Noob Needs A Little Advice

[draxx69]

Hello all:

I currently use the DVR that Time Warner provides it's customers. I am considering putting together a pc that will be dedicated for SageTV. The pc that I am wanting to use is a Dell Optiplex GX260. I believe that this particular pc only supports low-profile pci cards.

My question therfore is:
Are there any dual tuner low profile cards that work with SageTV? If not, are my choices to go with two single tuner cards? If so, which is the best ones to use with SageTV? Should I consider some sort of external cards? Should I consider using a different pc? I like this one because of the small footprint.

Second Question:
How important is the video card? If I elect to watch recorded programs on my tv, is the video card on the pc important?

Any suggestions and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

[blade]

Originally Posted by draxx69

How important is the video card? If I elect to watch recorded programs on my tv, is the video card on the pc important?

Very important, but a good video card doesn't necessarily mean an expensive one. People would really need to know what type of TV you were going to use and the type of content you intended to watch before they could make any suggestions.

[draxx69]

Well I currently have a Toshiba Hi-Def Tv. I usually record sporting events and a few shows. I was planning on using the media extenders to watch recordings from other tv's. I am still a little confused on the video card. Does the video card send the signal to the tv or does the tuner card send the signal to the tv?

[paulbeers]

I would recommend juse putting the optiplex as a server and use all clients as MVP's unless you are planning to record hi-def. I looked up on Dell's website, and so it looks like the comp you are using probably wouldn't be powerful enough to do hi-def so scratch my question altogether. I would recommend looking for an FX5200 low profile AGP and I am not aware of any dual pci low profile cards. you are going to have to look at either external USB tuners or the low profile hauppauge PVR150 (single tuner).

[draxx69]

Can I run two separate tuner cards? I would like the ability to record two things at one time. What is an MVP? Is that additional hardware?

[jmiddleton]

The Optiplex GX260SFF chassis uses a pci riser to support 2 standard pci cards. The 2.4GHz P4 has plenty of horsepower for SageTV. The Intel 845G video is not a gamers choice but it does an OK job for 2D applications, including Windows XP and SageTV. Your main problem will be getting a quality signal out to the TV. If your TV has an RGB connector you can connect it using a standard monitor cable. Otherwise I recommend a PCI video card based on the ATI Radeon X1300. Visiontek offers one that supports DVI (convert to HDMI with the proper cable) and component out. Since you only have 2 PCI slots, I recommend a dual tuner like the nVidia. GX260's came with an 80Gb hard drive which won't last long if you're using it as a PVR so I recommend replacing it - 320Gb seems to be the peak of the value curve right now. You need IDE - the GX260 will not support SATA. Dell usually jumpers their drives for cable select. If you want to burn DVD's you'll probably need to replace the built in optical drive as well - most were DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drives. Anything else will have to connect by USB or ethernet. Make sure you get the Dell Windows CD with the machine. If you have to buy Windows on top of the other upgrades recommended - you're better off investing in a new machine.

[blade]

Originally Posted by draxx69

I am still a little confused on the video card. Does the video card send the signal to the tv or does the tuner card send the signal to the tv?

The video card outputs the signal to the TV.

I would recommend juse putting the optiplex as a server and use all clients as MVP's unless you are planning to record hi-def.

I've never used the MVP, but most people say even with SD content you'll get better results on a HDTV with a good video card. I don't have any experience with the two so I can't really argue one way or another.

I would recommend looking for an FX5200 low profile AGP

There is no way I'd suggest going with a FX5200. There are plenty of low profile 6200s available. Not sure if there is anything better than that in low profile or not.

EDIT: Just read jmiddleton's post. So finding a video card or tuner shouldn't be a problem. Are you certain that an agp card can't be added?

Can I run two separate tuner cards? I would like the ability to record two things at one time. What is an MVP? Is that additional hardware?

Yes you can run multiple tuner cards.

The MVP is the Sage media extender.

[jmiddleton]

Are you certain that an agp card can't be added?

The GX260 was sold in the SFF (small form factor) box and in a normal minitower. The motherboard has an AGP slot but you can't use it in the SFF chassis - the slots are turned sideways for use with the riser card. It looks like a standard microATX motherboard so you might be able to rebuild the system in another box but the economics don't make sense to me. I'm not sure the investment I recommended in my earlier post makes economic sense for the 3-4 year old GX260 but all the parts are portable to a new system and the Optiplex is a solid, reliable machine - I've got 2 (minitower) on my desk at work.

