CPU for new server

[flavius]

I'm going to have to replace the mobo in my dedicated Sage server, just can't make up my mind with what..

Compared to my other machines my servers have always been low end boxes, and I never had any issues. With the advent of HD, however..

Until the HD extenders arrives, I'd like to be able to transcode to my MVP's: Would the 805 be sufficient? I read about some issues with the E6300 which were supposed to be addressed by the latest beta? Does it work now? How about an X2 3200?

Would there be an issue with picking a board that supports my PC3200 chips?

[GbrNole]

well i can tell you absolutely for sure that a p4 3.2ghz northwood HT enabled and pc3200 ram WILL transcode HD 720p and 1080i both on the fly and recorded.

the only downside is that it will only do it using sagetv's standard transcode quality and not high quality transcodes which kinda sucks because standard quality is the home of jaggies.

i have the cooling to overclock the chip but i haven't tried yet to see how far it can go or if i can find a plateau where i can transcode HD in high quality. the nice thing is that i can transcode now though so it gets the wife off my back because she can watch all shows on the MVP now regardless of recording method and quality isn't important to her.

if i was you and you're building a dedicated server i'd do whatever is cheapest to get the most powerful pc that can handle multimedia i/o functions since when the HD extender is eventually released you wont need the power to transcode any more.

if you REALLY want a flexible chip look at the new core 2 duo e4300 which people are pulling 100% overclocks on (3.6ghz)

[michelkenny]

Personally I would go with any of the Core 2 Duo line... it simply KILLS the Pentium 4, Pentium D, and all AMDs. But just to note, Intel is releasing some new Core 2 Duos and dropping the prices by quite a bit on others on April 22. So if you can wait until then, you'll get something better for the same price you'd pay now.

[zoso]

Originally Posted by michelkenny

Personally I would go with any of the Core 2 Duo line... it simply KILLS the Pentium 4, Pentium D, and all AMDs. But just to note, Intel is releasing some new Core 2 Duos and dropping the prices by quite a bit on others on April 22. So if you can wait until then, you'll get something better for the same price you'd pay now.

I went from a 930D (dual core 3GHz P4) to the QX6700 (core 2 quad 2.67GHz) and the difference is huge. Note that each Sage transcode is single thread (will only use one core) so the jump from 2 to 4 cores isn't effecting the extra performance in this application. Everything I read puts the core2's well ahead of everything else right now.

[Oats]

The best processors right now are the Core 2 Duos. However, they do not use DDR1, which is what you currently have, so you would have to buy DDR2 memory.

If you want to keep your current memory you should look at AMD's Socket 939 processors and motherboards.

[naln]

off topic a bit- but does sage 6 support dual/quad core? I thought it uses just one of the two cores....

[Opus4]

SageTV is multithreaded, so it can use multiple cores/cpus.

But as mentioned above, each transcode job for one client uses a single thread. Multiple cpus can help transcoding to multiple clients, though.

- Andy

[flavius]

Thanks for all the input. I appreciate it. Here's a board I came across last night. Not that it has to be AMD, but this one is interesting, isn't it?

============snip==============================

Asus M2NPV-VM Socket AM2 Motherboard, GeForce 6150:

CPU Support
- Support AMD® Socket AM2 Athlon 64 X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64/ Sempron
- AMD Cool 'n' Quiet™ Technology
- AMD64 architecture enables simultaneous 32-bit and 64-bit computing
- AMD Live!™ Ready
Chipset
- NVIDIA GeForce 6150 + nForce 430
FSB
- 2000 / 1600 MT/s
Memory
- Dual channel memory architecture
- 4 x 240-pin DIMM, support max. 8GB DDR2 800/667/533 ECC and non-ECC,un-buffered memory
Graphic Interface
-
Expansion Slots
- 1 x PCI Express x16
- 1 x PCI Express x1
- 2 x PCI
Integrated Video
- Integrated GeForce 6 GPU
- High Definition Video Processing with max. resolutions to 1920 x 1440 (@ 75Hz)
Integrated Sound
- ADI AD1986A High Difinition Audio 5.1channel CODEC
Integrated LAN
- NVIDIA nForce® 430 built-in Gigabit MAC with external Marvell PHY
PATA
- 2 x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33
SATA
- 4 x Serial ATA 3Gb/s with RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5 & JBOD
USB 2.0
- Up to 8 USB2.0/1.1 ports
IEEE 1394
- 2 x 1394a ports
Serial Ports
- 2 x COM connectors
Parallel Ports
- 1 x Parallel
S/PDIF
- 1 x S/PDIF output connector
Special Features
- N/A
Form Factor
- mATX Form Factor, 9.6" x 9.6" (24.5cm x 24.5cm)

[naln]

Looks good- I recently bought mine with similar specs and I was driven more by the number of PCI slots available....4 PCI and 2PCIx1....along with on board serial controllers for my DirectTV boxes....ended up buying a Rosewill card though- since I did not want to deal with using the mobo COM header....not much choice in motherboards if you want more PCI slots and on board COM ports .

