A little guidance for a noob....

montgomeryt · #1 11-21-2005, 10:06 AM

I've been reading and reading and reading (you get the picture) the different threads here on what hardware everyone is using. I'm a total noob but want to be sure to make the right choices.
I purchased an ATI HDTV and could NOT get it to work with Sage v4 no matter what I did. I could get a picture from the analog input but it was jerky at best no matter what codec I chose. I couldn't even get an OTA signal so I won't even go there. The card worked for both analog and OTA with the provided ATI software but who wants that when you have SAGE !

Now, I'm taking the HDTV card back, thank you CompUsa for their 21 day return policy, and I'm in the market for a capture card that does everything well - or at least 90% of what I want (I'm not real picky).

This is my configuration :
P4 2.3GHz
521MB ram
250GB HD
ATI 9550
DVI to a Samsung 42 DLP

Nothing to fancy. I'm also curious if it's just better to run from an STB to a capture card and does it actually gain me anything.

Any input would be appreciated.

teknubic · #2 11-21-2005, 01:46 PM

Interesting that the ATI HDTV card didn't work....
Here is the system requirements for SageTV v4. Any of those should work but since the ATI is on that list, you may want to scrutinize your other hardware. I'm sure you've read the threads about the hardware people are using with success. No need to start another one of those. Can you give more detail about the hardware you listed as well as anything else you may have omitted?

montgomeryt · #3 11-21-2005, 08:51 PM

Thanks for the reply. I started doing some digging to provide you with more information. I checked my processor, according to XP, it was only a 1.54 Ghz AMD which I know is incorrect. It's an AMD 2600+ w/e that is so I went and messed with the cpu / freq and voltage and got up to 1.95 Ghz and didn't go any further. I re-installed the card and I had to uninstall Sage and do a re-install of it before it would recognize the ATI card but it's all working now. The OTA kinda studders a bit but I may need to look at some type of amp'd atenna ?

gplasky · #4 11-22-2005, 06:40 AM

If it is an Anthlon XP 2600+ its actuall speed should be 2.13GHz.

Gerry

teknubic · #5 11-22-2005, 11:27 AM

Is 1.95GHz fast enough to play HD? What's the CPU utilization?
Glad to hear you don't have to return the ATI.

montgomeryt · #6 11-22-2005, 11:47 AM

Ok, I may yet return this HDTV card! The 1.95 seems to be doing just fine - for now. Typical me moved on to my next problem and that was the ATI Remote Wonder Plus that comes with the the HDTV card. I spent hours last night trying to get it to work and from the looks on the internet I'm not the only one who as had these problems. I tried all of the fixes patches different drivers but the remote will not work ! I brought it to work today to see if I could reproduce the issues. It has something to do with the X10net.dll not registering properly. I'll keep you posted.

montgomeryt · #7 11-25-2005, 08:32 AM

Ok, I'm sure I'm not stating anything that already hasn't been said but the ATI HDTV is the biggest P.O.S I have ever seen ! I had to totally rebuild my system to get the remote to work and after doing that the analog tuner went out and will not work. I moved the ATI card to another box and installed the software but it still doesn't work. Looks like I'm buying a MyHD card unless someone has a better option ?

Polypro · #8 11-26-2005, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teknubic

Is 1.95GHz fast enough to play HD? What's the CPU utilization?
Glad to hear you don't have to return the ATI.

My AMD 3000+ Venice runs ~30-35% CPU Utilization for HD. See sig for gear.

P

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