latest thoughts on good mobo for my upgrade

[davey_fl]

Hi guys,

I'm currently running a Shuttle MN31N mATX with a 2400+ and I want to upgrade to full atx to be able to shift more tuners into the main box. Right now I have 3 PVR250s all on digital cable (3 DCT2500s) and over the network a PVR500 (which won't actually work properly since you have to use sage server and enable network encoding). I'd like to move the PVR500 into the main htpc but there's no more slots left. I'm sure there's something better now than the nforce2 with MCP-T - any suggestions?

thx

[dagar]

Something better for AXP CPUs? No. There are post MCP-T variants that add a GbE MAC and SATA RAID but you lose Soundstorm.

FWIW, I have 2 AN7 boards and they work great. Only caveat is the connector 'crap' at the rear of the PCI slots (something that is a problem on quite a few mobos) that makes it 'near' impossible (would require bending/snipping) to use 1 or 2 of them for capture cards. From what I saw at Frys, the AN78X-E Deluxe from Asus has a similar problem.

[insomniac]

I can tell you that my Intel PERLL mobo in my server has been rock solid and my AN7 (NF2 chipset) has been rock solid as well. Even with a PVR350!

IMO, you really dont need to run anything more than a NF2 chipset. You may regret fooling around with higher end chipsets, and most definitely not see any real gain...

I have read around that the shuttle board of yours is pretty good for matx + pvr350 + sage. If its in good working order, you may want to offer it up to a user here (if you dont have plans for it!). Im sure you will get a good chunk of money for it, considering its age.

I.

Originally Posted by davey_fl

Hi guys,

I'm currently running a Shuttle MN31N mATX with a 2400+ and I want to upgrade to full atx to be able to shift more tuners into the main box. Right now I have 3 PVR250s all on digital cable (3 DCT2500s) and over the network a PVR500 (which won't actually work properly since you have to use sage server and enable network encoding). I'd like to move the PVR500 into the main htpc but there's no more slots left. I'm sure there's something better now than the nforce2 with MCP-T - any suggestions?

thx

[davey_fl]

Originally Posted by insomniac

I have read around that the shuttle board of yours is pretty good for matx + pvr350 + sage. If its in good working order, you may want to offer it up to a user here (if you dont have plans for it!). Im sure you will get a good chunk of money for it, considering its age.

Hey Insomniac,

It is true, this system has been rock solid without any major problems. I don't really want to upgrade, but I would like a way to utilize my PVR500 into the system, and I'm out of slots! I wish the network encoding component of Sage worked.

[insomniac]

I would definitely take a look at the AN7 then. You will keep soundstorm and have your slots.

[JUC]

Originally Posted by davey_fl

Hey Insomniac,

It is true, this system has been rock solid without any major problems. I don't really want to upgrade, but I would like a way to utilize my PVR500 into the system, and I'm out of slots! I wish the network encoding component of Sage worked.

what's wrong with networked encoding? you can either use a supported card and sagerecorder (don't think the PVR 500 is supported though) or use a second instance of Sagetv running as a networked encoder.

[davey_fl]

Originally Posted by JUC

what's wrong with networked encoding? you can either use a supported card and sagerecorder (don't think the PVR 500 is supported though) or use a second instance of Sagetv running as a networked encoder.

When I tried it they didn't show up properly in Sage as an option to add - when they finally did show up (no editing by me they just showed up) I added them, one at a time, and there were errors like not changing channels correctly or chaning but no sound. this was under 2.28 - maybe I'll try it again in 3.07. The instructions for adding the network encoders under a second instance of sage were sketchy also...

[dvd_maniac]

Right now I have 3 PVR250s all on digital cable

Couldn't you replace one of the 250s with the 500 and buy another 500 and do the same? This way you would have 5 workable tuners without the need for upgrade.
Since you do not want to upgrade anyways and this should be a cheaper solution(You could propably recoup the cost of the 2nd 500 by selling the 2 250s on ebay).
If you actually wanted 5 tuners for digital cable then I believe you could use the adapter that comes with the 500 and place them outside the case.

[davey_fl]

Originally Posted by dvd_maniac

Couldn't you replace one of the 250s with the 500 and buy another 500 and do the same? This way you would have 5 workable tuners without the need for upgrade.
Since you do not want to upgrade anyways and this should be a cheaper solution(You could propably recoup the cost of the 2nd 500 by selling the 2 250s on ebay).
If you actually wanted 5 tuners for digital cable then I believe you could use the adapter that comes with the 500 and place them outside the case.

You're probably right I could. Do you know if, for example, I can use one S-Video input and one analog input on the same PVR500? Also, I'm assuming I'd have to buy the extra input for the 500 - is that what you are referring to?

Thx

[davey_fl]

So I just went to test this setup on my test box which is running Sage 2.019. My htpc is running 2.28. The 2.28 sees the PVR500 OK but the 2.019 box will not recognize it. Is this a known problem with the older version of sage?

Thx

[blade]

Originally Posted by davey_fl

You're probably right I could. Do you know if, for example, I can use one S-Video input and one analog input on the same PVR500? Also, I'm assuming I'd have to buy the extra input for the 500 - is that what you are referring to?

Thx

All of the inputs on the 500 are analog. You can use S-video and a coax connection without the bracket if that's what you're asking.

I'm not sure if you can use s-video and composite together without the extra connector.

[davey_fl]

thx blade. I want to use an svid and an coax at the same time - so I should be OK.