Are you using all your PCI Slots?

[jptaz]

Well I am maybe having a problem which may be a result of too much on my PCI bus...Basically I get an audio / video hiccup when I start a recording on my PVR 500 - Either port doesn't matter. I get the same Hiccup if I am playing back a DVD on my 1394 Port. I was just curious if anyone else was packing their system as full as I am.

John

AMD Athlon XP 3200+
1 GB Memory
Giga-Byte GA-7N400Pro2 - NVidia Chipset

AGP Slot - > PNY 6600GT -> Connected to HD Set with DVI at 1280x720
PCI Slot 1 -> 3Ware 9500-12s -> 7 x 250GB Seagate in RAID + 1 x 250 GB Hot Spare ( Partitioned into a 30GB C: and 1.3TB M: for media files )
PCI Slot 2 -> Hauppauge PVR 500 -> Coax Cable + Svideo to Digital Cable box
PCI Slot 3 -> Hauppauge PVR 250 -> SVideo to Digital Cable Box
PCI Slot 4 -> Hauppauge PVR 250 -> SVideo to Digital Cable Box
PCI Slot 5 -> Hauppauge PVR 250 -> SVideo to Digital Cable Box

COM1 -> Actisys IR 200L for controlling PVR 500 Digital Cable Box
COM2 - Disabled
LPT1 -> Old Okidata OL800/PS Printer
USB 1.1 -> USB UIRT 1 used by SageTV with Multizones to control 3 Digital Cable Boxes.
USB 1.1 -> USB UIRT 2 - used by Girder to control All Living room AV equipment
USB 1.1 -> ATI Remote Wonder Receiver - Used by Girder with Plugin
USB 2.0 -> 4 Port Belkin Powered HUB -> VBOX HD Tuner USB 2.0
1394 -> Sony External DVD-R - Used for playing DVDs
100BT -> Linksys 8 Port 100MB Swith.

[BobPhoenix]

Here are my server specs (note it is a headless server). I only use it as a recording server everything I watch is from a client instance of SageTV so I don't have playback worries on my server.

MSI K7N2 Delta2 Platinum:
CPU
• AMD® Athlon™ XP 3200+

Chipset
• nVIDIA® nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset
• nVIDIA® nForce2 Gigabit MCP Chipset

Lan
• Gigabit connection to Linksys Gigabit Switch and Cat 6 cabling in basement
• Second Gigabit switch upstairs also Cat 6 cabling to computers and MVP's

Main Memory
• 2x512MB = 1GB total

On-Board IDE
• Boot OS drive 60GB
• DVD/CD drive

Serial ATA Interface
• 1 250GB on nForce2 Gigabit MCP Chipset
- alternate recording directory
- image backup drive of OS drive

AGP Video
• Radeon 9000 Series - I don't actually watch anything on this just record.

PCI cards
• LSI Logic MegaRAID SATA 150-6 in slot 2
- 6 250GB drives with one a hot spare in Raid 5 array
• PVR-250 retail but don't use a remote on this system - analog coax input - slot 5
• 2 PVR-500MCE's 1 analog coax and 1 composite input each - slots 3&4

USB-UIRT controlling two DCT-1700 STB's.

OS & Software
• Windows XP Home updated with the latest updates
• All drivers from the PVR-500MCE cd - not the latest but they work
• MSI drivers and utility files from Motherboard CD

BobP.

[jptaz]

Thanks Bob,

I actually never see the problem on my other clients and attached MVPs. I went to a single Server/ Living room client with the hope that I would only have 1 PC on 24x7...I may have to switch back to having a dedicated client...but I am hoping that SageTV will come out with a HD client and this will not be an issue.

John

[malore]

That's an impressive number of tuners. My SageTV computer has two tuners and a slot free, while my main computer has all four of its slots filled with no tuners because very little is integrated on the motherboard (no onboard sound, networking, or usb 2.0)

[fidget]

I had thermal problems with I had all of my PCI slots filled, so I removed all of them and replaced them with PVR-USB2s. No problems since that time.

[jptaz]

How Many PVR-USB2s do you have?

[fidget]

I had 3 PVR-250s and replaced them with 4 PVR-USB2s. The middle PVR-250 was the first to die. Then the others started acting "funny."

[mayamaniac]

Available PCI slots is a problem when building a multi-tuner server. Not only that you need many PCI slots, but with that many tuners installed, a lot of heat is generated. Since the tuners are seated right next to each other, along with the many harddrives, a lot of cooling is needed. And with more fans running to cool the system, PC noise increases.

So if you are planning to build a multi-tuner system, I would advice in building a dedicated server PC and have it running in a secluded space, so the humming fan noises won't be bothering anyone. Motherboard should have lots of PCI slots, builtin RAID and gigabit would be nice as it will free up PCI slots. The case should have lots of room for air to circulate and enough fans to keep them circulating.

My motherboard has 5 PCI slots. But the problem is my motherboard doesn't have enough IDE and SATA ports for all my harddrives, I got 9 of them. So I used up 2 PCI slots just for an extra SATA and IDE controller. I only have 3 tuners at the moment, one PVR-500 and a PVR-150. I have one free PCI slot left, most likely reserved for an HD tuner in the future. Performance wise, I haven't had a problem yet.

[wazkaren]

I have 5 tuners but ended up splitting them across two computers. Standard TV tuners in one PC (two Hauppauges 250s and a Hauppauge 150). The HD tuners in another (Fusion5HDTV lite and Avermedia a180). Works great for me since it separates the HD from SD recordings. My daughters PC can't handle the HD recordings so her Sage Client just points to the Sage Server with the SD content.

Greg

[Menehune]

I have 5 PCI slots, 2 are PVR-250s, one is a PCI modem. I have a fan blowing onto the PCI cards so the tuners are kept cool. I'm toying with the idea of throwing in a raid card-I'm buying the HDs now

My parent's server though is a microATX board and with the two PVR250s and the modem, the mobo is full.

[jptaz]

My new case is nice because all the hard drives are thermally isolated in the lower part of the computer with the power supply and they all are running in 28C to 30C range. My case also has a 12cm cooling fan over the PCI slots that really helps keep things cool, but I still may add another 12cm fan to help cool the PVR 500/RAID/Video Card. My PCI slot 5 PVR 250 runs at 31C while the PVR 500 right next to the RAID Controller is much higher at 48C. The computer is not quiet, but it is in a closet between my office and the living room so it is not too bad. The 3 PVR 250s in the box are 4 years old now and still working relatively well...2 years ago the tuners died, but I switch to Digital Cable Boxes with SVideo. The Tuners dying may or may not be heat related...they were all Refurb cards and a friend of mine had the same thing happen to his one and only PVR 250 and he didn't have anything near the card in his box it definitely was cool in the case.

John