Recommended CPU for SageTV system?

[cineburk]

I'm thinking of getting a new MB and CPU for my SageTV system so I can use my current P4 2.4 in another system.

I haven't been keeping up to date on the current Intel and AMD chips, and I was wondering what the most economical choice is for a decent SageTV system? I don't want to overspend for performance I won't use (or see).

I'll be using it with a Fusion5 Lite and a Hauppage 150. My current card is an NVIDIA 6200 (AGP), but I could upgrade it as well in the process.

[amac]

As my specs indicate below, you don't need much if you don't require much (playing back video I only consume 23% cpu). What are you planning to do besides watch/record? Video compression or other processing?

[Humanzee]

HDTV can take a lot of CPU, especially if you want to use VMR9 and 3d acceleration. My Athlon 64 3200+ and 6600GT are not a good enough combination for me to use VMR9 even with FSE enabled. I'm forced to use overlay at the moment of course I am trying to push it at 1080p.

Intel will be launching a chip before too long called the Conroe. It should be a significant leap forward. Of course it will probably cost a pretty penny at first but if you can wait, I would. Even if you don't go for the latest and greatest it should drive the prices down on the older chips.

I also think that RAM drives and Cache drives and large flash drives are going to become more popular and will dramatically improve disk access speeds while reducing power use/heat/noise. For these reasons Im going to wait as long as I can before building a new machine. I want to make use of any new standards that might be coming down the line. Of course, if you are like me, you can also get burned sitting on the fence. I waited for years before I bought an HD display, even though they are cheaper now, the only thing I regret is waiting as long as I did.

[cybrmage]

cineburk:

As amac mentions, your CPU choice is heavily influenced by what you plan on doing with it. However, your p4 is far more current than his 1G Duron.

Your current CPU, a p4 2.4G, is more than adequate for most tasks you will want to do with your current tuner hardware. Your best bet would probably be to continue using your current SageTV system as is and aquire new hardware to match the needs you have for a new system.

To give you specifics, here in Canada, you can aquire a MSI RS482M4-ILD AMD Mirco-ATX motherboard for about $100CDN... It features HD Audio, 10Mbit Network, ATI X300 graphics with VGA, DVI and HDTV component outputs, 8 USB2 interfaces, 4 ATA133 interfaces, 2 SATA interfaces, 1 Firewire interface, 2 PCI expansion slots, 1 PCI-E x16 slot and 1 PCI-E x1 slot. You can get a Sempron64 2600+ for $69CDN. Get a 512M memory stick ($40CDN) and a 200G Hard Drive ($100CDN) and you have a very capable SageTV system. I use this particular system with two Hauppauge PVR150 tuners, 1 ATI Theater 550 PCI-E tuner and a Diamond PVR600 USB tuner outputting to 1080i HDTV with very good results. If you are an Intel fan, you can get a Asus P4P800-MX ATX motherboard ($80CDN) and pair it with a CeleronD 330 2.66G ($100CDN).

As others are sure to point out, many people prefer not to use these all-in-one boards. They do have their limitations, such as lack of expansion slots. They also do not provide the same performance that is available from the higher end boards pair with high end graphics cards, but the provide good performance at a budget price. But, with the move to PCI-E, many of the higher end boards currently available are reducing the number of PCI slots that they have. Until more tuners become available in PCI-E versions, this limits there usefullness as SageTV systems.

Be aware that, with the release of the new AMD AM2 (socket940 or Socket AM2) processors and motherboards (slated for this summer) and the new Intel CPUs, CPU and motherboard prices are beginning to rise as the availabilty of the current hardware becomes sporadic as manufacturers reduce their production of the older technology... so any choices you make now will be "end-of-life" - no CPU upgrades will be available down the road - you will need a completely new system.

Personally, I feel that I get better value out of my MSI/Sempron budget system dedicated to SageTV than I get from my much more expensive "performance system" that I use for day to day computer use.

Keep in mind that what you want to do with your system should be your prime concern when making your choices. If you want to play games, you will need a faster CPU and a better graphics card - and you will probably spend more on the graphics card than for the CPU and motherboard combined. If you want to use multiple HDTV cards, you will need a faster CPU. If you want to use Microsoft Vista when it is released, you will need a better graphics card - likely none but the top-of-the-line cards available today will be sufficient.

[JimmyM]

I'm interested as well.
I'm considering a full client server arrangement. A SageTV server in the basement and SageTV clients at each TV. I'll have 6 DirecTV D10s (possibly 8) using serial tuning connected to PVR-500s via S-Video. I'll be using the highest quality encoding settings.
What kind of processor requirements are there for a server only type system. The server will run NOTHING else. Storage will be done on a separate machine via Gigabit ethernet. Would a dual P3-1GHz machine do it?

[blade]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I'm interested as well.
I'm considering a full client server arrangement. A SageTV server in the basement and SageTV clients at each TV. I'll have 6 DirecTV D10s (possibly 8) using serial tuning connected to PVR-500s via S-Video. I'll be using the highest quality encoding settings.
What kind of processor requirements are there for a server only type system. The server will run NOTHING else. Storage will be done on a separate machine via Gigabit ethernet. Would a dual P3-1GHz machine do it?

