D525 Atom processor and nVidia ION integrated graphics. The problem is it's only got one slot and I think I need two- one for my audio card (would not want to use the integrated audio!) and two is my Tuner card for satellite TV. If there is no hack or workaround for this then I guess I'll have to think of other options. I basically want the coolest/least power consuming option possible while still have enough performance to handle HD TV.

Speaking of HDTV, I currently use an R5000 modded Verizon STB for recording HDTV off my Verizon FIOS service. I hate this setup. It is painfully slow to change channels and prone to errors. Is there any new option nowadays or am I still stuck with this?

I plan to continue to use WinXP Pro.

Edit: One more thing - I bought a smart card compatible satellite card for my HTPC early this year for getting my paid satellite service into SageTV but then I realized SageTV did not support this technology at the time. Any idea if it's in now?

Any suggestions/advice/information would be much appreciated as I have been out of the loop for a long time

[wrems]

What are the specs of your current machine? Sounds like you're using it as a server with playback? How many TV's are you wanting access to? Are you doing comskip?

I'm not positive but I don't think the atoms are very good for any h.264 stuff. That may or may not effect your decisions... Someone correct me if the atoms are capable.

[vorius]

My current setup is as a client machine (no server). The machine is one of the earlier mid range Core 2 Duo processors with an nVidia 7850 video card I believe it was. I have two video sources:

1. International satellite service unlocked via paid subscription. Currently piped in from external satellite receiver sending S-Video to a Haupphauge TV Tuner card. I bought an internal satellite card with smart card reading feature to replace that setup but at the time SageTV did not support this so it's in my closet collecting dust.

2. Verizon FIOS HDTV service piped in via USB connected to R5000 modded external STB.

If the Atom wouldn't be capable enough that's fine I'll get a low end i3 or something instead - I want something that generates least heat and sucks least power.

[valnar]

I would not use an Atom period. IMO of course.

[Fuzzy]

Atom has it's uses.. I've got an Atom330 in my truck... but it drives a 7" 800x480 touchscreen, not a 1920x1080 61" DLP. I think the low-end dual core i3's are probably the best HTPC platform out there right now. They can handle any video you throw at it, and the H55 and H57 chipset based motherboard support HD Audio bitstreaming as well. I can't speak from full experience, as my i3 based client has been functional for a little over 24 hours now, but it was painless (nice and small, too, in mini-itx form factor).

[vorius]

How's that i3 in terms of heat?

[Fuzzy]

I dunno.. I don't sit on it (or ever even touch it)... It is in S3 until i press home or power on the remote, then it wakes up, does it's thing... when i press power on the remote, it'll turn off the tv and the i3 goes back to S3.