HDTV setup

[blitzkrg]

Currently i have my snapstream box (3 analog tuners)
and my STB from the cable company that handles my HDTV duties.

i'm looking to quit paying the cable company HDTV fee's.

so my current box is a amd 2500+ (1.8ghz i think)
1gb ram and 400gb hd's
nvidia 6600GT 256mb

well reading the snapstream blog on HDTV
it says you have to have a 2.4ghz proc or better..

but is that an INTEL 2.4ghz or an AMD 2.4ghz.
i know that AMD and Intel rate the speeds differently

so can any of you running a HDTV box let me know what proc your using (i'm more of an AMD guy) but would switch over to intel if the price was right.

i just want something that will be fast enough (no lag)

also i dont know to much about the whole 64 bit thing..
i'm a network engineer. so i get what it is..(62 bit vs 32 bit etc etc)

i know there is a 64bit ver of winxp..
do you need this? can you use regular 32 bit version?
will BTV run on the 64 proc or 64 bit OS..
those are the types of questions i need answered.

just a quick basic overview..
would apprechiate it.

[btvfreak]

Your current system can record HD since recording doesn't use much horsepower. Playback is where you need the muscle. However, I have 2 clients that don't quit meet Snapstream's specs for HD and they playback HD just fine. One is running a AMD XP-mobile 2500+ w/ 1GB RAM, and 6600GT. The other is a lowly Sempron 2400+, 512MB RAM, and 6600 (non-GT).

The problem you might run into is trying to playback a HD recording while recording other shows. Since I have my server doing all the recording and my clients just playback shows I don't have this issue.

You don't need XP 64.

[blitzkrg]

Interesting to know..

So just to be clear, if i upgraded to a 64bit chip, i could still run 32bit xp with no performance hit?

i wonder if when they said 2.4ghz that was for playback and record of hdtv at the same time?
hmmm.. i wish they were more clear...

thanks for the input btvfreak..
anybody else have anything to add? (or can point me in the right direction)

thanks

[Bigbird999]

blitzkrg
If you find that your CPU is a bit slow, you might want to look at overclocking that CPU. The AMD 2500+ is an awsome overclocker and was much sought after by the gaming community when the fastest CPU on the block was the XP 3200+. The stock FSB speed of the 2500+ is 166 MHz. If your mobo supports it, you can adjust the front side bus speed up towards 200 MHZ which turns it into an Athlon XP 3200+ (20% faster). YMMV but you should be able to get it near 200MHz on stock cooling with no overheating issues. Just Google "overclocking xp 2500" and you will find a zillion hits on how do do it.

BTW, you are aware that BTV supports only OTA HD and cannot record HD from your cable box, right?

BB

[blitzkrg]

Yes i'm aware of the OTA.. that's fine.. the only channels i watch in HD are OTA channels (minus HBO in HD) but that's no biggie to give up..

my CPU is @ around 45-55c now.. so i dont know that OC would be the best thing to do..
it's in a tight space and if i push it i could run into heat issues..
but thanks for the suggestion.

i would just keep what i have but it's BS what the cable company is charging me for FREE OTA channels..
if they gave me a bunch of other stuff in HD that would be OK, but they give me crap like public access in HD, who the hell watches public access in HD..
soo i want to dump it, but i want to make sure my system is up to par before i switch

[btvfreak]

This was my goal too, but ESPNHD and FOXHD are tough to give up. Although I'm very close to pulling the plug on my Motorola DVR. I've gone cold turkey the last couple weeks and I'm surviving.

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by blitzkrg

Interesting to know..

So just to be clear, if i upgraded to a 64bit chip, i could still run 32bit xp with no performance hit?

i wonder if when they said 2.4ghz that was for playback and record of hdtv at the same time?
hmmm.. i wish they were more clear...

thanks for the input btvfreak..
anybody else have anything to add? (or can point me in the right direction)

thanks

My main HD BTV server has a P4 2.6(HT). I record and watch HD without issues. I also have three SD tuners on this server that gets used all of the time for link clients.

[Bigbird999]

blitz
That is the normal temp for that CPU. You should be able to get at least 10% and maybe 15% overclock with no temp increase, just by entering the bios and raising the FSB to 180 or so. I'm not pushing overclocking, but that CPU is so easy! But if you need more speed it is there for free.

BB

BB

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by Bigbird999

blitz
That is the normal temp for that CPU. You should be able to get at least 10% and maybe 15% overclock with no temp increase, just by entering the bios and raising the FSB to 180 or so. I'm not pushing overclocking, but that CPU is so easy! But if you need more speed it is there for free.

BB

BB

Maybe things have changed, but I've seen comments from SS folks in the past warning people not to overclock. Look at the second post in this thread:

http://forums.snapstream.com/vb/show...454#post159454

[blitzkrg]

Originally Posted by btvfreak

This was my goal too, but ESPNHD and FOXHD are tough to give up. Although I'm very close to pulling the plug on my Motorola DVR. I've gone cold turkey the last couple weeks and I'm surviving.

my cable company had 2 tiers for HD

1 fee is for nbc,cbs,fox,abc and a few public access channels.

and then for ANOTHER fee you can get discovery HD (which i would like) ESPNHD and FOXHD


so if i get and HDTV OTA tuner i can get those local HD channels for free and dump the extra HD fee the company is charging

[Bigbird999]

No hardware or software company will ever say that they support overclocking. When building HTPCs it is best to use slower, cooler, mobile CPUs in order to minimize heat generation and thus noise from cooling fans. In fact, many people will actually underclock their CPU to achieve the quietest possible HTPC . This is, of course, exactly the opposite of what overclocking tends to do.

You originally asked if your rig was fast enough for HD and the only real answer is try it and see. These forums have many threads where guys, with much faster rigs than yours, can't get BTV working on HD without playback issues. AND all kinds of other ppl that have slower rigs like yours with great HD performance. Whether a particular setup will work well seems to be very system specific. Nobody can guarantee that even the latest, fastest, most expensive machine (let alone your older slower rig) will work with BTV and HD. Do a forum search on stuttering playback of HD and see how many high end rigs don't work and all the posts from guys with lower end rigs that are perfect.

Like I said I'm not pushing overclocking. The reality is, that you won't know if your rig works with HD until you try. If you take the plunge annd set up for HD and find that you have issues that MIGHT possibly be solved by a faster CPU, you have nothing to lose by trying to run your CPU faster (especially the 2500 which is basicaly underclocked out of the box).

If you read btvfreak's post carefully, he is saying that you will probably have issues if you try and use your machine for both recording and playback. His setup is to use his 2 rigs similar to yours as clients to playback HD that has been recorded on his separate BTV server (a 3rd machine).

The problem you might run into is trying to playback a HD recording while recording other shows. Since I have my server doing all the recording and my clients just playback shows I don't have this issue.

BB

[btvfreak]

Regarding OC'ing. I have my XP-mobile 2500+ OC'd slightly to 2.2GHz. I don't think I really need it OC'd, but I did it just because I could.

[cmcquistion]

My current BTV Server/Viewer is running an AMD Sempon 2800+, overclocked to 2.2 GHz, but it worked just fine at the stock 1.8 GHz. It has one HD tuner and three analog tuners. I record on all tuners and watch TV, simulaneously, all the time. No problems for me, even with only 512 MB RAM and Geforce 6200 (64 bit, AGP). Your system is higher end than mine, so you should have no problems, if configured properly.