Mailing List Archive

newbie setup questions
Hello all

I want to start building a mythtv box for my entertainment system, as this system looks kick ass, and if anyone has suggestions as to the rest of the hardware i need that would be great, as i want to run into minimal problems with linux compatibility as I haven't used linux much, but hoping to learn more thru this process!

I want a case size that will fit into one of my entertainment slots, so no bigger than a 5 disc cd changer... and I want it to replace my video recorder, so it had to has a tv out. My TV is a 40"+ sony trinitron with s-video in. My cable provider is comcast.

So far I have...

Western Digital SE 120MB 8MB HD
Hauppauge PVR250 Card

I need...

graphics card
cpu
case
motherboard (integrated sound/nic)
dvd rom
keyboard/mouse separate/combo? suggestions?

All comments appreciated. I want to mail order the rest this week, so if you know of fatwallet style bargains for the rest of this crap don't hesitate to mention!! :)

thanks

ian

:)
Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
At 03:00 PM 5/28/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>Hello all

As a Myth only system, I've been relatively pleased with my generic
GeForce2 MX 64MB TV Out card. Although I have a slight positioning problem
with my TV out image (small black bar to the left side) but I'm willing to
live with it for the cost. I am going to try and adjust it under windows
and see if it sticks.

-Jeff
Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
>>>>> On Wed, 28 May 2003 18:43:01 , "subscriptions" <subscriptions@syntrix.net> said:

>> As a Myth only system, I've been relatively pleased with my generic
>> GeForce2 MX 64MB TV Out card.  Although I have a slight positioning problem
>> with my TV out image (small black bar to the left side) but I'm willing to
>> live with it for the cost.  I am going to try and adjust it under windows
>> and see if it sticks.

s> sounds good, just got a pricewatch for about 30 bux on that with a
s> tv out, i can just get the oem one i presume....


If you're going to get a new video card for TV out, try to
get one that's supported by "nvtv" so you can fix those "positioning"
problems. The nvtv documentation says which encoder chips are
supported. You may be able to identify the chip used in the board you
want to buy by looking at images. There's also a database at
http://tvtool.de/ that may be useful.

Also, the latest nVidia drivers support overscanning on
MX440 boards (which nvtv does not support) so that's another
alternative.
--
Gregorio Gervasio, Jr.
gtgj@pacbell.net
Re: Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
thanks jeff

sounds good, just got a pricewatch for about 30 bux on that with a tv out, i can just get the oem one i presume....

now with the cpu, i see that because i have the pvr250, it doesn't have to be too fast. but in the future , i want to play a dvd whilst it is recording and that maybe more intesive, what cpu power are you using?






-------Original Message-------
> From: Jeff C
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] newbie setup questions
> Sent: 28 May 2003 16:57:53
>
>
> At 03:00 PM 5/28/2003 +0000, you wrote:
> >Hello all
>
> As a Myth only system, I've been relatively pleased with my generic
> GeForce2 MX 64MB TV Out card.  Although I have a slight positioning problem
> with my TV out image (small black bar to the left side) but I'm willing to
> live with it for the cost.  I am going to try and adjust it under windows
> and see if it sticks.
>
> -Jeff
>
>
-------Original Message-------
Re: Re: Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
-------Original Message-------
> From: subscriptions
> Subject: Re: Re: [mythtv-users] newbie setup questions
> Sent: 28 May 2003 10:43:01
>
>
> thanks jeff
>
> sounds good, just got a pricewatch for about 30 bux on that with a tv out, i can just get the oem one i presume....
>
> now with the cpu, i see that because i have the pvr250, it doesn't have to be too fast. but in the future , i want to play a dvd whilst it is recording and that maybe more intesive, what cpu power are you using?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------Original Message-------
> > From: Jeff C> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] newbie setup questions
> > Sent: 28 May 2003 16:57:53
> >
> >
> > At 03:00 PM 5/28/2003 +0000, you wrote:
> > >Hello all
> >
> > As a Myth only system, I've been relatively pleased with my generic
> > GeForce2 MX 64MB TV Out card.  Although I have a slight positioning problem
> > with my TV out image (small black bar to the left side) but I'm willing to
> > live with it for the cost.  I am going to try and adjust it under windows
> > and see if it sticks.
> >
> > -Jeff
> >
> >
> -------Original Message-------
>
-------Original Message-------
Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
I don't know if I can really say anything useful here, but since I saw no
other responses, I thought I would say what I could.

