Thinking of updating my Sage Box

[m1abrams]

Currently I have a single SageTV box that I am thinking of upgrading. Well short story is I recently came into an extra bit of cash that the wife does not have access to (peice of gear I no longer use was broken and it had a lifetime warranty and since the company no longer makes it they gave me cash). the amount I have is $450. I am wanting to upgrade the motherboard/cpu/memory/video card.

Current SageTV specs, AMD64X2 3800+ (socket 939), 1GB DDR memory(DDR not DDR2 which is why i might need a memory upgrade). Video card is actually somewhat new, however because my current board did not have PCI-e slot I had to get the AGP version. ATI 2600Pro AGP. At the time I fell for the false advertisement that the AGP version also would have hardware decoding, wel it does not and has never handle 1080i very well.
Tuners I have: 2 PVR-150, and an HDHomerun

I am looking for a machine that will handle HD playback and recording. One that can handle the lastest codecs for maybe adding a BluRay drive.

What CPU and motherboard is recommended by you guys. What video card?

Obviously the quieter the better. I have a pretty large case and power supply so those should not be an issue.
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112126
PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151027

[kevine]

I like my video card. Same as yours except MSI pci-e and fanless.

I have E6600 oc'd to 3.5Ghz. with 2 GB of ram. All of that should come under $450. Also, you could sell your existing componets. Only regret was not going to Quad core because of conversion and transcoding. if you will be doing none of that E6600 is a fine chip for oc'ing too.

I have a Asus P5B Deluxe. I cannot figure out how to force the 1 Gb NIC speed. Every other boot like clockwork alternates between 1GB and 100MB. Other than that, real happy with the board.

Have a look here. Seems to be speaking about the same things:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32206

[blade]

IMO the best thing you could buy would be a HD Extender and leave the current machine as it is.

[m1abrams]

Originally Posted by blade

IMO the best thing you could buy would be a HD Extender and leave the current machine as it is.

Oh how I would disagree. While the HD extender is great it does not do everything a PC client can. Particularly it can not play DVDs. Also since my house is not currently wired for ethernet how would I get the data to the extender? Wifi is really only good for small amounts of data it is not good for transferring HD video.

Now if I had ethernet to the TV I may consider it, however I do not.

[m1abrams]

So what do people think of these 2 video card options?
NVIDIA 9600GT (fanless)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121244

or ATI 3850 (also fanless) - minor concern with this one is the heatsink expands to the opposite side which may be an issue with some MBs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102720

or would an ATI 3650 be enough
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121237

Really want a video card that can handle HW acceleration of all the current codecs.

[Jesse]

Hi,

If I were building a playback machine right now I would go for this board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128090

The onboard graphics will support any sort of HD you may care to throw at it. As for the processor I would take what you saved by not needing a discrete vid card and go for the lowest power phenom available. Maybe this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103226

That would still leave you enough for some cheap DDR2 and a BD drive.

Have fun.

Jesse

[m1abrams]

Very interesting suggestion Jesse. I am currently looking at reviews of it, almost sounds too good to be true.
Found this review:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2008/giga...8GM-S2H/g1.htm

Links to other reviews, or maybe even if anyone on this board has a personal review of that board would be great!

[Djc208]

Little bit of info here: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=3288&p=1

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3258

and http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3279

No full fledged reveiws from them yet but it looks like they're coming.

[Jesse]

Hi,

So far most of what I have read has been good. Not all, but most.

Anandtech has reported that these boards will not hold up with a 125 watt processor. Hence my suggestion of a 95 watt processor. You could certainly go for one of the 45 watt X2 processors and still have no problems with HD playback, but to take advantage of the IGP's post processing capabilities you will need a processor that supports HT 3.0 (ie a phenom).

There has also been a good bit of talk that the northbridge heatsink is sub-par and needs its own fan, or at the very least a case with good airflow.

I know stanger89 has recently built a client using this board and a 45 watt processor. Hopefully we will get a review from him in the near future.

Jesse

[m1abrams]

Ok so this is what I am thinking:
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813128090
AMD Phenom 9500
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819103226
G. Skill 2x1GB 8500 DDR2
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820231144
LITE-ON Black SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-4O1S-11 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106227

Brings the total to $484, just a hair above my budget but I am sure I can find a few bucks to make it up.

Any suggestions changes, anyone have personal experience with that motherboard? Howabout the Bluray drive?

One other question, will that MicroATX motherboard fit in my standard ATX case? Case Link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112126

[valnar]

Originally Posted by blade

IMO the best thing you could buy would be a HD Extender and leave the current machine as it is.

I second this recommendation. Six months ago, I would be arguing with everybody on this thread about the best video card + motherboard to buy. 'Not anymore.

If you want to keep your PC next to your TV for DVD watching and surfing the Internet, then do so. Just run an Ethernet cable to the HD Extender from your NIC or a small 5-port switch.

But for HD watching, use the extender. Keep Sage on your PC and use it as a Server just for Sage. Keep PowerDVD/WinDVD/TheaterTek/MPC or whatever for DVD watching, although if actually spinning the DVD disc is important (as opposed to playing a ripped DVD), you'd be better served by a $50 DVD player anyway.

