05-15-2004, 05:11 PM
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Admiral
  Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Boca Raton, FL: By way of: Poway, CA; Gainesville, Fl; Penn Valley, Pa.
Posts: 5,680
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Media PC question -- sort of
I have a Micron PIII Millenia tower which has been one of my main desktops for a while now. I have been looking at replacing it with an entirely new system and as such I am debating about trying to convert the Micron into a digital media center/DVR (thus avoiding the replay/tivo fees).
The system as it stands right now is P3 500mhz with 448 mb of ram (pc 100) It has an 8x dvd-rom (sony) with a hardware decoder card, Soundblaster Live value, Diamond Viper v770 vid card, and a CDRW (8x). I figure if I change out the vid card and add a large harddrive, remove all the unnecssary software, that this could probably make an ok system to be used as a digital recorder. First off, is this worth even persuing? Do the cards that offer the PVR software have the ability to get the show listings and record what you want. Second which card should I get? Remember, I am trying to be a cheap skate here, but I dont want to crap. I know that there are some pinnacle cards or I could go with an ATI AIW card. Finally any other suggestions. I know I really need a new desktop, but I havent bought anything becuase I am unsure of exactly what I want to get.
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05-16-2004, 12:11 AM
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Secretary of the Navy
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Chillin' N Da 'Hood
Posts: 34,997
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Honestly, 500Mhz is probably too slow to make a good "PVR/HTPC" machine. You'll probably want to have a 2.0 GHz or faster CPU in this arena. Personally, I use a 2.4C Intel chip.
Mostly, you need the CPU horsepower to be able to timeshift and pause live TV and such. Too bad Chosenfool isn't on the boards anymore... he could give you WAY more details on this. As far as video cards go... I'd recommend a Radeon 9700 or better for your display and an Asus TV card to capture your video. For the money, it is a much better quality combination than buying an AIW card.
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05-16-2004, 12:19 AM
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Commander
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: The middle of the country
Posts: 1,424
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Quote:
I was thinking the same thing...I've been thinking about getting a video capture card and I know the recommendation in the past was for the Asus card, but my limited research into HTPC has shown that most people recommend a hardware decoder, as opposed to software decoders (like the Asus). Seems like the Hauppage PVR-250 is the most widely recommended...Kinda spendy, though. Any cheaper alternatives for a quality hardware decoder card? Would having a hardware decoder decrease the minimum system specs to the point where a sub-GHz processor would be up to the task?
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05-16-2004, 12:34 AM
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Secretary of the Navy
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Chillin' N Da 'Hood
Posts: 34,997
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Quote:
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvr250_datasheet.htm Quote:
I guess the hardware decoding helps... Well if you get one, let us know how it works. I might consider switching to one of those in my HTPC if it works out.  Hey Apex... do you know anything about the Conexant -016 chip that is on this unit? Is that a 10 bit chip? What are your opinions on this Hauppauge product? (btw... I know that previous Hauppauge vid cards were junk... but this one seems to meet some approval among the masses.) |
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