[blade]

Originally Posted by jmiddleton

The GX260 was sold in the SFF (small form factor) box and in a normal minitower. The motherboard has an AGP slot but you can't use it in the SFF chassis - the slots are turned sideways for use with the riser card. It looks like a standard microATX motherboard so you might be able to rebuild the system in another box but the economics don't make sense to me. I'm not sure the investment I recommended in my earlier post makes economic sense for the 3-4 year old GX260 but all the parts are portable to a new system and the Optiplex is a solid, reliable machine - I've got 2 (minitower) on my desk at work.

I was just wondering because I have a case with the slots turned sideways and have riser cards that allow both the agp and a pci slot to be used. I didn't know if the same was possible with the GX260 or not.

[jmiddleton]

Optiplex is Dell's corporate line. Very few corporate users need more capability than the onboard video offers and those people can order the minitower. The whole idea with the SFF chassis is to tuck it under the monitor where it doesn't take up any of the precious desk (or floor) space in your cubicle. That's also what makes it attractive for a HTPC.

[draxx69]

My GX260 does not have a riser card. It supports half-height pci. It looks like I will need either two tuners (to record two shows at a time) or do with one tuner. The other thing that I failed to mention is that although I have a hi-def tv, it is not important to see the media in hi-def. Most of the shows I watch do not come in hi-def anyway. So taking this into consideration, I am assuming that as long as I get a vid card that has a tv-out I should be okay. Am I correct in my assesment?

[jmiddleton]

Some TV's do a good job displaying S-Video others don't. Test by connecting your DVD player using s-video and compare to the quality you get using component or HDMI cables.
I'm not familiar with the Optiplex model you have but, if it uses the same motherboard, you will have one AGP and 2 PCI slots, so you should be able to run 2 tuners. I'm not going to offer any recommendations about which cards to buy because I haven't researched the half height market and don't know what's available

[blade]

Originally Posted by draxx69

My GX260 does not have a riser card. It supports half-height pci. It looks like I will need either two tuners (to record two shows at a time) or do with one tuner.

If that is the case you shouldn't have a problem getting tuners and video cards. You will still be limited in your choices.

The other thing that I failed to mention is that although I have a hi-def tv, it is not important to see the media in hi-def. Most of the shows I watch do not come in hi-def anyway. So taking this into consideration, I am assuming that as long as I get a vid card that has a tv-out I should be okay. Am I correct in my assesment?

Nope, you don't want just any old video card. Basically any signal you send to your HDTV is scaled by the TV's built in scaler to the set's native resolution. A decent HTPC can almost always scale better than the TV's built in scaler. So outputting at the HDTV's native resolution instead of 480i/p should give you better results.

Also the s-video from a video card looks like garbage to begin with. If you can connect your HTPC to the HDTV via component or dvi you should get much better results than if you used s-video.

Also video cards have hardware acceleration and other features related to video playback. So not all cards are created equal. Nvidia has a feature set called "PureVideo" that consists of various hardware and software features that improve video playback. There is a lot to consider when choosing video cards for HTPC. Newegg has several low profile 6200 agp cards for under $50. There is no way I'd go for anything less. I'm not saying you should buy a 6200. I think you need to research and discuss it a little more so that you're certain it has enough power for what you'd be using it for. Just don't think all video cards are equal.

[draxx69]

Thanks for the advice.....I will continue researching.

[draxx69]

One more question for you experts.....my telivision only has component inputs (along with s-video and RCA). What is the best way to convert DVI to component? I am thinking about getting the JATON 3DFORCE 6200-256 GeForce 6200 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Low for the video card, but I want to make sure this will work with my TV. Any suggestions?

[MeInMaui]

Many recent video cards have component output built in. Check the specs for the card(s) you are interested in and make sure it has it. The connection usually looks like an s-video connector on the back of the card with a separate dongle that breaks out the component RCA connectors. Gigabyte makes several cards with silent/quiet cooling solutions and component out, but I'm not sure if any are low profile. Hope this helps.

Aloha,
Mike

[blade]

I looked at all of the low profile 6200s on Newegg and none appear to come with the proper connector. They all had s-video to composite, but no component connection.

The connector on the far right in this picture is what they typically look like. I have no idea if the cards would do component if you had the proper connector. Seems odd that none would come with the connector if they were capable of using it.