Processor choices?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Thanks to everyone for the generous advice. I think I have an idea of what I am looking for.

In response to mayamaniac, I currently don't use comskip at all (my current server wouldn't handle it well, if at all). I frankly don't even know that I will, after I upgrade the server... I just wanted to make sure I covered my bases if I did. As for PlayOn, the requirements that it lists on their website are more than insignificant - I recall seeing multiple people posting in the early days of EP's plugin, wondering why they were getting skipping and other problems, only to discover that their PlayOn machine didn't meet specs...


Thanks, all, for the info and advice!!!

If you don't know if you will be going for playon, or comskipping, I'd seriously look at just getting something REALLY cheap.. as it will only be performing one task, sage server, then it will most likely only ever use one core. You could easily purchase an AM3 based board, put a cheap $35 sempron single core CPU on there. It will run VERY cool, use practically NO electricity, and cost very little to start with. If you then later on decide to use comskip, or playon, you can upgrade just the CPU to something more substantial, and it still wouldn't cost you much in the end.

[wrems]

Comskip is an absolute necessity! For me anyway. My wife and I can hardly watch programming without it.

[pjpjpjpj]

I already use PlayOn, but it sits on another PC (laptop) on the network, and frequently has network problems where it isn't seen by Sage and I get "no videos found". The problems started when I upgraded the laptop to Win7 (my Sage server is XP and they don't talk very well). Plus the laptop is only on when I am using it, or when I want to watch something via PlayOn (meaning, I have to turn it on when I want to). I will definitely be putting the PlayOn onto my new server when I upgrade.

The other thing I will be running when I upgrade is michaeldjcox's Web Feed Encoder. My current server can use it for radio (though it slows it down to the point where I don't use it), but I would like to have the option to try it for video as well. More encoding work, need more server.

I know that you shouldn't judge until you try it, but my wife has actually said that she does not want comskip. I think she likes to see brief clips of the commercials - not for products, but for other TV shows (in case something piques her interest) - as she skips through with our two FF buttons (programmed at 2 minutes and at 10 seconds, we generally find our way through commercials in less than 5 seconds, but often will stop and go back to see what a commercial was about if we see a brief bit that looked unusual). I know, once I start, I will wonder how I lived without it....

[wrems]

Just set sage not to auto-advance at each edl marking. That way if your wife wants to watch the commercials she can, but you always retain the ability to just zap ahead to the end of the commercial string. It's the best of both worlds!

[PGPfan]

Originally Posted by stanger89

...That means I'd be able to run vmware ESXi on it, and inside that run unRAID for NAS duties and Sage (via USB/PCI passthrough for tuners).

Stanger, are you actually thinking of trying out "the Dark side" and giving unRaid a whirl? You've been locked into ReadyNAS for so long that I think I'm going to go into shock!

I do think you'll enjoy it a lot. Has Netgear kept up developement of the ReadyNAS since they bought it?

-PGPfan

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by PGPfan

Stanger, are you actually thinking of trying out "the Dark side" and giving unRaid a whirl?

Of course, my problem with unRAID has always been the requirement for a separate machine, I've always liked the idea of it, just not the requirements. Being able to run unRAID and Sage in VMs means you can run them both on the same hardware, thus problem solved.

You've been locked into ReadyNAS for so long that I think I'm going to go into shock!

I've been locked into the same ReadyNAS for a long time. With the growing Blu-ray collection and associated larger sizes and higher bit rates, my X6 (only second ReadyNAS model) is definitely showing it's age. So the search has been on for a long time

I do think you'll enjoy it a lot. Has Netgear kept up developement of the ReadyNAS since they bought it?

Oh, Netgear's been great, and I'd love to get another one. The Pros appear to have great performance and being x86 based and having plenty of horsepower there's lots of customizations for them. Unfortunately the cost has gone up since Netgear took over. I could upgrade/rebuild my Sage server, replacing both it and my current NAS, including new HDDs for about the cost of a diskless ReadyNAS Pro.

[Oats]

Originally Posted by stanger89

FWIW, I've been seriously eyeballing the Core i5 lately for a server rebuild. The big reasons are you can get it to idle with really low power usage (THW got the whole system down to 25W in a recent article), plus it supports VT-x and VT-d. That means I'd be able to run vmware ESXi on it, and inside that run unRAID for NAS duties and Sage (via USB/PCI passthrough for tuners).

I've looked into VT-d in the past and it is hard to find much information on it. There are so many conflicting reports on what CPUs/Chipsets/MBs support it. According to this Intel site the i5 doesn't support VT-d.

[DigitalMan]

Originally Posted by Oats

I've looked into VT-d in the past and it is hard to find much information on it. There are so many conflicting reports on what CPUs/Chipsets/MBs support it. According to this Intel site the i5 doesn't support VT-d.

It was even harder last spring to find reliable details on these things. My solution was to keep my eyes peeled for a big sale on a specific configuration from a major vendor. I wound up with a dual Xeon L5520 system. VT-d does work as advertised but I don't think it's really necessary unless you plan to use PCIe tuners. I think the nested page tables and other features are responsible for most of the performance benefits.

