Ok, I can't get search to work so I've tried to figure this thing out but I'm still not sure I know which direction I should go. I've looked at the Tier 1 forum but I'm looking for why pick this hardware rather than something else...tradeoffs etc..

I've got build a box on the cheap but at the same time, I want something that once it is up and running I'm not constantly thinking I should have {fill in regret here}.

I hope this is the right place to ask these questions, if not please let me know of a better place if there is one.

I'm fairly sure I want to be able to record 2 shows at once, I don't currently own an HDTV/Digital capable/ready television, my TV signal comes from the local cable company.

I think I "understand" the case, power supply, motherboard, CPU, memory, DVD RW, harddrive and minimums required for each.

Some of the hardware I'm not sure of:

I'm heading towards picking a Hauppauge PVR 350 or 250 or 150 but only because it limits what I have to look at for choices but even then I'm not sure I really understand the advantages/disadvantages between picking one or the other. Since I will have 2 in my system is there any advantage to making them both the same?

What about a sound card, is it necessary? Is there an advantage to having a card versus using on board?

I'm sure there are lots of more questions to come but hopefully I can get some help to start making some decisions.

Also, if there are some other posts I should take at, please let me know that too.

Thanks for any assistance!

Sparky:

If you are looking to have two tuners in your box, I would look to the PVR-500. It has two tuners and only occupies one PCI slot. It is functionally equivalent to having two PVR-150s in your system but saves some room.

The differences among the various Hauppauge PVRs:

* The 250 is the "original" version of the card. It's the workhorse of most MythTV boxes. One coax input, two video inputs (composite and s-video), and one set of audio inputs.
* The 150, basically, is a newer, less expensive version of the 250. Same inputs and same capabilities.
* The 350 is the same as the 250 with an MPEG decoder. Can be used to drive a display via an S-Video connection.
* The 500 is, as mentioned, basically a dual-tuner 150.

I, personally, have been perfectly content with using on-board sound chips, though audiophiles will balk immediately at that notion. If you are connecting your box to your home entertainment system and are very picky about sound, you will want to steer away from the on-board sound chips and invest in something like the Creative Audigy series.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Good luck!

Start here. http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/index.php? ... areConfigs

Many current PVR-150 cards and a few PVR-250s need a very simple one line config fix to work. Bookmark this page now so that when the system won't tune you can find it again. The bit you'll want is under " IVTV Tuner Type Not Set errors" - http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/index.php? ... ptureCards

Many current PVR-500 cards have a (currently) unsupported tuner chip - This one is harder, it requires you to patch and recompile the ivtv driver.

There is also a known KM R5D1 issue with TV playback on the PVR-350 cards which requires a driver upgrade and a work around. Not much point in getting 350 unless you're going to use the TV-out or you get a super deal that makes it cheaper than the others.

A couple of additional comments:

Sound Card: If you are going to a receiver with digital in, use that. With digital, I doubt there is any advantage of a separate sound card. If you are just sending analog it to the television speakers, unless they television is very high end, on-board analog is probably good enough. If you want to send analog to a receiver, then you might start considering a separate board (although personally I would just start saving for a digital reciever).

My biggest {fill in regret here}: Noise. Picking components that work is pretty easy to do after looking at the Tier1 forum. Picking quiet components takes a lot more research. It took me a bit of trial and error, even after doing my research at http://www.silentpcreview.com and other places.

_________________
ASUS AT3N7A-I (Atom 330)
TBS 8922 PCI (DVB-S2)

I read about some people getting really bad results from some PVR-500 cards. How does one avoid a PVR-500 with a "bad" chipset? Is there something simple to look for or am I going for luck?

I am not sure you can get the old PVR 500 card (unless you get used ones from ebay).

The current 500 cards use Samsung tuners and the quality still stinks after the the latest software fix (I have one). Even with the fix, the picture is a bit grainy. Some people reported success taking part of the card off to remove interference, but I don't like the idea of hardware hacking.

I think it is really terrible that Hauppage would make changes in hardware and not release this as a new product, like 510 or 501. If it is not software compatable, they should release it as a new hardware version.

I followed mythdevelopment for quite some time, thought the 500 was the way to go, then I ordered it and got a crappy card. Don't make that mistake.

Thanks for the insight, ed. I had considered switching from my 2x PVR-150 setup to a PVR-500, and am glad I didn't.

What is that company thinking? Yikes...

_________________
R5.5
p4/3.0 GHz
2GB PC3200
Abit IC7-G
3x Seagate 7200.10 SATA (raid1 /, raid5 /myth)
eVGA FX-5500 AGP
3x PVR-150 (model 1045)
MCEUSB2 remote w/Philips USB transceiver

Alright, PVR500 is a no go.

