|
|
Posted by Harry Mofo on 09/29/22 11:41
Ken Moiarty wrote in <120j9sq8rejps13@news.supernews.com> :
>Having recently installed PVR hardware and software in in my desktop
>computer, I've quickly come to the realization that using a PC for PVR use
>takes a lot of computing power away from other tasks. So I've decided to
>take my PVR hardware and software and install it in a whole separate system,
>which will then be dedicated to this one purpose. While I'm at it though, I
>want to make sure that I begin on the right foot, selecting a motherboard,
>CPU configuration (not just in terms of MHz, but also if/whether to go with
>multi-CPU, or settle for multi-core/single core, etc..etc...), and a RAID
>controller and case that will give me maximum room for hard drive storage
>growth (with some redundancy, for backup). I do not need a speed demon as
>this won't be for gaming. But I will want to eventually pack it with at
>least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six tuners),
>so it will have to be just fast enough (using "Beyond TV" software) to
>simultaneously write to disk up to six [hardware encoded] recordings while
>engaging the CPU effortlessly in software-decoding duty for concurrent
>playback/viewing. [For the sake of illustration, see Snapstream Media's
>Medusa PVR kit at http://store.snapstream.com/3xpvr500.html ]
I have a P3-450 with 256MB RAM running GNU/Linux with MythTV
(http://www.mythtv.org/) and one each Hauppauge 250 and 350.
It can record two shows while watching one of them or a third recording.
All encoding/decoding is done in hardware and I've never seen the CPU
utilization top 15%, nor are there any stutters due to HD activity even
though I'm using a single drive connected via an ATA66 (I think)
interface.
If you do all encoding/decoding in hardware the CPU shouldn't matter
much, even with 6 tuners, although that might depend on the
OS/drivers/app combination. Hard drive IO could be a concern as the bus
will saturate at some point.
--
Harry
Navigation:
[Reply to this message]
|