Robert

[m1abrams]

Originally Posted by valnar

I second this recommendation. Six months ago, I would be arguing with everybody on this thread about the best video card + motherboard to buy. 'Not anymore.

If you want to keep your PC next to your TV for DVD watching and surfing the Internet, then do so. Just run an Ethernet cable to the HD Extender from your NIC or a small 5-port switch.

But for HD watching, use the extender. Keep Sage on your PC and use it as a Server just for Sage. Keep PowerDVD/WinDVD/TheaterTek/MPC or whatever for DVD watching, although if actually spinning the DVD disc is important (as opposed to playing a ripped DVD), you'd be better served by a $50 DVD player anyway.

Robert

Ok how hard is it for people to understand that I do NOT have ethernet to my TV room. Therefor putting an Extender in that room is not possible. I am NOT going to add yet another box to the TV room that just seems silly and do not have the room for it. Right now with just the SageTV, Reciever, 2 cable boxes and the hdhomerun I am pretty full. Now if I had ethernet to the TV room that would be a different story. But I do not and it would be a pretty big renovation to get ethernet to this room.

Oh and a $50 DVD player does not match the upconversion quality of a decent HTPC. And yes spinning a disc is very important to the wife. I am not about to rip her collection of various multidisc TV shows.

[m1abrams]

Sorry if my last response sounded harsh, did not have my morning coffee yet. I just figured I answered my issue with why I am not going the Extender route. I have a wife and while she gives me a good bit of leeway with the Home Theatre she still does not want it to look like a mess of boxes. Actually I do not want to look like a mess either. Right now I have about as much gear as I can both fit in the cabinet and also handle the wiring for.

Heck when the HD-PVR comes out I am going to have to try very hard to figure out how to integrate that into my system without adding too much clutter.

[valnar]

Originally Posted by m1abrams

Sorry if my last response sounded harsh, did not have my morning coffee yet. I just figured I answered my issue with why I am not going the Extender route. I have a wife and while she gives me a good bit of leeway with the Home Theatre she still does not want it to look like a mess of boxes. Actually I do not want to look like a mess either. Right now I have about as much gear as I can both fit in the cabinet and also handle the wiring for.

Heck when the HD-PVR comes out I am going to have to try very hard to figure out how to integrate that into my system without adding too much clutter.

OK, you don't want the HD extender. No problem. However, I think most of us are confused when you say you "don't have ethernet to the TV room". Perhaps you can paint a better picture, because that does not matter. We are saying plug an HD Extender into your PC. Is your PC not next to your TV?

Robert

[m1abrams]

Originally Posted by valnar

OK, you don't want the HD extender. No problem. However, I think most of us are confused when you say you "don't have ethernet to the TV room". Perhaps you can paint a better picture, because that does not matter. We are saying plug an HD Extender into your PC. Is your PC not next to your TV?

Robert

Did you miss the part about not having the room to add yet another box?

[valnar]

Originally Posted by m1abrams

Did you miss the part about not having the room to add yet another box?

Nope. It just didn't matter to your ethernet statement nor my question.

OK, have fun.

Robert

[m1abrams]

Originally Posted by valnar

Nope. It just didn't matter to your ethernet statement nor my question.

OK, have fun.

Robert

What? How does it not matter? I do not have wired ethernet to the TV room so I can not have the Sage Server in a seperate room. So your suggestion is to have the Sage Server in the same room as the HD extender, and I already said I do not have room for another box. Am I miss something that you are suggesting?

[Jesse]

Hi M1,

The mATX board should fit in your case with no problem.

Please post a review of this thing when you get it done. I would be very interested in your experiences with this hardware.

Thanks.

Jesse

[derringer]

m1:

I understand what your saying about adding additional boxes and not having a cable coming from a different spot to the server. I want to make you aware of one thing, however, that is probably one of the reasons people here keep telling you to consider the HD Extender, and that is the difficulty of getting HD working properly on a client/server single box.

I can attest here that it is not the easiest of things to get working flawlessly, and it also is not nearly as straight forward as SD. When you start dealing with HD playback on the same box as you have the Sage Server, you will deal with issues you never had to deal with with SD.

In fact, I will give you a heads up that that that motherboard with integrated video on it for HD is certainly not a 'for sure' bet to have a working box. I bought the microATX g33 chipset when it first came out that had integrated HDMI video and had to buy a PCI-e video card when it had problems with HD video stuttering after weeks of trying to get it working.

I also had problems with the first iteration of the g33 gigabyte board that actually had bad chipset drivers for a full 3-4 months, which caused me to pull my hair out as to why my hard drive had stuttered video on it every 15 seconds (it ended up being the Gigabyte motherboard SATA drivers (chipset drivers for the newly released, at the time, g33.)

All these people are trying to say is that you might want to *find* a way to make the HD extender work, if you can, because you could be throwing 450 dollars into a project that you eventually end up buying an HD100 to get acceptable HD playback from 9 months from now. The convenience factor of the HD100 and the level to which it 'simplifies' your Sage server install really cuts down on hard-to-find bugs and system instability.

I wish you luck, but be very careful purchasing hardware for HD that you can't at least get someone to attest to it working well for them. That would be my recommendation for building an HD client/server box if you absolutely can't find a way to make the 200.00 HD Extender work.

[valnar]

+1 QFT

We're just trying to save you some heartache.

Robert