Fresh HD PVR setup question. Advice from the experts?

[markhsa]

Hello,
Finally got my HD-PVR ( long wait to get to Canada )
I want to know if there are any problems or recomendations on my proposed setup.
I am assuming it will work as I specify. I have never used Sage before, just MythTV.

core2duo 6300 ( 1.86 ghz ) Powerfull enough? It will be primarily for HD recording
500 gig sata drive
2 Gigs RAM
Nvidia GeForce 7300 SE
to TV via VGA.
Firewire to change channels to a DCT6200 STB ( is this hard to setup?) I would like to avoid the IR sending unit and it sounds a bit hit or miss.

Capture via the component cables.
Latest Sage beta
XP SP2

The frontend will also be the backend.
So will the 7300 video card push the HD to my TV via VGA? Powerful enough vid card?

Am I missing anything or is there anything else I need to install or setup? Install order, things to watch for etc.....

I would really appreciate the assistance as this is my first Sage attempt.

[CollinR]

I would guess that card to be lacking, the 8500 and 8600 can be had cheap. That one will work well for MPEG2 stuff though. Really you should consider and extender rather then video card.

[markhsa]

Originally Posted by CollinR

I would guess that card to be lacking, the 8500 and 8600 can be had cheap. That one will work well for MPEG2 stuff though. Really you should consider and extender rather then video card.

I do have an 8600 I would take from another machine. Are the standard Nvidia.com drivers all I need to be able to play HD from this server/client machine? Any other software/codecs or anyting? I have the 8600 going DVI-HDMI into the TV.


Just looking to find out what I need to do/ install before I start it tomorrow!

[gplasky]

Definitely use the 8600 in place of the 7300. Make sure your drive is formatted to 64k clusters. If you can have a physically seperate OS and video recording drive even better. If not partition your single drive into 2 partions-OS and Recording. (easier and smaller to image for restoring. Let's you change or upgrade the OS without disturbing your recordings.)

Gerry