First, when asking for shopping info, it would help if you said something
about where you are located. I infer from your having Comcast that you are
in the USA ... but you aren't even explicit about that. Were you near me
(Northern California), for example, I would suggest some offline shopping,
like checking the Fry's specials this (every) Friday.

Second, I don't offhand know how big "5 disc cd changer" normally is, or
how big your "entertainment slots" are, making it hard to take that part
into account. I did measure here and found that a standard desktop PC case
(roughly 17.5" wide, 9" tall, and 17" deep) fits into one of my
entertainment centers, but fails with the other one on depth (only). So you
might want to describe your size constraints a bit more explicitly. Be sure
to allow enough space for the stuff that sticks out the back of a pC; its
connectors tend to be bulkier than typical A-V devices.

Third, configuring a system is always, in the end, about tradeoffs between
price and features/convenience. Do you want a Rolls-Royce or a KIA? It is
hard to advise on choices without some sense of your willingness to spend.

Some specifics follow.

At 03:00 PM 5/28/2003 +0000, subscriptions wrote:
>Hello all
>
>I want to start building a mythtv box for my entertainment system, as this
>system looks kick ass, and if anyone has suggestions as to the rest of the
>hardware i need that would be great, as i want to run into minimal
>problems with linux compatibility as I haven't used linux much, but hoping
>to learn more thru this process!
>
>I want a case size that will fit into one of my entertainment slots, so no
>bigger than a 5 disc cd changer... and I want it to replace my video
>recorder, so it had to has a tv out. My TV is a 40"+ sony trinitron with
>s-video in. My cable provider is comcast.
>
>So far I have...
>
>Western Digital SE 120MB 8MB HD

I trust you mean 120 GB, not MB.

>Hauppauge PVR250 Card

Should work fine with Linux. I've used the cheap Hauppauges (WinTV Go, from
before they changed the chipset) for a long time and have been very happy
with them.

>I need...
>
>graphics card

Many work with TV out; my sense, both from my own experiments and from
reading the list is that newer nVidea cards, using nVidea's nvidea X driver
(not XFree86's nv driver) give the most satisfactory performance. Check
www.compugeeks.com for some decent deals at least as of a few days ago).

The Linux compatibility (actually, XFree86 compatibility) issue here is a
big one. You need a card that has support for both TV-out and xVideo (the X
counterpart to DirectX on Windows). This restricts your choices severely
... nVidea cards are the only ones I am *sure* support both TV-out and
xVideo ... though I believe *some* Savage cards and some older Matrox cards
(the ones that use the priprietary Matrox X driver) also do.

Another option is to run the computer itself with standard VGA out and use
an external VGA-to-NTSC converter. Check the list archives for some
discussion fo this approach; I haven't tried it myself.

> cpu
>case
>motherboard (integrated sound/nic)

I tend to buy my mobos and CPUs together. Usually, I find it cheaper to get
a mobo either without sound and NIC, or with junky ones, and add in PCI
cards for these functions. My current Myth boxes are Cel 1.7 GHz using a
"Gigabyte P4 Titan" mobo ... nothing special about it, just what was cheap
that week. This setup works OK (with an inexpensive AverTV vidcap card) but
is starting to seem a little bit underpowered for "live" TV viewing (that
is, for simultaneous recording and playback). But you are using a more
powerful vidcap card than I use, so your CPU demands should be lighter than
mine.

You don't ask about RAM. There is some variation in views, but the
consensus seems to be that *minimum* RAM is 256 MB of PC133 SDRAM. The
higher speed of DDR RAM is preferred by many. I've seen no consensus about
whether additional amounts of RAM help or not (I think they do not, in a
1-tuner integrated frontend/backend setup).

> dvd rom

I don't have a DVD drive in my MythTV system so cannot fofer specific
recommendations. The only Linux compatibility issue is to make sure you get
a drive that supports DMA under Linux. I've myself never encountered one
that did not, but from reading this and other lists, I know people run into
problems here.

> keyboard/mouse separate/combo? suggestions?

I find the lowest-end keyboards, the ones priced like Crackerjack prizes,
perfectly satisfactory in most uses, especially light-duty ones like
running a MythTV host (until I take the time to get a proper remote setup
working). I use an expensive, heavy-duty Kensington trackball on my MythTV
system, but only because it was an old one from my spares box ... MythTV
makes so little use of a mouse/trackball that I'd use the cheapest thing I
could buy if I needed to shop for this piece.

