If there were a forum award for...

[gilded07]

the slowest or oldest server hardware, would I win?

My PIII, 700mhz works fine w/ one PC-based placeshifter or MVP extender but when I turn on the second extender, I can hear my server panting and bent over, grabbing it's shorts - it's out of breath. Also, while recording (Directv stb to Hauppauge Win-TV150), I can't access photos or music. The screen freezes while it's waiting on the server (I can get to photos or music if that's all I'm trying to do). I haven't tried it but I doubt I could watch my home movies that are compressed to .avi either.

I like reading forum members' electronic signatures and seeing how others' have configured their servers. I'd like one of the exotic multi-core CPUs but right now the money's funny and that will have to wait. I only subscribe to and watch SD anyway so I believe a good P4 will work.

I've been watching used SFF PCs on ebay for a >= P4, 3ghz for several months now and I finally came across one that I was able to win for $120 plus shipping, significantly less than the $150-$175 they usually sell for. This seller has sold many of this model and I just got lucky right after Christmas where there weren't many bidders. The seller appears to be a reputable seller with thousands of refurbished PCs sold.

The specs are - P4, 3.2ghz (I don't know which model but likely the 541, 640, or 641), 1024mb of RAM, 80gb hdd, on board video, CD-RD/DVD, and no OS.

I already have XP home that I'll move from the old PIII to the new box. The server is headless and is only used for Sage so the on board video won't matter (however, I have an Nvidia FX5200 256mb PCI video card from the old server if I need it). I also don't know if the hdd interface is PATA, SATA, or one of each but I didn't figure this was a deal breaker anyway. The case allows for two full size PCI expansion cards and one half height AGP card. After college basketball season is over (and my subscription to ESPN Full Court is done!), I'm switching to Cox analog and adding a PVR-500 so I'll have three tuners.

I'm comfortable w/ overclocking but I don't think the business PCs that Dell, HP, and compaq build for corporate America have mobos that would allow for overclocking so I'm assuming the 3.2ghz clockspeed is the limit.

Question - For watching .avi files on two extenders at the same time and using dirmon and comskip, will this setup be sufficient? Be honest, you won't hurt my feelings!

Thanx.

[pat_smith1969]

I think your new setup will be just fine for watching SD AVIs on two or three extenders. Comskip might cause you trouble but use Play Nice and keep that under control and you will have no problems. Congratz on the new setup.

The down side is you are no longer the slowest server on the forum, I don't think.