Looks like you found one with 2 COM ports and an SPDIF out - cool !!

[zoso]

Originally Posted by Opus4

SageTV is multithreaded, so it can use multiple cores/cpus.

But as mentioned above, each transcode job for one client uses a single thread. Multiple cpus can help transcoding to multiple clients, though.

- Andy

This is definitely true. I can trancode HD to all three of my MVPs with out a problem.

[GbrNole]

zoso, can you transcode HD with the high quality setting or still on standard quality?

also what spec is your cpu?

thanks.

[flavius]

I just discovered that even my ailing Sempron 3000 can do standard without a glitch, doesn't look good, though ..

[zoso]

Originally Posted by GbrNole

zoso, can you transcode HD with the high quality setting or still on standard quality?

also what spec is your cpu?

thanks.

High quality. The CPU is Core 2 quad core running at 2.66GHz. This means the core 2 duo (E6600 I believe) running at 2.66GHz should be able to do the same with 2 HD streams if you are not running any other CPU intensive tasks on the server.

[ben_95sl1]

[QUOTE=flavius]Thanks for all the input. I appreciate it. Here's a board I came across last night. Not that it has to be AMD, but this one is interesting, isn't it?

============snip==============================

Asus M2NPV-VM Socket AM2 Motherboard, GeForce 6150:

-------------------------------------------------------


I've got 2 systems (one server+client, one normal pc) with that board, and I have the same at my pc at work. The abit nf-m2 nview is similar minus tv output, but with excellent overclocking (I easily did 50% overclock on my sempron 3000+ when I tried one, my m2npv-vm can do around 20%). I tried to transcode a 720p mpeg4 high quality vid to my mvp and my x2 3800+ (equiv to 2 x 3200+) "almost" made it, but I think it was high quality. Why can't the transcode be multi threaded??? The option would be nice. I downloaded some HD 1080i mpg2 clips so I'll try to transcode to mpv and see how it fares. I'll overclock if necessary.

Anyway, the board is nice, but the onboard vid is not good enough for HD in vmr. It was fine in overlay though.

[flavius]

Originally Posted by naln

Looks good- I recently bought mine with similar specs and I was driven more by the number of PCI slots available....

Are you by any change transcoding HD to your MVP in high quality? I'm stlll trying to find out if I can use something cheaper than an E6700.

[naln]

currently I use Standard quality only- basically since I get only OTA HD and don't record much in HD (condo unit = bad signals )...just watch live on my server/Sage Client....so no transcoding involved

I can set it up to high quality today evening and post some feedback tomorrow of how the quality is...along with CPU consumption etc.....

currently have logging enabled for the MVP bug....'MVP is connecting to server.........' .....happens every other day....but I'll try and run some HD test tonight...

[flavius]

^Thanks!

[Jason]

Originally Posted by flavius

Thanks for all the input. I appreciate it. Here's a board I came across last night. Not that it has to be AMD, but this one is interesting, isn't it?

============snip==============================

Asus M2NPV-VM Socket AM2 Motherboard, GeForce 6150:

While the Asus board is good for non-VMR HD, the new(er) AMD 690G boards look to be much better! Currently, the Asus board is probably the best integrated solution, but keep your eyes on the AMD/ATI solution... it was actually just released today!

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...129TX1K0000532

and

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2098894,00.asp

-Jason

[thatdude90210]

Originally Posted by Jason

While the Asus board is good for non-VMR HD, the new(er) AMD 690G boards look to be much better! Currently, the Asus board is probably the best integrated solution, but keep your eyes on the AMD/ATI solution... it was actually just released today!

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...129TX1K0000532

and

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2098894,00.asp

-Jason

These AMD 690G boards just started shipping. I received my ASUS M2A VM 690G motherboard today from allstarshop. It has both VGA & DVI-D on the mobo. Some of the previews I saw made it look like HDMI would be via a separate breakout board, which is not included.

zipzoomfly has a MSI 690V (vga only) board shipping. the MSI 690G board isn't shipping yet. That one is supposed to have HDMI on the mobo.

I'm building a new sage client (paired with an athlon x2 3600) for my bedroom. Unfortunately, the rest of my parts are not in yet. I'll be using it to stream (wireless) both analog and HD from my Sage server.

[GbrNole]

from the bench test results on the 690g i have seen it sure have been nothing to write home about. it's still being slightly outperformed by the 6150 graphics set.