Core 2 Duo

[TechBill]

I been searching on forums for the best recommend cpu to use for server for XP SageTV and I seeing some forum mentioning about using Core 2 Duo cpus.

I am not fully knowledge on how Core 2 Duo feature are but if it a dual processor cpu so doesn't it require the software to be written to take advantage of the Core 2 Duo?

I was just wondering if that that the case then is SageTV service exe written to take advantage of the Core 2 Duo cpu features because it would been a waste of money to buy a lower mhz rating cpu for something that only singal side processor is being used when I can go to signal processor with a higher mhz rating cpu at cheaper price.

I am not even sure if XP is opmizated to use Core 2 Duo but I am think Vista is thou.

Bill

[kevine]

I cannot speak for SageTV itself but I can however speak for XP and other processes under XP utilizing both cores. I in fact have seen comskip running under dirmon2 in 4 seperate processes and transcoding a MVP. They all utilize the my core 2 duo in both cores. In task manager it shows graphs the 2 cores as 2 processors.

[CollinR]

Yes XP supports multi-core and mutli processor, it has for ages.

If the software is not multi-threaded then you can assign tasks to processors. As was mentioned above, you can assign one core to the transcoder, another to CommSkip. So commercial scanning doesn't effect streaming content.

[kevine]

Originally Posted by CollinR

Yes XP supports multi-core and mutli processor, it has for ages.

If the software is not multi-threaded then you can assign tasks to processors. As was mentioned above, you can assign one core to the transcoder, another to CommSkip. So commercial scanning doesn't effect streaming content.

Can you explain how to assign cores? Thanks.

[CollinR]

Google "Processor affinity, XP"

http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/05/...uck/index.html


Enjoy.

[Opus4]

SageTV is multi-threaded & can make use of multiple cpus/cores. Certain parts only use 1 cpu at a time, such as transcoding, but since multiple transcoding jobs can be active for multiple MVPs, they still can make use of multiple cpus.

- Andy

[davephan]

The E6850 dual-core is a great choice for SageTV. I do not have HD yet, but it will handle HD without any problems. Transcoding MPEG2 into Xvid AVI files is very CPU intensive process. I can transcode video at any time with no effect on watching AVI files on an MVP, while doing other tasks on the same time.

My old Althlon XP 2800+ system could barely playback Xvid AVI files with an MVP without stuttering. My older Althlon XP 2100+ could not playback Xvid AVI files without stuttering severely. However, transcoding an hour of MPEG2 into Xvid takes 40 - 50 minutes verses about 60 minutes with an XP 2800+. So, my IDE drives may be the bottleneck for transcoding video.

The biggest difference for me with the dual core is to transcode video at any time, instead of shifting the load to secondary computers or scheduling the processing during off hours. The E6850 just does not get bogged down.

You could probably get by with a lower end dual core, but the E6850 will probably give you more years of service before the system needs to be replaced with a faster system.


Dave

[malbec]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but...

I built a new Sage server about five months ago. At the time the E6600 was in the sweet spot for price and performance. After the build, I absolutely loved it. Howver, the new rig was getting compared to an Athlon XP 2100+ with 512MB of RAM so not really a fair comparison. Things have been great performance wise, transcoding, etc. until...

For the first time a few nights ago the wife and I happened to be watching TV at the same (a rarity) and we wanted to watch different shows (not that much of a rarity). Both shows were recorded in HD via a HDHR. Both shows were bring watched over a 100GB network on two separate MVPs. We both experienced a good deal of stuttering. So much so, that one of us had to cave (yes, that would be me, not the wife).

Any chance I don't have something setup right? When I went to the Server the CPUs seemed to show a load of only 30% or so.

[davephan]

Malbec,

You might check to make sure that your router and software firewall has the ports open between the SageTV server and the MVP units. I discovered that if the MVP ports were not open, my MVP worked, but stuttered sometimes.

My MVP IP addresses float around a bit when they are running on DHCP, and the router has to be opened up for each IP address. If the MVPs get assigned IP addresses that are not opened up, then stuttering can occur. I used to use an SMC router where the DHCP address could be fixed by the MAC address. Unfortuately that SMC router was fried by lightning and I replaced the router with a unit that does not have that feature.

The cost difference between the E6600 2.4 gig 1066 fsb and the E6850 3.0 gig 1333 fsb processors is now only $60, so I think that the E6850 would be a better choice.

I would stay away from Vista (although some people get it to work). I prefer XP Pro instead of XP Home, since you can defrag 64K blocks with XP Pro, and you cannot with XP Home.

Dave

[TechBill]

Thank you for all the inputs and advices!

I am still thinking about what CPU to choose to use for my SageTV server.

I am still trying to determine if SageTV will perform best in mutli-processor cpu with lower mhz rating or a single processor with a high mhz rating.

Right now I am running SageTV on 2.4G Intel Prescott and it performs pretty good with some video freeze/pauses/shuttering here and there. It mostly occurs when it sending command to the STB via directserial or ir blaster video would freeze up for a second or 2. But I am watching SageTV and running service server on same computer which I plan to seperate it and move SageTV service to it own server in some closet and get an MVP.

I do have SA running in background as well too however I follow an howto post on forum to set SA to limit it CPU usage.

The OS is XP Pro .. it the only OS I can trust right now that have Windows logo on it 8-)



Bill

[davephan]

I was thinking of separating my SageTV computer onto a dedicated computer to take off the other loads, but with the E6850 I don't have to setup a dedicated computer.

I do run most of my video compression at low priority. With the old computer, even low priority was not low enough. I might try turning off low priority with the E6850 to test it's processing power.

Here is an example of how to set something at low priority from my transcoding script:

start "Virtualdub" /low /wait %VDUB% /c


Dave

[garyellis]

You might check to make sure that your router and software firewall has the ports open between the SageTV server and the MVP units. I discovered that if the MVP ports were not open, my MVP worked, but stuttered sometimes.

I assume my ports are open..but, how can I check to make sure..


Thanks,

Gary Ellis

[Yooper]

There are numerous port checking sites on the internet. Do a Google search on port checker. I've used the Shields Up site for this.

[Crashless]

Shields up will test for ports open to the internet - which you most certainly DO NOT want to do.

All you need to do is permit SageTV through the windows firewall on your machine. I'm assuming this is already done, because you get guide data. If the MVP connects at all, your ports are fine.