Best setup?

[tif383335]

I've decided that I'm going to build a machine that will be able to run BTV as smoothly as a Tivo box, or Direct TV, and sell my current box.

I curious what the bare minimum for a good BTV box is though. What is the best video card for instance that people seem to be getting good results with?

[Brett]

Most people are satisifed with the GeForceFX 5200 which I think newegg has for about $60.00. You will want a processor @ about 2.0+ghz Pentium 4 or AMD, not a celeron. You will also want a really big *quiet* harddrive. CompUSA has a seagate 7200rpm 200gb on sale for $99.00 (after rebate) for day or so and thats a great deal. Finally you will need a hardware encoder, most people seem to perfer the PVR250, I have both a 250 and USBPVR2 and can not really tell the difference.

I will tell you though I am a former TiVO user. TiVO was to slow for me after 5 years, so I dumped it and put BTV on my gaming box. Couldn't be happier.

-Brett

[MonsterHTPC]

Keep in mind there is ALOT more you can get from your HTPC than just the PVR features from BTV; although they are wonderful

Take a look at the M-Audio revolution card, GREAT sound card wonderful quality and you can get it packaged with TheaterTek which is a great DVD player for home theater setups. A HTPC can create some very stunning high quality DVD playback.

As for graphics the Nvidia as mentioned above is great, Also take a look at the ATI's. If you don't mind spending a few more dollars Sapphire makes a nice Radeon 9600 fanless with Heatpipe. Bit more power than the 5200, and a great performer. Whichever grapics card you go with, I would suggest finding a good fanless version, as Vid card and CPU fans are usually the loudest in the case.

[tif383335]

Thanks for all the info... I finally decided on what I'm going to do... it took hours for me to decide to build a machine instead of finding a good shuttle PC (What I currently have)...

I was trying to keep the price point below the $400 mark... so here it goes... let me know if any of this stuff won't work well with BTV

All off of ebay - (Includes taxes & shipping costs)

Motherboard: $24.99
FIC P4M-RS300
Has onboard 5.1 sound, ethernet, and ATI 9100 128MB VGA with TV-Out.

CPU & Fan: $161.99
Pentium 4 2.6Ghz with 800mhz FSB

Curious, is there a big difference between the 533mhz FSB, and the 800mhz FSB?

Case: $56.06
Black Lotus HTPC micto ATX Case
(Looks like a home theater box )

Memory: $0.00
512mb PC2100 DDR SDRAM
(Taking out of my G4 that has 2GB worth already)

Hard Drive: 114.00 (After $70 rebate)
Segate 200gb 7200rpm drive off of Comp USA's Site

This is a good deal, you should get it if you need storage... $0.57 per gig? What a deal!!

TV Card: $0.00
WinTV PVR-250, Taking out of current computer


Total:
The total of all of these items comes out to about $357.04 (As long as a few of these items in auction don't change price).

$360 I think isn't too bad considering what this box will be able to do... I'm really hoping it will be able to run/look as good as a Tivo or DirectTV setup.

Let me know your thoughts on this setup... thanks

[Brett]

Sounds good...

-Brett

[tif383335]

Duh! I just realized you have the PCI ATI 9100... how well does it work with the PRV250? And also how well does it handle 3d?

Thanks

[Brett]

I actually use the 9800Pro for the TV output (I also play games on the TV). The 9100 is used for the second flatpanel on my desktop.

I did just test it for you though, loaded BTV on the 9100. It appears to be fine. But personally I am really starting to not like the 9100, either mine is damaged or it just plans sucks, because you can see it refreshing the screen when scrolling in Microsoft Word. For BTV it appears to be fine though.

However a 9100 PCI cost the same as a 5200FX AGP. Since I could only have one agp I had no choice, but if I had a choice I would take the 5200FX or the 9100.

-Brett

[tif383335]

OK, I made a big dumb mistake... the ATI 9100 video on the motherboard I'm buying doesn't have video out capabilities... it's not a big deal, so I'm getting the GeForceFX 5200...

Just curious... why does this card seem (from what I've read) to do so well with BTV?

[bikr]

tif: careful with that board , sounds to me that the person selling it blew it out and doesn't want to tell you that so they say "can't test it" 10 bux says he has tested it and it's blown thats' why they don't offer returns..

[wetdagger]

Curious, is there a big difference between the 533mhz FSB, and the 800mhz FSB?

Sure there is, higher bandwidth and this one has hyperthreading. Definately worth the upgrade.

wd

[wetdagger]

Oh yeah, I'd be skeptical with the ATI 9100. I believe with overlays and fsui features yet to come, you'll be better off making sure you have a very capable video card. I'm not saying a 9800 XT or anything, but it's best to not have to upgrade again this year.

I myself have a 128 Mb 8500 AIW with a PVR-250. I would like to upgrade the 8500, but it actually handles everything quite well with the updated cats. After I see more support for PCIexpress, I think I'll get a higher end AGP 8x card (9800xt) or dive in with a new board and PCIexpress card.

wd

[tif383335]

Originally posted by bikr
tif: careful with that board , sounds to me that the person selling it blew it out and doesn't want to tell you that so they say "can't test it" 10 bux says he has tested it and it's blown thats' why they don't offer returns..

Thanks... I appreciate the warning... I was mostly attracted to it because of the low price, and my mis-understanding about the tv-out... I think I will shop for a different motherboard... any suggestions on a low cost Micro ATX board that supports a P4 2.66ghz cpu, PC2100 SD-RAM, and an 800mhz FSB?

[MonsterHTPC]

Here is a good one:

P4S800-MX $73
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...131-476&depa=1

Always do a search in google or the like for the model number just to read a few quick reviews here and there, always a good tip.

[BlueBird]

I have a performance question maybe you may be able to assist me with.

I have a 8500 DV AIW. I just started using snapstream and have the following configuration:

1.6 MHZ P4
256 Meg Ram
XP PRO
Matrox 80 Gig HD

When using the SnapStream to watch Live TV the picture is not really that great.

When I use the AIW Multimedia center to watch TV the picture is great.

What am I missing. I apologize if this is basic, but I am new. If I need to read up some more let me know. I appreciate the response.

[wetdagger]

In what way is your picture bad? Is it with the quality of the picture or the choppiness of the frames? If it's with picture quality, having the Intervideo Decoder will definately help. If it's due to choppiness, then I ask if you are using the 8500 DV as your tuner? If so, you should get a hardware encoder like the PVR-250.

I have an AIW 8500 (not DV, but I used to have that one too) and noticed great changes when I bought the PVR-250 and used the Intervideo decoder.

By the way, I still think the MMC picture was better, but it looks like because there is overlay support with BTV, the picture quality isn't the best it can be. I think in the next update, it will get better from what I've heard.

wd