I have wondered about controlling a MythTV box using an integrated
keyboard/trackball over an IR interface (or maybe Bluetooth, if they are
out yet and the Linux support is up to it), but I haven't looked into it
... converting to LIRC for the finished installation looks more sensible.
Re: Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
See below.

At 12:59 PM 5/29/2003 +0000, subscriptions wrote:
>Thanks guys for your advice.
>
>I will get the measurements for the space, a bit hard because it's new
>home will be 800 miles away, so getting someone to do that for me! But I
>imagine it would be no bigger in height than a pioneer 5.1 AMP. I use a
>compaq EVO at work, a case that size would be great...

I don't have either of these devices handy to measure, so once more, I'd
ask you to provide numbers.

>Basically it would be nice to know the specs for a great system AND a KIA,
>why not look at both options....

Because there are a lot of individual tradeoffs to be made, and writing up
specs is a lot of work. For this level of background, I suggest you look
through the list archives, where you'll see a lot of "what I use" messages.

>and Yes, the hard disk is 120GB!!!
>
>As for the video card, I am a little confused here.... I went to
>http://tvtool.de/ and looked at cards that only had chips that started
>with NV** (cause I thought that meant they use the NVTV chipset?), are
>they the best performing cards?? I was thinking of buying a...
>
>XFX Geforce2 MX400 64MB SDRAM Model PVT07G-DT With TV-out
>
>but you said...
>
> > Many work with TV out; my sense, both from my own experiments and from
> > reading the list is that newer nVidea cards, using nVidea's nvidea X
> driver
> > (not XFree86's nv driver) give the most satisfactory performance. Check
> > www.compugeeks.com for some decent deals at least as of a few days ago).
> >
> > The Linux compatibility (actually, XFree86 compatibility) issue here is a
> > big one. You need a card that has support for both TV-out and xVideo
> (the X
> > counterpart to DirectX on Windows). This restricts your choices severely
> > ... nVidea cards are the only ones I am *sure* support both TV-out and
> > xVideo ... though I believe *some* Savage cards and some older Matrox
> cards
> > (the ones that use the priprietary Matrox X driver) also do.
>
>So to clarify I should look for a card that supports nividea's X DRIVER!?
>Can you give me some examples of NIVIDEA cards that support both TV-out
>AND XVideo?

The GeForce you refer to above is an nVidia chipset and should work fine
(GeForce is the giveaway). But check nVidia's Web site, specifically the
page for the Linux driver, to be certain.

The two cards I've actually tried (and I'm happy with both) are:

nVidia GeForce4 MX440-SE AGP Video Card with TV-out (sVideo and composite)
(lspci: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 MX 440] (rev a3))
--OR--
nVidia GeForce2 GTS 64 MB DDR 4x AGP Video w/TV-out (sVideo)
(lspci: nVidia Corporation NV15 [GeForce2 GTS/Pro] (rev a4))

Got them both at www.compugeeks.com a few weeks ago. Both have sVIdeo out
(though I use them with Composite).

[old message deleted]
Re[3]: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: MD5

<snip>

>>So to clarify I should look for a card that supports nividea's X DRIVER!? Can
>>you give me some examples of NIVIDEA cards that support both TV-out AND
>>XVideo?

RO> The GeForce you refer to above is an nVidia chipset and should work fine
RO> (GeForce is the giveaway). But check nVidia's Web site, specifically the
RO> page for the Linux driver, to be certain.

RO> The two cards I've actually tried (and I'm happy with both) are:

RO> nVidia GeForce4 MX440-SE AGP Video Card with TV-out (sVideo and composite)
RO> (lspci: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 MX 440] (rev a3))
RO> --OR--
RO> nVidia GeForce2 GTS 64 MB DDR 4x AGP Video w/TV-out (sVideo)
RO> (lspci: nVidia Corporation NV15 [GeForce2 GTS/Pro] (rev a4))

RO> Got them both at www.compugeeks.com a few weeks ago. Both have sVIdeo out
RO> (though I use them with Composite).

Aren't there any TV-Outs that support Component Video and Progressive Scan?
Composite sucks, SVideo is alot better, but RGB or even Component, why doesn't
that exists? (I think the all in wonder cards have it.. but no linux drivers :/)

Is the only alternative a VGA->Component thingie? Don't even know if there is
such thing.

o_cee

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Re: Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
Thanks guys for your advice.

I will get the measurements for the space, a bit hard because it's new home will be 800 miles away, so getting someone to do that for me! But I imagine it would be no bigger in height than a pioneer 5.1 AMP. I use a compaq EVO at work, a case that size would be great...

