Help me pick my hardware...

[kyle1745]

I am new to Myth TV but have been reading on it for a bit. I still have some hardware questions based on my needs.

Here is what I want to do and tell me if this is nuts.
- Record up to 2 HD programs, with full surround sound, at a time from Direct TV
- Watch a program at the same time
- Do it all on a single box

I am looking at a something like this:
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300
1gb of ram
2 HD-5500s (unsure if this is the best choice)
1-2 sound cards (I am not sure if I need 2 or not and looking for recomendations)
500GB
Depending on the motherboard I may use the on board card to the TV if not then a 7600 or something. I would prefer HDMI or DVI out.

I am unsure if this is enough power for what I want to do, and how to interface with the 2 HD direct TV receivers. To start I may try to interface with my current DVR and a single HD receiver.

So far I am leaning towards using KnoppMyth.

Thoughts....

Thanks for any ideas in advance,
Kyle

[dknovick]

Originally Posted by kyle1745

I am new to Myth TV but have been reading on it for a bit. I still have some hardware questions based on my needs.

Some great places to start for those kinds of questions
http://pvrhw.goldfish.org/tiki-index...714394ffc002e4
http://www.linuxis.us/linux/media/ho...tpc/index.html

Originally Posted by kyle1745

Here is what I want to do and tell me if this is nuts.
- Record up to 2 HD programs, with full surround sound, at a time from Direct TV
- Watch a program at the same time
- Do it all on a single box

Sounds reasonable

Originally Posted by kyle1745

2 HD-5500s (unsure if this is the best choice)

I haven't played with HD yet, but people also use HD-Homerun and Kworld cards

Originally Posted by kyle1745

1-2 sound cards (I am not sure if I need 2 or not and looking for recomendations)

Don't even need one, if you MB has decent on-board sound.

Originally Posted by kyle1745

Depending on the motherboard I may use the on board card to the TV if not then a 7600 or something. I would prefer HDMI or DVI out.

Do stick with Nvidia. Get a fanless one, since you won't be pushing your card, and you don't want to add noise. DVI will be easy to find, I'm not sure if there are any video cards with HDMI.

Originally Posted by kyle1745

So far I am leaning towards using KnoppMyth.

There's also MythDora, or any of the other OS that have good instructions for installing Myth

[briand]

I'd agree with your assessments, dnovick, except you (and I, initially) missed this in the original message:

Record up to 2 HD programs, with full surround sound, at a time from Direct TV

I don't believe an HD capture device has yet been made available at the consumer level that would allow this.

[kyle1745]

I plan on buying 2 cards and getting 2 HD receivers... I know its possible, but am not sure this hardware is enough. From what I can tell it should be.

Originally Posted by briand

I'd agree with your assessments, dnovick, except you (and I, initially) missed this in the original message:

I don't believe an HD capture device has yet been made available at the consumer level that would allow this.

[kyle1745]

dknovick,

My concern with the sound is getting the digital signal recorded and back to my receiver. If im going to take the time to do this I want the good sound too.

I have looked at that site for hardware, but they seem to list what works and not the capacities of the setups.

I am thinking about starting small until I get it all working and then adding the second HD card and receiver. This way I should know what Im dealing with.

[dknovick]

Originally Posted by kyle1745

My concern with the sound is getting the digital signal recorded and back to my receiver. If im going to take the time to do this I want the good sound too.

Most motherboards have surround sound (6,7,8 channels). Or get a motherboard with S/PDIF output and be done with it.

Originally Posted by kyle1745

I have looked at that site for hardware, but they seem to list what works and not the capacities of the setups.

From what I understand, HD is all ready in mpeg2 format, so your machine/tuner just has to capture it and dump it to the hard drive. So you're only concern is with HD playback, and your specs should handle it.

Originally Posted by kyle1745

I am thinking about starting small until I get it all working and then adding the second HD card and receiver. This way I should know what Im dealing with.

Always a good idea!

[kyle1745]

Ok I am thinking about switching to a AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2, but what motherboard. Id like to have digital sound out, and I see some of the motherboards come with HDMI, but no sound out through them. It also seems none of them come with digital sound out either.

Any thoughts on a mobo for this proc and my HD myth setup?

[dknovick]

Originally Posted by kyle1745

Ok I am thinking about switching to a AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2, but what motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131165

This one seems to have a S/PDIF port, but lots of bad reviews. Welcome to the wonderful world of compromise.

[kyle1745]

Tell me about it... I've built tons of pcs over the years and this damn box is already driving me nuts.

[kyle1745]

This is one of the ones I am looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128034