[olug] HTPC box

[Kevin D. Snodgrass]

--- On Mon, 2/14/11, T. J. Brumfield <enderandrew at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm debating whether I need DVR
> functionality at all or not. I have DISH
> network and a DVR with that. But I can add an additional
> DVR to the house by
> dropping $50 on a tuner to the HTPC I'm building. Then
> again, I'm trying to
> focus on a silent, low-power build. Linux compatibility for
> the hardware is
> also a must. This is what I'm looking at currently:
> 

> BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD
> Motherboard<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138283>
> AMD Athlon II X2 255 Regor 3.1GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core
> Desktop Processor
> ADX255OCGMBOX
> <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103896>

>From my experience, you don't need much processing power.  At least I don't. :-)

I have one box with an Athlon XP 2800 and an NVidia NV18 (i.e. ancient) that can play MPEG-4 fine.  (I have a digital camcorder that stores in MPEG-4)  Playing an MPEG from a Hauppauge PVR-250 with this setup leaves a consistent 75-77% idle CPU.  That's with the Xorg driver, not the NVidia blob...

> SAPPHIRE 100292DDR3L Radeon HD 5450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI
> Express 2.1 x16 HDCP
> Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card
> <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102882>

Open source drivers for NVidia are better than ATi.  If that matters...

>  Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM
> SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
> Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
> <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136806>

Why so small?  1TB drives are cheap:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136534

> I might add a tuner (not sure which) or a BluRay drive, but

I have a Hauppauge PVR-350 I'll sell for $50 including the remote that came with it, box and anything else I can find that belongs in the box.

Kevin D. Snodgrass