Hello -
After weeks of research and debate on what to put into my system, I am close to putting in my order at newegg. But before I do, I would like some input on my choices. Have I missed any big issues / conflicts. I am new to Linux, but I am very good with most computer issues. Well, here it goes:

CHAINTECH "7NIF2" nForce2 IGP Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2000+, 266 FSB, 256K Cache Processor
PVR 250
200 GB Maxtor HD
Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-2700
Lite-On Black 8X DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-812S
Athenatech Micro ATX Case with 200W Power Supply, Model A100BB

Total Price with extended warranties and shipping to Illiniois: $622.
I am looking forward to hearing from people who have experience with similar hardware. Thanks in advance.

-Brian

all looks good, almost my exact hardware other than case, and I have two tvcards. one thing I'll mention. make sure you get two sticks of ram. two 256Mb is fine, you just want to have two so you can take advantage of the nforce dual channel.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Brian, please write back and let us know how your project goes. I'm in the market for a good looking system to make a front end for the bedroom. This looks like a decent way to go.

Looks good!

One bit of wisdom from our inhouse whitebox builder, the AMD boxed CPU coolers will die prematurely. Either plan on replacing it when it does, or go with an OEM processor and a 3rd party CPU cooler. (There's even one on sale at NewEgg - http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=35-106-037)

Oh, and be sure to get the "right" PVR-250 (not the MCE one), it'll make life a bit easier and there isn't any support for the FM tuner anyway.

TJC -
I hadn't considered upgrading the fan / heatsink. I am worried about changing this because of space concerns in the case. I have read that the cd drive sits right above the processor, so a large cooling unit could cause all sorts of problems. Would it help to install a 3rd 80mm fan (an option with my case)? Also, with the pvr-250 I shouldn't be taxing the processor too hard. Does that make a difference?

Also, I have swapped the 1 stick of 512MB ram for 2 sticks of 256, per Xsecrets advice.

What do you guys think about the DVD burner? How complicated is it to burn a) recorded shows and b) downloaded videos. I was hoping to be able to use the burner and Samba to network with my WinXP computer. If that doesn't look promising, could I just put the burner in my XP comp and burn recorded files?

Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask all of these questions, but as long as I have people looking, I may as well.
-Brian

there are currently two dvd archiving/burning apps I know of that work with knoppmyth one has a mythweb interface and the other has a native mythtv interface. you can search the forums for more details.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Ok, I thought of two more questions.

1. How important is a static band and/or mat when building a computer? Is this something I need to aquire, or is there another (free?) way to get grounded. This is my first time building a comp from scratch.

2. In my last post I asked about the 3rd fan. That is on the front of the case, with 2 60mm fans already in the back. I don't know what difference that makes.

thanks again

-Brian

You don't need a big super-duper one, just one thats more reliable than the stock one. As I've said in more than one hardware thread around here, "think appliance". You want parts that are highly rate for reliablity and cost effectiveness. The URL was just a "for instance". Defintely measure before you buy. (Slashdot actually had a pointer to a fairly amusing article along those lines today.)

Our builder told me that the lifespan of the heatsink/fans that AMD was packaging with the CPUs is between 6-12 months. If someone has an AMD box that is acting flakey it's literally the first thing he looks at. The box under my desk at work is a dual Athlon configuration and the two stock heatsink fans died within weeks of each other.

You can get away without one if you have good static discipline. Substitutes are also dead easy to arrange. Always touch the case before anything else. I learned long ago to always rest a bare forearm/wrist/palm on the exposed metal of the case until it became second nature. Simple things like wearing cotton and kicking off your shoes also help. Do NOT work in high static environment wearing staticy synthetics or wools. If you live someplace arid like the SW U.S. use a swamp cooler or a humidifier.
The heatsink fan problem I mentioned isn't inadequate cooling, its simple mechanical failure. The fans die and the heatsink isn't anywhere near big enough to cool the chip passively, especially with a dead fan on top blocking the air flow. Extra case fans can only help that so mch without making the machine sound like a high powered wet/dry vacuum cleaner.

To get the noise down I changed the fans in my box to low noise Pabst fans. I use a self made padded holder that keeps the fan above the CPU heatsink. THis avoids contact noise guided through the heatsink to the board which is a nice resonator.
I also replace the stock fan in the power supply by a Pabst fan. All are 80mm, type 8412. They do only 19dba.

BUT: YOU NEED TO BE COMFORTABLE TO DO SUCH CHANGES, ESPECIALLY IN THE POWER SUPPLY; WHERE YOU MESS WITH HIGH VOLTAGE. You also need to understand how much cooling your CPU and PSU will need.

My normal PC lives with that since over 2 years, my wife's one since over 1 year and my Myth box since a few weeks.

FWIW I have everything running well now on my system. I had a bunch of issues come up, but nothing I couldn't deal with by searching here and on the mythtv-users list. One issue I ran into was with the case and the motherboard extention cover not properly fitting. The cover that shipped with the case wouldn't fit the mobo, and the one that came with the mobo was about 2 mm too wide. But nothing some rough sand paper couldn't fix. I also tried to use a samsung DVD drive from my old dell in place of my lite-on Dvd burner, but that didn't fit into my case (The end of the drive was hitting the fan on my heatsink). Speaking of processor cooling, I am using the stock heatsink / fan, but I will probably replace that in the upcoming months. If anyone has any questions on my system, feel free to ask. Thanks to everyone who has helped me thus far

-Brian

So get it up in the tier 2 list already!