MythTV Frontend Hardware
Lennart Sorensen
lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org
Fri Jun 6 22:27:42 UTC 2008
On Fri, Jun 06, 2008 at 05:57:21PM -0400, Aaron Vegh wrote:
> I've lately been attempting to research hardware that would be
> suitable for a Myth Frontend machine. I'm having a hell of a time with
> it, as it turns out. My requirements are:
>
> - Must playback HD video
I think the makes you require hardware assisted video decoding, which
pretty much means nvidia video.
> - Must have gigabit ethernet
Should be easy.
> - Must run either fanless or very silently
Could be tricky.
> - Must have DVI output
Often not the case on anything small and cheap.
> - Really want it to be under $400
Probably makes it impossible.
> I'm actually considering buying a used Mac Mini, with the Core Duo
> 1.66 GHz processor -- it's a couple years old, and can be had for
> under $500 on eBay. The Everex gPC Mini that just came out also
> appears to have the right hardware, but at $500 US is too much money.
What do those use for video?
> My understanding is that one should be able to save big bucks building
> it themselves. I just can't find the right components, esp. the
> motherboard. Any help or recommendations would be welcome!
My current mythtv box would probably cost around $1200 to build, but it
is a front and backend in one, with 1.2TB of disk space dedicated to
mythtv, with a few hundred GB for other stuff too and way too much CPU
power. With a good case you barely ever hear it.
A board like the Asus P5N-EM HDMI might interest you though.
VGA+DVI/HDMI ports with nvidia 7100 chipset, so the linux drivers should
support video decoding acceleration. Throw in a low power celeron or
one of the newer more power efficient core 2 duo's and you might have
something that works. That board goes for about $75. A celeron 420
which is supposed to be 35W would make it very power efficient and not
need much of a fan. A power supply with a 120mm fan should be able to
keep everything cool with minimal noise. After all the smaller the fan,
the larger the noise.
--
Len Sorensen
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