Basically it would be nice to know the specs for a great system AND a KIA, why not look at both options....

and Yes, the hard disk is 120GB!!!

As for the video card, I am a little confused here.... I went to http://tvtool.de/ and looked at cards that only had chips that started with NV** (cause I thought that meant they use the NVTV chipset?), are they the best performing cards?? I was thinking of buying a...

XFX Geforce2 MX400 64MB SDRAM Model PVT07G-DT With TV-out

but you said...

> Many work with TV out; my sense, both from my own experiments and from
> reading the list is that newer nVidea cards, using nVidea's nvidea X driver
> (not XFree86's nv driver) give the most satisfactory performance. Check
> www.compugeeks.com for some decent deals at least as of a few days ago).
>
> The Linux compatibility (actually, XFree86 compatibility) issue here is a
> big one. You need a card that has support for both TV-out and xVideo (the X
> counterpart to DirectX on Windows). This restricts your choices severely
> ... nVidea cards are the only ones I am *sure* support both TV-out and
> xVideo ... though I believe *some* Savage cards and some older Matrox cards
> (the ones that use the priprietary Matrox X driver) also do.

So to clarify I should look for a card that supports nividea's X DRIVER!? Can you give me some examples of NIVIDEA cards that support both TV-out AND XVideo?







-------Original Message-------
> From: Ray Olszewski
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] newbie setup questions
> Sent: 29 May 2003 06:54:17
>
>
> I don't know if I can really say anything useful here, but since I saw no
> other responses, I thought I would say what I could.
>
> First, when asking for shopping info, it would help if you said something
> about where you are located. I infer from your having Comcast that you are
> in the USA ... but you aren't even explicit about that. Were you near me
> (Northern California), for example, I would suggest some offline shopping,
> like checking the Fry's specials this (every) Friday.
>
> Second, I don't offhand know how big "5 disc cd changer" normally is, or
> how big your "entertainment slots" are, making it hard to take that part
> into account. I did measure here and found that a standard desktop PC case
> (roughly 17.5" wide, 9" tall, and 17" deep) fits into one of my
> entertainment centers, but fails with the other one on depth (only). So you
> might want to describe your size constraints a bit more explicitly. Be sure
> to allow enough space for the stuff that sticks out the back of a pC; its
> connectors tend to be bulkier than typical A-V devices.
>
> Third, configuring a system is always, in the end, about tradeoffs between
> price and features/convenience. Do you want a Rolls-Royce or a KIA? It is
> hard to advise on choices without some sense of your willingness to spend.
>
> Some specifics follow.
>
> At 03:00 PM 5/28/2003 +0000, subscriptions wrote:
> >Hello all
> >
> >I want to start building a mythtv box for my entertainment system, as this
> >system looks kick ass, and if anyone has suggestions as to the rest of the
> >hardware i need that would be great, as i want to run into minimal
> >problems with linux compatibility as I haven't used linux much, but hoping
> >to learn more thru this process!
> >
> >I want a case size that will fit into one of my entertainment slots, so no
> >bigger than a 5 disc cd changer... and I want it to replace my video
> >recorder, so it had to has a tv out. My TV is a 40"+ sony trinitron with
> >s-video in. My cable provider is comcast.
> >
> >So far I have...
> >
> >Western Digital SE 120MB 8MB HD
>
> I trust you mean 120 GB, not MB.
>
