Hi everyone. I have an old P4 2.4C machine that I have been using as a NAS/media server/bit torrent machine that pulls about 66W. I leave it on all the time and I feel a little guilty about that - I calculate that it is costing me ~$75/year.
Recently, I decided to get rid of both my 19" CRT monitor and a 27" CRT TV and replace them with a 23" 1080p monitor. I also got a HD tuner card so I could watch/record OTA broadcasts on the computer with MythTV.
Unfortunately, my video card (an ATI AIW 9600 pro) is unable to handle the video content with the linux drivers. The good news is the "backend" portion of the MythTV works fine - I can tune HD channels off of my OTA antennae and stream them to a MBP laptop.
But I'd like to be able to watch HD content from the MythTV "frontend" and stored H.264 files (AVCHD) files on the server with my new 23" 1080p display. Someday I'd like to add a blu-ray drive to turn it into a HTPC (assuming the drivers/DRM stuff is all worked out for linux). I could just upgrade the video card but the motherboard is AGP. The choices with linux drivers are not great and I don't really want to invest too much money in an AGP card.
So my question, is there a good compromise between an energy efficient NAS/media server and a HTPC? I don't care too much about form factor but I would like it to be quiet. I'd like to reuse as many of the parts from my old system (which was built largely on SPCR recommendations) as possible.
Motherboard: Asus P4P800 Deluxe 478 Intel 865PE ATX
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.4C Northwood 2.4GHz Socket 478
Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS7000A-Cu 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Video: ATI AIW Radeon 9600PRO 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X
RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1Gb 184-Pin SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Case: Antec Solution SLK3700AMB (Modified as per SPCR rec's)
*******Recent upgrades*********
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 350W (80+) (old one died)
Boot Drive: Seagate Momentus 160GB 5400 IDE
Storage Drive: 1 Tb WD Greenpower SATA
Tuner: Hauppauge HVR-1600 PCI HD/FM Tuner
Any recommendations on which way to go? Dump the whole thing and get a dual core Atom/Ion mini-ITX? Swap out the processor and motherboard for one with an on-board GPU? I'm also "thinking about" running this as a hackintosh which might influence my hardware decisions.
Thanks for any advice!
24/7 media server with minimal HTPC capabilities?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
-
mgarl10024
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:00 am
- Location: Bristol, UK
Hi micah161,
I've recently built a combined mythfrontend/backend using an AMD 5050e (Dual 2.6) and an NVidia 6200LE Video card.
I originally started with the 780g chip and the ATI drivers (both proprietary and open source) gave me no end of grief, hence the cheapo Nvidia card.
The 5050e is able to handle SD/HD decoding and deinterlacing, so the lowend graphics just displays the output and it all works well.
Unfortunately, you have a 2.4GHz CPU. You might be able to get away with SD, but I would imagine that HD would be a push.
This means that you really need to offload the decoding to the graphics card, and the best thing (especially with mythtv) for this is VDPAU.
You can get some cheap cards with VDPAU (some can't support the most demanding deinterlacers in Myth) but they are likely to be PCIe. I haven't been able to find an AGP VDPAU card, though there are some PCI ones out there. Personally though, I'd feel uneasy spending money on new cards to fit old technology and would be tempted to each start fresh, or build a separate (ION?) frontend.
Hope that helps,
MG
I've recently built a combined mythfrontend/backend using an AMD 5050e (Dual 2.6) and an NVidia 6200LE Video card.
I originally started with the 780g chip and the ATI drivers (both proprietary and open source) gave me no end of grief, hence the cheapo Nvidia card.
The 5050e is able to handle SD/HD decoding and deinterlacing, so the lowend graphics just displays the output and it all works well.
Unfortunately, you have a 2.4GHz CPU. You might be able to get away with SD, but I would imagine that HD would be a push.
This means that you really need to offload the decoding to the graphics card, and the best thing (especially with mythtv) for this is VDPAU.
You can get some cheap cards with VDPAU (some can't support the most demanding deinterlacers in Myth) but they are likely to be PCIe. I haven't been able to find an AGP VDPAU card, though there are some PCI ones out there. Personally though, I'd feel uneasy spending money on new cards to fit old technology and would be tempted to each start fresh, or build a separate (ION?) frontend.
Hope that helps,
MG
Hi Micah, & all...
I am looking at the same requirement, aMythBackend/Frontend/Nas server (all in one). I have come to conclusion that I will upgrade my m/b & cpu.
My current thoughts are an ION2 (VDPAU integrated) when they become available, or a clarksdale without VDPAU, but with integrated graphics & enough grunt for HD. I am hoping with either cpu I can get a sub 40W solution with 2 large raided HDisks. The new atom pineview could be agoer but would require an extra nvidia card. Integrated graphics is no good for HD.
http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/16892/34/
The other option is 240e AMD + Integrated Radeon. But the ATI 785 mobos do not support 8 channel sound over HDMI (2 channel only), and there is no graphic acceleration under linux. But it still could be a goer with the catalyst driver (9.10). But for us Linux peeps it does seem NVIDIA (integrated if possible) is just far better.
As I have been looking for 5 months now, with a lack of 9300/9400 mobos, for me I think the key is what appears in Q1. I do appreciate this all means a spend on new hardware, which is truly a luxury and expensive route. Hope I've helped.
