Mailing List Archive: CPU and Tuner recommendations

CPU and Tuner recommendations

May 29, 2003, 1:55 PM

Post #1 of 5 (1208 views)

Hi all,

I am new to this list, and don't even own a Myth system ... yet :)
However, I tend to make a myth-based system the next month or so.

I've been reading good stuff about the new Asus Pundit systems, and am
considering using them as the base of my myth system.

I also read on the list archives that there is some discussion about the
required CPU power. I want decent quality (as in "better than VHS")
live-tv features.

Should I go for an expensive "real" P4 2.4Ghz and a "cheap" tv tuner. (A
local shop suggested a Leadtek winfast TV-2000-XP-deluxe (including the
remote) for 53.5 EUR (excl. sales tax). Is someone using this card?

Or should I go with a cheap Celeron (1.7Ghz) but an expensive Hauppage
PVR 250?

Or can I get away with the cheapest solution, the Celeron and the
Leadtek?

Kind Regards,
Frank Louwers

RE: CPU and Tuner recommendations [ In reply to ]

rkulagowski at thrupoint

May 29, 2003, 3:47 PM

Post #2 of 5 (1174 views)

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> Or can I get away with the cheapest solution, the Celeron and the
> Leadtek?

The problem is that there are so many variables. However, I'd say
that a 1.7Ghz CPU (even if it's a Celeron, which isn't nearly the
"bad thing" today like it used to be since Intel has unified the core
architecture) is going to be more than adequate for a single tuner
system. A 1.7Ghz Celeron is _way_ overkill for a PVR-250; I watch
8Mbps VBR/16Mbps peak MPEG-2 480x480 on a 450Mhz Celeron A
(overclocked 300Mhz Celeron, no SSE) with 80% CPU.

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RE: CPU and Tuner recommendations [ In reply to ]

ray at comarre

May 29, 2003, 4:02 PM

Post #3 of 5 (1179 views)

Permalink

At 05:47 PM 5/29/2003 -0500, Robert Kulagowski wrote:
>[...]
> > Or can I get away with the cheapest solution, the Celeron and the
> > Leadtek?
>
>The problem is that there are so many variables. However, I'd say
>that a 1.7Ghz CPU (even if it's a Celeron, which isn't nearly the
>"bad thing" today like it used to be since Intel has unified the core
>architecture) is going to be more than adequate for a single tuner
>system. A 1.7Ghz Celeron is _way_ overkill for a PVR-250; I watch
>8Mbps VBR/16Mbps peak MPEG-2 480x480 on a 450Mhz Celeron A
>(overclocked 300Mhz Celeron, no SSE) with 80% CPU.

I'm running here a 1.7 Celeron with a low-end AverTV card and an nVidia
GeForce4 MX440-SE, combined frontend/backend single-tuner system for an
NTCS cable feed, using the prepackaged Debian MythTV (not current CVS).

I'm happy with this system ... but for watching "live" TV, it is more like
"just barely adequate" than "more than adequate". Using Myth's default
settings for resolution and such, it typically runs at 90% or higher CPU
use, leaving little headroom for transients (and occasional stuttering does
show). In practice, I now run it at lower capture resolution (340x280) with
no problems and much lower (60%, maybe - I forget) CPU load.

Re: CPU and Tuner recommendations [ In reply to ]

petecool at vl

May 29, 2003, 4:32 PM

Post #4 of 5 (1181 views)

Permalink

Frank Louwers wrote:

> Should I go for an expensive "real" P4 2.4Ghz and a "cheap" tv tuner. (A
> local shop suggested a Leadtek winfast TV-2000-XP-deluxe (including the
> remote) for 53.5 EUR (excl. sales tax). Is someone using this card?

A Hauppauge WinTV Go/dbx (make sure it's model number is 4?? and not 7??
else it won't work) or an ATI TV Wonder would be a much better choice
than the Leadtek, as with those, you can send the audio data over the
PCI bus, instead of through a separate sound card. It can be useful if
you want to someday add more tuners to the system, as you would be
losing one PCI slot because of the Leadtek that can't send data over PCI.

The remote is okay, though... but you need to use a CVS version of LIRC
to use all its buttons, with lirc 0.6.6 they don't all work right.

Pete

Re: CPU and Tuner recommendations [ In reply to ]

jcaputo1 at comcast

May 29, 2003, 7:16 PM

Post #5 of 5 (1186 views)

Permalink

This is not strictly true... not all of the WinTV 401 cards support btaudio (audio
extraction over the PCI bus). The model number is deceptive; they often change
the chipset for different revisions of the card without changing the model
number.

-JAC

----- Original Message -----
From: Pierre-Olivier Bouchard <petecool@vl.videotron.ca>
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2003 7:32 pm
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] CPU and Tuner recommendations

> Frank Louwers wrote:
>
>
> A Hauppauge WinTV Go/dbx (make sure it's model number is 4?? and
> not 7??
> else it won't work) or an ATI TV Wonder would be a much better
> choice
> than the Leadtek, as with those, you can send the audio data over
> the
> PCI bus, instead of through a separate sound card. It can be useful
> if
> you want to someday add more tuners to the system, as you would be
> losing one PCI slot because of the Leadtek that can't send data
> over PCI.
>
> Pete