> >Hauppauge PVR250 Card
>
> Should work fine with Linux. I've used the cheap Hauppauges (WinTV Go, from
> before they changed the chipset) for a long time and have been very happy
> with them.
>
> >I need...
> >
> >graphics card
>
> Many work with TV out; my sense, both from my own experiments and from
> reading the list is that newer nVidea cards, using nVidea's nvidea X driver
> (not XFree86's nv driver) give the most satisfactory performance. Check
> www.compugeeks.com for some decent deals at least as of a few days ago).
>
> The Linux compatibility (actually, XFree86 compatibility) issue here is a
> big one. You need a card that has support for both TV-out and xVideo (the X
> counterpart to DirectX on Windows). This restricts your choices severely
> ... nVidea cards are the only ones I am *sure* support both TV-out and
> xVideo ... though I believe *some* Savage cards and some older Matrox cards
> (the ones that use the priprietary Matrox X driver) also do.
>
> Another option is to run the computer itself with standard VGA out and use
> an external VGA-to-NTSC converter. Check the list archives for some
> discussion fo this approach; I haven't tried it myself.
>
> >  cpu
> >case
> >motherboard (integrated sound/nic)
>
> I tend to buy my mobos and CPUs together. Usually, I find it cheaper to get
> a mobo either without sound and NIC, or with junky ones, and add in PCI
> cards for these functions. My current Myth boxes are Cel 1.7 GHz using a
> "Gigabyte P4 Titan" mobo ... nothing special about it, just what was cheap
> that week. This setup works OK (with an inexpensive AverTV vidcap card) but
> is starting to seem a little bit underpowered for "live" TV viewing (that
> is, for simultaneous recording and playback). But you are using a more
> powerful vidcap card than I use, so your CPU demands should be lighter than
> mine.
>
> You don't ask about RAM. There is some variation in views, but the
> consensus seems to be that *minimum* RAM is 256 MB of PC133 SDRAM. The
> higher speed of DDR RAM is preferred by many. I've seen no consensus about
> whether additional amounts of RAM help or not (I think they do not, in a
> 1-tuner integrated frontend/backend setup).
>
> >  dvd rom
>
> I don't have a DVD drive in my MythTV system so cannot fofer specific
> recommendations. The only Linux compatibility issue is to make sure you get
> a drive that supports DMA under Linux. I've myself never encountered one
> that did not, but from reading this and other lists, I know people run into
> problems here.
>
> >  keyboard/mouse separate/combo? suggestions?
>
> I find the lowest-end keyboards, the ones priced like Crackerjack prizes,
> perfectly satisfactory in most uses, especially light-duty ones like
> running a MythTV host (until I take the time to get a proper  remote setup
> working). I use an expensive, heavy-duty Kensington trackball on my MythTV
> system, but only because it was an old one from my spares box ... MythTV
> makes so little use of a mouse/trackball that I'd use the cheapest thing I
> could buy if I needed to shop for this piece.
>
> I have wondered about controlling a MythTV box using an integrated
> keyboard/trackball over an IR interface (or maybe Bluetooth, if they are
> out yet and the Linux support is up to it), but I haven't looked into it
> ... converting to LIRC for the finished installation looks more sensible.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
-------Original Message-------
Re: Re: newbie setup questions [ In reply to ]
I believe he is refering to the drivers for X windows. It's just
Nvidia's linux based drivers that you can download from
www.nvidia.com. Correct me if I'm wrong about that.



