2nd Shuttle build as PVR ?

[Alistair]

I currently have this setup for my main PC

SB75G2
P4 3.2 - AS5 on CPU & SilentX fan as replacement for std sunon
2 x 512MB Kingston HyperX 500
128MB Radeon 9800 Pro

I've bought a P4 2.4 & another 250W SilentX PSU (2nd hand) with the intention of swapping out the P4 3.2 & overclocking the 2.4 to get the use of my memory & either selling/trading the P4 3.2 for an AMD shuttle & cpu.


Thats the semi historical bit.........

The reason I want a 2nd Shuttle (Silver colour) on the television stand so that I can archive my VHS stuff onto DVD-R/RW & also be able to record from cable onto the HDD & then onto DVD-RW & then I'd be able to get rid of my VCR.

I think this is called a PVR - is that correct?

The sort of spec/kit I thought I'd need would be:

SB61G2 (SN45G2)
P4 2.4/3.2 (Barton 2500 Unlocked @3200)
2 x 512MB P3200
SATA HDD - not sure how big though?
DVD-R-RW
AGP (Basic) VGA?
Nebula DigiTV PCI Card


Is this the sort of kit I'd need or am I missing anything?

[emyxsm]

they're also called htpc s you need a good size HDD - preferably around the 200gb mark, speed doesn't really matter - ie a 5400 rpm drive would be ok.

http://myhtpc.net/ is a good OS for the system, and is free!

[Alistair]

thanks that gives me a start - what sort of graphics card should I be looking at - something basic with TV out?

[MiniMarc]

Probably the best one would be the SN41G2 which is amd based. It has onboard geforce4MX with dual vga output if you need it, plus a built in tv-out port aswell. I have one of them and also run my standrad barton 2500@ 3200 (11x200) along with a dvb-c digital tv card. The problem with the dvb-c card is that it is so big that it actually interferes with the first dimm slot so I can only use the 2nd one for RAM. It also doesn't have a SATA controller so you would need an IDE hard drive and I have to agree make 160gb a minimum requirement. I have a 200Gb and a 160gb drive in mine atm although I sold my 160gb today and bought a 250gb one to replace it

[Alistair]

So the onboard vga is sufficent then? Would be looking to use a shuttle remote control rather than a keyd & mouse & use tv rather than another monitor. 450GB HDD space that should do you for a while- surely ?

[emyxsm]

controller should be fine, especially in a simple environment like myhtpc. video files are very big, if you plan on swiftly archiving to dvd then you can reduce the hdd size, but are you prepared to do that every evening?

[Alistair]

I'd probably go for a WD 250GB SATA HDD. Which I would hope would be enough? Can I plug the cable tv box into the Nebula & then from the card to my TV to complete the loop?

[roc69]

If you're looking to do a PVR, you should have a look at the Zen....

http://www.sudhian.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=482

[Alistair]

thanks, thought about it but didn't like the white colour much

[unrealrocks]

GFX card, I would advise an ATi card as they use the Chrontel TV chip which is the best, and can do native 16:9 DVD resolution

Why not buy one of those real PVRs, IE its a DVD and HDD recorder built in as it'll save you money, energy and you won't have to get the keyboard and mouse out when you want to burn a DVD.

[Matthoulb]

I am currently experimenting with MythTV on my SN45G I have the basics working (not the TV bit yet though) and it is VERY good

[Alistair]

decisions, decisions - will look into the home dvd-r /HDD setup. I believe Liteon are bringing out one that can record to DVD-R & DVD+R

http://www.liteonit.com/DC/english/lvw_5005.htm

[Rogan]

I am currently experimenting with MythTV on my SN45G I have the basics working (not the TV bit yet though) and it is VERY good

Ditto, tv bit is doing my head in. Rest of it is sweet though