From what I've read, the new 5600 series offers perhaps another 20% better performance. If I come across an i5 system somewhere I'll post details.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Oats

I've looked into VT-d in the past and it is hard to find much information on it. There are so many conflicting reports on what CPUs/Chipsets/MBs support it. According to this Intel site the i5 doesn't support VT-d.

The 650, 660, and 670 do:
http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?id...56,42915,42917,

Motherboards are trickier but the DQ57TM does as well:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42486

If I go down this road the plan is to pair the i5 650 with the DQ57TM and a gob of ram.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by stanger89

The 650, 660, and 670 do:
http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?id...56,42915,42917,

Motherboards are trickier but the DQ57TM does as well:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42486

If I go down this road the plan is to pair the i5 650 with the DQ57TM and a gob of ram.

There's only 5 SATA, 1 eSATA, and 0 PATA drives on that mainboard. That seems pretty limiting unless you plan to add a RAID controller card. There aren't many slots on that system board either.

If you want to expand your system in the future, you need a lot of slots and drives.

Dave

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by davephan

There's only 5 SATA, 1 eSATA, and 0 PATA drives on that mainboard. That seems pretty limiting unless you plan to add a RAID controller card. There aren't many slots on that system board either.

If you want to expand your system in the future, you need a lot of slots and drives.

Dave

The onboard video means the x16 slot will be unused, leaving room for a nice x8 or better controller card.

[Clift]

Stanger, I'm very interested in doing something similar to what you're proposing. Unfortunately I feel like a complete noob here. Is it okay if I PM you with some questions? I don;t want to do a complete threadjack.
Thanks!

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by davephan

There's only 5 SATA, 1 eSATA, and 0 PATA drives on that mainboard. That seems pretty limiting unless you plan to add a RAID controller card. There aren't many slots on that system board either.

PATA is useless IMO so no loss there, and as far as "only" 6 SATA goes, supposedly the Q57 chipset supports port multipliers, so that would be 25 internal drives and 5 external.

And as far as slots, all my tuners are external (HDHR on the LAN, HD PVR on USB, and R5000 on USB) so I don't need any slots.

Originally Posted by Clift

Stanger, I'm very interested in doing something similar to what you're proposing. Unfortunately I feel like a complete noob here. Is it okay if I PM you with some questions? I don;t want to do a complete threadjack.
Thanks!

Sure or start a new thread so others with experience can chime in and maybe stop us from doing something silly

[Oats]

Originally Posted by stanger89

The 650, 660, and 670 do:
http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?id...56,42915,42917,

Motherboards are trickier but the DQ57TM does as well:
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42486

If I go down this road the plan is to pair the i5 650 with the DQ57TM and a gob of ram.

That is just odd, why have VT-d on dual cores but not on quad i5? I though all of the iX processors were supposed to have VT-d but I never really looked into it. Last time I looked was before iX when I saw somebody on here post about getting VT-d working with a Core2Duo to passthrough a PCI tuner.

I was also disappointed to see AMD's 890GX chipset doesn't support Vi (AMD's VT-d) since it was supposed to be on the 800 chipsets before they were delayed.

I still plan to do this in the future when I move to a laptop and server. Right now I have SageTV, WHS, and a webserver running on my desktop PC. I might just end up getting a HDHomeRun so I don't need to worry about VT-d and I could use my current Desktop as the server.

I think we kind of jacked this thread.

[bastafidli]

You may find this interesting

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18448/17

I have just build my new server with i3 540 + Gigabyte ga-p55-ud3l which I got for sale for less than $100 total. Added 4GB memory, 2 SATA green WD 2TB EADS for arcihve storage and 2 PATA Seagate 7200RPM 80GB for raided system drive and 1 PATA Seagate 7200RPM 500GB for recording drive.

I really like the motherboard because it has perfect size and good combination of slots for server.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Oats

That is just odd, why have VT-d on dual cores but not on quad i5? I though all of the iX processors were supposed to have VT-d but I never really looked into it.

Well my i7 920 does too, maybe they're just limiting it to the "high end" of each series, the i3's don't have VT-d, only the "high end" dual core i5 600s. And only the "high end' quads (i7s) get VT-d?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Well my i7 920 does too, maybe they're just limiting it to the "high end" of each series, the i3's don't have VT-d, only the "high end" dual core i5 600s. And only the "high end' quads (i7s) get VT-d?

That same compare page at intel says the i7-920 DOESN'T have VT-d. Actually, it's blank, doesn't explicitly say NO. I wonder if the database is just missing some information. It DOES say the 800 series i7 quad cores support it (the i7-860, 860s, and 870)

[stanger89]

Interesting, I hadn't actually looked, but I know I can do PCI passthrough on my i7 920.

[Fuzzy]

I'm guessing all of the bloomfield processors have VT-d, but honestly couldn;t say. they all show that field as empty on the intel ark page.

[stanger89]

Yeah the blank fields in leu of yes/no is rather frustrating when trying to figure out what will and won't work.