What speed of processor...

[TheSensFan]

Looking to build a new HTPC which will double as a PVR using BeyondTV. I have an Athlon 1700 (1.6 Ghz) and MB on shelf that I would like to use. However, I recall in the past there were issues with frames being dropped when people used slowed machines to capture video.







I have a DLP TV so the quality of the video is important seeing that poor quality video when seen on a DLP TV looks worse then a standard CRT.







In short... Does anyone know what speed of processor I should look at getting in order to get a "great" quality picture using Beyond TV? As well, what recording setting should I use?







Cheers!

[jkoon]

Well rather than worrying about the processor speed (which that should be enough for playback). I would suggest investing in a hardware encoder card (pvr-250, pvr-150, etc). This will do all of the encoding and use up very little cpu (so you don’t have to worry about dropped frames if the cpu spikes for some reason).

[TheSensFan]

Wow I have been out of it for some time. My last attempt at a HTPC or capture device was with my ATI TV Wonder. What other brands are there of hardware encoding devices? I do not really need dual tuner.

Thanks!

[jkoon]

Well SnapStream seems to prefer the Hauppauge products. Check out their online store where you can purchase some of these hardware encoders (all four tuners for sale here use hardware encoding).

http://store.snapstream.com/accessories.html

[ejdriscoll]

I think the lion's share of HTPC/PVR users have been using Hauppauge encoder cards for a while now, particularly the PVR-250 and, as of its release a few months ago, the PVR-150. I'd recommend reading this little comparison guide to acquaint yourself with the differences between them:
http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1931

[TheSensFan]

Great info guys. Thanks will start to read. I wonder how the prices hear compare to stores. I still need to purchase a copy of SnapStream my trial is running out in a few days.

[TheSensFan]

What exactly are the MCE versions? Do these only run on MS Media Center?

[ejdriscoll]

No, they also run on XP. The guide I linked to above explains the differences.