The highest encoding quality is going to be overkill unless you're intending to convert the recordings to another format. I think the highest setting is 12gb/hr and most people agree 3gb/hr is good. If I go lower than 3gb I can see artifacts, anything above it and I can't see any improvement.

Capturing doesn't require much power. I have (2) PVR-500's on a celeron 366 with 320 mb of ram so a dual 1ghz P3 should be plenty unless you're going to be doing any transcoding.

[roxy99]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I'm interested as well.
I'm considering a full client server arrangement. A SageTV server in the basement and SageTV clients at each TV. I'll have 6 DirecTV D10s (possibly 8) using serial tuning connected to PVR-500s via S-Video. I'll be using the highest quality encoding settings.
What kind of processor requirements are there for a server only type system. The server will run NOTHING else. Storage will be done on a separate machine via Gigabit ethernet. Would a dual P3-1GHz machine do it?

Jimmy,

I am sorry I just have to ask, and please do not take this as a criticism.
What benefit can you possibly derive out of 6 seperate tuners? Assuming there is that much that is worth watching and simultaneously recording- when would you even have time to watch that much TV?

Perhaps you have a very large extended familly and 8 kids, etc to avoid fights over who watches what?


Cheers

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by roxy99

Jimmy,

I am sorry I just have to ask, and please do not take this as a criticism.
What benefit can you possibly derive out of 6 seperate tuners? Assuming there is that much that is worth watching and simultaneously recording- when would you even have time to watch that much TV?

Perhaps you have a very large extended familly and 8 kids, etc to avoid fights over who watches what?


Cheers

roxy, you're not the first one to ask this question.
I may start with 4 receivers but want to expansion room to go to 8. My wife's schedule and mine are so varied that we'll be recording a lot and watching when we can. Also I'll be recording entire series and transcoding them later so I can watch them on the plane while I travel. I'd rather have the capability for 6-8 tuners but never need it rather than need more capacity that I don't have.

12gb/hr is a bit much. I'll experiment. I have 2TB of storage with room for 8 more drives.

[blade]

6 tuners isn't too many. I have 4 and quite often all 4 are in use.

[jptaz]

4 Is a good starting point, but I do not like missing the begining or end of show so I typically pad by 2 minutes each end and even so I am typcically using 4 to 5 of my 7 tuners simultaneously on an average week night...my coworkers joke that I have a second job of watching tv since between my wife and I we record over 40 hours of tv a week.

John

[stevech]

4 tuners. 6 tuners.
Gee, who has that much time to watch all that clap trap?

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by stevech

4 tuners. 6 tuners.
Gee, who has that much time to watch all that clap trap?

Who says you have to watch it all?? It's nice to have the choices there when you do want to watch something.

[src666]

Originally Posted by stevech

4 tuners. 6 tuners.
Gee, who has that much time to watch all that clap trap?

Some of us don't live alone. I've got to be able to cover myself, my fiance, and her two kids in the summer. When you combine live TV watching (mostly the kids, but sometimes us) with recordings, it's not unusual to need 6+ tuners.

I really wish people would stop judging everyone based upon their own situations. Personally, I'm always amazed at people who can get by with only 2 tuners. Must be nice.

[paulbeers]

I "only" have 5 tuners (4 cable and 1 hdtv). I rarely need more than 2, but man when I do need more than 2 it is sure nice to have! I started out with just 1, then added a 2nd, then when I noticed I needed a 3rd, I thought it was stupid just to buy another single so I bought the PVR500, and then I decided I really wanted to start playing with HD....It is amazing how once you start, you just can't stop!! Someday I am going to right an article about my obsession with DVR's....

Now if we could just get an hdtv client box (like the MediaMVP's but with HD capabilities), my life would be complete...my second HDTV right now only gets to use SD Sage thru an MVP....*snif* *snif*....

[ben_95sl1]

Do you guys have many timeshifted channels? I have a ridiculous number of them, which allows me to get everything I want with 1 tuner. 2 tuners would be nice.

[roxy99]

Jeffrey,
I love this product and the commitment of your company behind it and that I can grow with it! Keep up the good work and thanks for your help previously with my clock synch problem.

Originally Posted by src666

Some of us don't live alone. I've got to be able to cover myself, my fiance, and her two kids in the summer. When you combine live TV watching (mostly the kids, but sometimes us) with recordings, it's not unusual to need 6+ tuners.

I really wish people would stop judging everyone based upon their own situations. Personally, I'm always amazed at people who can get by with only 2 tuners. Must be nice.

Must be nice to 'get by on 2 tuners' I could say equally say it must be nice to have time for that much tv. Now of course you share with more people than I. Anyway, make sure kids leave time for homework and outdoor activities

Just remember all of this is a luxary not a necessity, even TV.


Opps I just realize we all went off topic and its all my fault for asking the Q. in the first place. My bad, I am sorry.
Maybe someone can start a poll thread to ask users how many tuners they have?