Still wanting the ability to record 2 shows at once, any comments on the advantages/disadvantages of using one of the following combinations:

1) 2 PVR150s
2) 2 PVR250s
3) 1 PVR150 and 1 PVR250

What about advantages/disadvantages of MCE versus non-MCE cards?

No notable difference in the recording quality these days, so go with two PVR150s since they cost less. Get one that has a remote, either a 150 non-MCE or an 150 MCE kit.

I'm running two PVR-150's (model 1045/nonMCE) along with an extra MCEUSB remote:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=604651

This made the box much, much more wife-friendly.

I found the original remote with the model 1045 to be horrible, at best.

The output-to-TV card... I definitely recommend nVidia over ATI. An FX5200 should do fine--just make sure you get a card with the right TV-out for your setup--composite, or S-video? etc.

I wouldn't recommend running with less than 512MB of RAM. With the two tuners I originally had quite a bit of thrashing with 384MB, and it seems to be much better with 512.

It takes a good bit of tweaking here and there, but you'll learn a great deal, and have a lot of appreciation for the entire MythTV and KnoppMyth communities!

_________________
R5.5
p4/3.0 GHz
2GB PC3200
Abit IC7-G
3x Seagate 7200.10 SATA (raid1 /, raid5 /myth)
eVGA FX-5500 AGP
3x PVR-150 (model 1045)
MCEUSB2 remote w/Philips USB transceiver

One remote with two cards, I guess I'll understand that when the time comes.

Now, I've got to make up my mind on a case/powersupply/motherboard/cpu combination.

Is there a reason to pick an AGP vs PCI video card? It looks like I can get either an AGP or PCI version of the FX5200 off Ebay. Obviously, if I go with PCI I'll need one more PCI slot but no need for an AGP slot and the reverse is true for the other way. The two PVR150s take another 2 PCI slots. I'm guessing onboard sound is going to be fine for my old ears. Any other PCI devices I should plan for before I settle on a motherboard?

Sparky,

I tried using an MX400 PCI card and it was awful.

AGP4x provides a ton more video bandwidth, and less latency. I really would recommend avoiding PCI video cards if you at all can help it--unless you're only viewing static images/web pages, etc.

I've used both AC97 onboard sound and SB Live! Audigy Value OEM cards. Both seemed to be fine for standard TV viewing. I've heard there can be an advantage if using HD with 5.1 surround to go ahead and use something like the Audigy for lower CPU, but I don't have any experience with that. It sounds plausible.

I just picked up a third PVR-150 today. I'm going to try setting up my current box to be linked to a new frontend box at the other TV, so I figured I needed another free tuner for LiveTV viewing.

I love AMD CPU's--especially the Athlon64's--but I've heard crazy stories of weird issues with linux, so I've stuck to intel P4 chips for my linux boxes, at least for the time being.

Search the forums and you'll see some folks running really older configs, with P3's and 1.4 GHz P4's--and they claim to have no issues. Not sure what is needed, per se, but I can't stress enough at least 512MB of RAM for a box with two PVR-150's.

Believe it or not, one of the primary reasons I went for the P4 I'm running in my box now was simply due to the standard support of 80mm fans for P4 heatsinks, compared to most P3 heatsinks being limited to 60mm fans. It can make a BIG difference in cooling efficiency/noise for a "settop" box, and my wife seems to be quite happy, so I think I did the right thing

Of course, you can go with a newer chip, as well, like a dualcore intel or AMD, but it's probably overkill, and might well generate more heat than provide any real significant performance increase compared to ~2GHz P4-level performance.

Obviously, a motherboard with integrated AC97 audio and 100/1000 LAN will possibly save you some room for future expansion... MicroATX cases can look nice, but then you're pretty limited in how many cards/devices you can add. I prefer the full-size ATX cases so I can have 4-5 slots for cards, and several drives.

I've always been a fan of big, slow fans, so the more 120's the better!

Biggest thing: prepare for a bit of frustration, some stress, confusion, and to learn a lot about the intertwining of applications, drivers, and services.

And never forget you have a great tool at your disposal--this forum!!!

_________________
R5.5
p4/3.0 GHz
2GB PC3200
Abit IC7-G
3x Seagate 7200.10 SATA (raid1 /, raid5 /myth)
eVGA FX-5500 AGP
3x PVR-150 (model 1045)
MCEUSB2 remote w/Philips USB transceiver

The remote doesn't control the tuner card, it controls the application, and as far as MythTV is concerned the remote is just a surrogate keyboard. The application is what controls the tuner card(s) via t the appropriate system drivers.

One note on the PVR150 model 1045 - it comes with an IR blaster to control your cable box if you have one. I've got three in my AMD 2600 VIA600 chipset 512MB ram box and it works great. I can watch a recording while all three tuners are recording with no problems. These cards put almost no load on the machine while recording vs around 30% that non hardware compression cards use. Strik1226 said the remote stinks but mine seems fine. Strik - what was the problem with yours or the advantage to the MCE?