I am looking at the same requirement, aMythBackend/Frontend/Nas server (all in one). I have come to conclusion that I will upgrade my m/b & cpu.
My current thoughts are an ION2 (VDPAU integrated) when they become available, or a clarksdale without VDPAU, but with integrated graphics & enough grunt for HD. I am hoping with either cpu I can get a sub 40W solution with 2 large raided HDisks. The new atom pineview could be agoer but would require an extra nvidia card. Integrated graphics is no good for HD.
http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/16892/34/
The other option is 240e AMD + Integrated Radeon. But the ATI 785 mobos do not support 8 channel sound over HDMI (2 channel only), and there is no graphic acceleration under linux. But it still could be a goer with the catalyst driver (9.10). But for us Linux peeps it does seem NVIDIA (integrated if possible) is just far better.
As I have been looking for 5 months now, with a lack of 9300/9400 mobos, for me I think the key is what appears in Q1. I do appreciate this all means a spend on new hardware, which is truly a luxury and expensive route. Hope I've helped.
I can vouch for an atom/ion solution.
My myth htpc is a Zotac ion mini itx board, with 1.5TB of disk (a 500MB 2.5" drive plus a 1TB 3.5" WD green power drive for video) and a slim slot-load DVD drive. I use a pair of Asus USB DVB sticks to capture content, and power the whole thing from a PicoPSU.
Power consumption is well under 30W, and it has no trouble with HD content, even displaying 1080i and 1080p easily, thanks to VDPAU.
My myth htpc is a Zotac ion mini itx board, with 1.5TB of disk (a 500MB 2.5" drive plus a 1TB 3.5" WD green power drive for video) and a slim slot-load DVD drive. I use a pair of Asus USB DVB sticks to capture content, and power the whole thing from a PicoPSU.
Power consumption is well under 30W, and it has no trouble with HD content, even displaying 1080i and 1080p easily, thanks to VDPAU.
Thanks Suzyj for the info. So theN330 atom CPU can handle encoding an analog signal too?suzyj wrote:I can vouch for an atom/ion solution.... I use a pair of Asus USB DVB sticks to capture content
I'm leaning toward the Asus board (AT3N7A-I) because I have a PCI based tuner. A 30W system would also save me ~$35 year. It doesn't sound like finding and investing in a VDPAU compatible AGP card will be worth the money.
Does anyone know if I can install a mini-ITX board in a ATX case? Can I also use my 380W power supply temporarily? If so, all I have to buy is the board and the RAM (~$200).
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09 ... .or.march/
(Sorry - I needed to have 3 forum posts before I could include a URL)
(Sorry - I needed to have 3 forum posts before I could include a URL)
Several thoughts: Mini ITX does fit into a Micro ATX case (I am unsure about full ATX case for MiniItx). You will not have problems with the PSU it will work. If you read about the psu forums you'll see that most people upgrade to pico. This will improve efficiency and reduce the watts, but add £80+ pounds to the bill (a luxury item).
For me my NAS/Myth box is really a Server/MythTv box . I am interested in pairing the ION2 with the Celeron (given that there are no more 9400 m/bs). So I will wait. You just want to make sure that you don't end up with an underpowered solution, which when you add additional backend software is too slugish. The atoms are a weak processor. But if it is just as you say, the 330 will do it. For HD as suzy said it's 'a' ok and smart. The other immediate problem might be that the current ION m/b only has one PCI-E slot, so if like me you want to have multiple tuner cards, it's a show stopper.
Not sure on your current m/b but if you could just buy a NVIDIA VDPAU PCI-E card i.e. eg NVIDIA 9400, this could tie you over until new h/w appears. At the throw away investment of say £30.
Also to ensure your server is robust (this is more luxury, but I'll plant the seed). Think about RAID for all your media storage, and possibly booting off a flash device (card) - for power efficiency, performance. So flash=boot disk & raid=media storage. If you use separate disks you can use hdparm to power the large media disks down when they are not in use.
Saying all of that ... if the asus meets your need, 'go for it'... it looks fantastic and for a one tuner mythtv frontend/backend solution ticks the box.
For me I run mythtv from svn head, and I think it's truely amazing. I use MPD for music which you may want to look at.
For me my NAS/Myth box is really a Server/MythTv box . I am interested in pairing the ION2 with the Celeron (given that there are no more 9400 m/bs). So I will wait. You just want to make sure that you don't end up with an underpowered solution, which when you add additional backend software is too slugish. The atoms are a weak processor. But if it is just as you say, the 330 will do it. For HD as suzy said it's 'a' ok and smart. The other immediate problem might be that the current ION m/b only has one PCI-E slot, so if like me you want to have multiple tuner cards, it's a show stopper.
Not sure on your current m/b but if you could just buy a NVIDIA VDPAU PCI-E card i.e. eg NVIDIA 9400, this could tie you over until new h/w appears. At the throw away investment of say £30.
Also to ensure your server is robust (this is more luxury, but I'll plant the seed). Think about RAID for all your media storage, and possibly booting off a flash device (card) - for power efficiency, performance. So flash=boot disk & raid=media storage. If you use separate disks you can use hdparm to power the large media disks down when they are not in use.
Saying all of that ... if the asus meets your need, 'go for it'... it looks fantastic and for a one tuner mythtv frontend/backend solution ticks the box.
For me I run mythtv from svn head, and I think it's truely amazing. I use MPD for music which you may want to look at.