--- subscriptions <subscriptions@syntrix.net> wrote:
> Thanks guys for your advice.
>
> I will get the measurements for the space, a bit hard because it's
> new home will be 800 miles away, so getting someone to do that for
> me! But I imagine it would be no bigger in height than a pioneer
> 5.1 AMP. I use a compaq EVO at work, a case that size would be
> great...
>
> Basically it would be nice to know the specs for a great system AND
> a KIA, why not look at both options....
>
> and Yes, the hard disk is 120GB!!!
>
> As for the video card, I am a little confused here.... I went to
> http://tvtool.de/ and looked at cards that only had chips that
> started with NV** (cause I thought that meant they use the NVTV
> chipset?), are they the best performing cards?? I was thinking of
> buying a...
>
> XFX Geforce2 MX400 64MB SDRAM Model PVT07G-DT With TV-out
>
> but you said...
>
> > Many work with TV out; my sense, both from my own experiments
> and from
> > reading the list is that newer nVidea cards, using nVidea's
> nvidea X driver
> > (not XFree86's nv driver) give the most satisfactory
> performance. Check
> > www.compugeeks.com for some decent deals at least as of a few
> days ago).
> >
> > The Linux compatibility (actually, XFree86 compatibility)
> issue here is a
> > big one. You need a card that has support for both TV-out and
> xVideo (the X
> > counterpart to DirectX on Windows). This restricts your
> choices severely
> > ... nVidea cards are the only ones I am *sure* support both
> TV-out and
> > xVideo ... though I believe *some* Savage cards and some
> older Matrox cards
> > (the ones that use the priprietary Matrox X driver) also do.
>
> So to clarify I should look for a card that supports nividea's X
> DRIVER!? Can you give me some examples of NIVIDEA cards that
> support both TV-out AND XVideo?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------Original Message-------
> > From: Ray Olszewski
> > Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] newbie setup questions
> > Sent: 29 May 2003 06:54:17
> >
> >
> > I don't know if I can really say anything useful here, but
> since I saw no
> > other responses, I thought I would say what I could.
> >
> > First, when asking for shopping info, it would help if you
> said something
> > about where you are located. I infer from your having Comcast
> that you are
> > in the USA ... but you aren't even explicit about that. Were
> you near me
> > (Northern California), for example, I would suggest some
> offline shopping,
> > like checking the Fry's specials this (every) Friday.
> >
> > Second, I don't offhand know how big "5 disc cd changer"
> normally is, or
> > how big your "entertainment slots" are, making it hard to
> take that part
> > into account. I did measure here and found that a standard
> desktop PC case
> > (roughly 17.5" wide, 9" tall, and 17" deep) fits into one of
> my
> > entertainment centers, but fails with the other one on depth
> (only). So you
> > might want to describe your size constraints a bit more
> explicitly. Be sure
> > to allow enough space for the stuff that sticks out the back
> of a pC; its
> > connectors tend to be bulkier than typical A-V devices.
> >
> > Third, configuring a system is always, in the end, about
> tradeoffs between
> > price and features/convenience. Do you want a Rolls-Royce or
> a KIA? It is
> > hard to advise on choices without some sense of your
> willingness to spend.
> >
> > Some specifics follow.
> >
> > At 03:00 PM 5/28/2003 +0000, subscriptions wrote:
> > >Hello all
> > >
> > >I want to start building a mythtv box for my entertainment
> system, as this
> > >system looks kick ass, and if anyone has suggestions as to
> the rest of the
> > >hardware i need that would be great, as i want to run into
> minimal
> > >problems with linux compatibility as I haven't used linux
> much, but hoping
> > >to learn more thru this process!
> > >
> > >I want a case size that will fit into one of my
> entertainment slots, so no
> > >bigger than a 5 disc cd changer... and I want it to replace
> my video
> > >recorder, so it had to has a tv out. My TV is a 40"+ sony
> trinitron with
> > >s-video in. My cable provider is comcast.
> > >
> > >So far I have...
> > >
> > >Western Digital SE 120MB 8MB HD
> >
> > I trust you mean 120 GB, not MB.
> >
> > >Hauppauge PVR250 Card
> >
> > Should work fine with Linux. I've used the cheap Hauppauges
> (WinTV Go, from
> > before they changed the chipset) for a long time and have
> been very happy
> > with them.
> >
> > >I need...
> > >
> > >graphics card
> >
> > Many work with TV out; my sense, both from my own experiments
> and from
> > reading the list is that newer nVidea cards, using nVidea's
> nvidea X driver
> > (not XFree86's nv driver) give the most satisfactory
> performance. Check
> > www.compugeeks.com for some decent deals at least as of a few
> days ago).
> >
> > The Linux compatibility (actually, XFree86 compatibility)
> issue here is a
> > big one. You need a card that has support for both TV-out and
> xVideo (the X
> > counterpart to DirectX on Windows). This restricts your
> choices severely
> > ... nVidea cards are the only ones I am *sure* support both
> TV-out and
> > xVideo ... though I believe *some* Savage cards and some
> older Matrox cards
> > (the ones that use the priprietary Matrox X driver) also do.
> >
> > Another option is to run the computer itself with standard
> VGA out and use
> > an external VGA-to-NTSC converter. Check the list archives
> for some
> > discussion fo this approach; I haven't tried it myself.
> >
> > > cpu
> > >case
> > >motherboard (integrated sound/nic)
> >
> > I tend to buy my mobos and CPUs together. Usually, I find it
> cheaper to get
> > a mobo either without sound and NIC, or with junky ones, and
> add in PCI
> > cards for these functions. My current Myth boxes are Cel 1.7
> GHz using a
> > "Gigabyte P4 Titan" mobo ... nothing special about it, just
> what was cheap
> > that week. This setup works OK (with an inexpensive AverTV
> vidcap card) but
> > is starting to seem a little bit underpowered for "live" TV
> viewing (that
> > is, for simultaneous recording and playback). But you are
> using a more
> > powerful vidcap card than I use, so your CPU demands should
> be lighter than
> > mine.
> >
> > You don't ask about RAM. There is some variation in views,
> but the
> > consensus seems to be that *minimum* RAM is 256 MB of PC133
> SDRAM. The
> > higher speed of DDR RAM is preferred by many. I've seen no
> consensus about
> > whether additional amounts of RAM help or not (I think they
> do not, in a
> > 1-tuner integrated frontend/backend setup).
> >
> > > dvd rom
> >
> > I don't have a DVD drive in my MythTV system so cannot fofer
> specific
>
=== message truncated ===>
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>


=====
Brock Hatfield
tekchip@yahoo.com
do bee do bee do....beware the penguin

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