dual or single core for HTPC?

[dannybin1742]

all i'm going to use it for is to record cable shows , play dvds and watch hdtv through a tuner card.

is there any point in a dual core processor?

i'm also considering using a 690 or 7050 chipset mobo with intergrated HDMI (not DVI or VGA) to hook it to an hdtv (720p)

 

[Brainonska511]

How much are you looking to spend? You can easily build a cheap dual-core machine if you use an AMD processor (For as little as $400 without including the tuner card).

 

[XMan]

If you get a video card like the 8500GT, it will do most of the video processing on card, so you don't really need dual core for HD.

About the only advantage I've noticed going from single to dual core in my HTPC is that MCE feels a little bit snappier. Do note that there are some weird issues with the PVR-500 and AMD's dual core chips. But if you don't have either piece of hardware you should be fine.

 

[zinkpig]

depends on what else you plan to do at the same time. If you just plan to watch/record HD and have a decent graphics card then a single core will cut it ( I have been using an athlon xp 2000 for years now). if you plan to transcode to stream to other media extenders ( eg. sage tv) or do simultaneous divx conversions to archive your shows then a dual core will def help. any case AMD x2 are dirt cheap now.

 

[dannybin1742]

well the only thing i could think of that could happen simutaneously is i could be watching a dvd via hdmi on my lcd tv and media center could start recording a tv show; which could happen because i record man vs wild on friday nights, which is usually the night i rent dvds.

so this may morph into what should i get for hardware. i think i'm going to go for a 3800+ x2 35W (if i can find one) or a 65w which are $67 on newegg

but what i'm really debating is do i go amd 690g chipset with HDMI on the mobo

or

nvidia 7050 with hdmi on the mobo

or

no integrated and get a amd 2400hd or nvidia 8400gs when they come out that has hdmi

also how does the sound pass throught the graphics card? hdmi is sound + video right?

can MCE use HDTV cards?

what is a good hdtv card that will do hdtv plus regular cable?

sorry for all the questions, but simply have not had a media center pc since my sophmore year as an undergrad and things have changed alot in that area

 

[zig3695]

my HTPC consists of an intel 2.4ghz p4 in a cheap compaq D51 pc, with 1gb ram and a x850xt agp video card. using s-vid out because component input on my tv is not high-def input and so is not compatible. picture still looks fantastic, just as good and better then a cablebox or straight from tv. im also running vista hp, i know that scares some people but it works great believe it or not. i havent watched many dvd's yet that would be no problem, even with two tv shows recording at once.

and yes mc does hdtv, and since over-the-air is likely what you will be using there will be very little load on the pc because OTA is fully streamed and decoded, no processing necessary. the only catch to hdtv tuners for mce is that many are 'hybrid' tuners and cannot use both the digital tuner and the analog tuner at the same time. you can only program mce to natively use one or the other. hacks are available to use both, but they cripple some program guide functions so its not the prettiest option. best best, and costly one, is to buy one hdtv tuner and two analog ones. that way you get one high def selection that can run on its own and two full cable selections. if you miss a program with all that you watch too much tv.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: zig3695
my HTPC consists of an intel 2.4ghz p4 in a cheap compaq D51 pc, with 1gb ram and a x850xt agp video card. using s-vid out because component input on my tv is not high-def input and so is not compatible. picture still looks fantastic, just as good and better then a cablebox or straight from tv. im also running vista hp, i know that scares some people but it works great believe it or not. i havent watched many dvd's yet that would be no problem, even with two tv shows recording at once.

and yes mc does hdtv, and since over-the-air is likely what you will be using there will be very little load on the pc because OTA is fully streamed and decoded, no processing necessary. the only catch to hdtv tuners for mce is that many are 'hybrid' tuners and cannot use both the digital tuner and the analog tuner at the same time. you can only program mce to natively use one or the other. hacks are available to use both, but they cripple some program guide functions so its not the prettiest option. best best, and costly one, is to buy one hdtv tuner and two analog ones. that way you get one high def selection that can run on its own and two full cable selections. if you miss a program with all that you watch too much tv.

SOME tuners are hybrid, not all. The reg hacks are generally for using more than 2 HD and 2 SD tuners simultaneously. I've got 3 HD and 4 SD in my HTPC, for example.

OP, check out www.pcalchemy.com. They've got everything you need to build an HTPC. You can get an HD tuner in USB. PCI, PCIe - whatever would work best in your system.

 

[dannybin1742]

cool thanks for the info,

about hdtv and catv, if you have MCE (which is what i have) and an hdtv tuner and a catv tuner, can mce switch between the two via remote. or is this the problem that you guys are talking about -MCE will only set up for hdtv or only catv?

 

[zinkpig]

so this may morph into what should i get for hardware. i think i'm going to go for a 3800+ x2 35W (if i can find one) or a 65w which are $67 on newegg

good idea, since your pc is gonna be on 24/7 the low wattage chips will consume less power not to mention less heat accumulation.

but what i'm really debating is do i go amd 690g chipset with HDMI on the mobo

or

nvidia 7050 with hdmi on the mobo

or

no integrated and get a amd 2400hd or nvidia 8400gs when they come out that has hdmi

I am bit out dated on the options available now but standalone graphics is always an easier upgrade down the road. unless u need to go microatx because of the case.

also how does the sound pass throught the graphics card? hdmi is sound + video right?

yep u are right hdmi = sound +video. this can be done internally within the pc case or externally by coupling the inputs. most graphics cards that do hdmi will have an internal header that connects to your motherboard or sound cards spdif header (make sure you have these if you need sound via hdmi intenally))

can MCE use HDTV cards?

yep sure can, only in mce you need an analog tuner card as well, i.e you can not just have a hd card

what is a good hdtv card that will do hdtv plus regular cable?

the hauppauge hvr 1600 , it will do both hd and analog and runs abt 50-60 every 3 weeks or so after rebates at circuit city

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: dannybin1742
cool thanks for the info,

about hdtv and catv, if you have MCE (which is what i have) and an hdtv tuner and a catv tuner, can mce switch between the two via remote. or is this the problem that you guys are talking about -MCE will only set up for hdtv or only catv?

Nope, it's a seamless transition. For example, on my setup, the guide is as follows - cable channels are 2, 3, 4, etc, up to 68 on my cable network, IIRC. HD channels show up in the same guide as 1XXX format. Example, my local HDs are channel 4, 6, 8, 13, and 59. 1041 is HD 4, sub channel 1. 1042 is HD 4, sub channel 2, etc.

If you're going to use MCE, www.thegreenbutton.com is the best source on the net if you run into any problems (since MCE is OEM, you can't get "official" support from MS.)

 

[dannybin1742]

are there any hbrid tuners or stand alone tuners that can compress as its recording via hardware? my old setup using mce recorded avi and the files were huge.

are there plug ins that will take all your recordings for a week and say at 2am sunday morning compress them into h.264 or divx? so they take up less space?

 

[zig3695]

windows media center allows you to compress the recordings right off the bat down to about 50% quality. i think its still about 2gb an hour, but thats better then the normal 3.8gb. i feel your pain, my 500gb harddrive only holds just over 100 hours on full quality! im a stickler for video quality though, id much rather keep the shows in full quality on my pc (since cabletv is bad enough as it is) and if i want to archive shows ill burn them to dvd's

 

[Muse]

There's an HTPC forum at AVS Forums where you can probably get some ideas.

 

[zig3695]

check this out- http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/38951.aspx