Would this computer do hd-fta?

[turbosat]

My computer started dying suddenly last month, so I ran out to compusa and the kids there sold me a new MB and processor. They knew as little as I did about the parts-I think I have a decent mb now but ended up with a 64 bit AMD 4200+, 1gb ram. Would this thing run a twinhan card and do hd or 4.2.2 signals?
Oh I have a cheap geforce video card fx5000 256mb ddr , s-video but no tv tuner. The motherboard is Asus M2R32=MVP. I know I will prob need a diff graphics card, but what else?

 

[digiblur]

Its not about the graphics card speed or memory. It is all down to the CPU speed and HD size for recording.

I use a dual core AMD 4200 and have no issues.

 

[turbosat]

Thanks digiblur I know I have lots of reading to do, mainly I was curious of the programs that people use to decode or view dvb signals (dvd-dream? my theater) since I have 64bit now. I"m using a 64bit version of Slackware linux, but it also has the 32bit libraries, so I don't think I would have a problem running those reg 32bit programs/card drivers etc.
Just have to dig in and order a card, the twinhan card most likely since that seems to be the one most used. A good Christmas present to myself!

 

[digiblur]

The best combination I have found for 4:2:2 is TSReader streamed to VLC.

Make sure the card you get works with the programs you need.

 

[Anole]

Hey, Turbo.... do your homework before buying anything.
Especially if you are going with linux. (well, same goes for Windows)
See which cards are best supported by whatever software you want to use, or which are supported by many packages.

I'm too far out of date to give recommendations, but in addition to Twinhan, give [SIZE=-1]Technisat [/SIZE] Skystar cards a look.
I initially got a Twinhan USB receiver, then a 1025 card, and now have a 102g PCI card.
If I were to get back into cards, I'd try real hard to put to use what I have, but if that looked difficult, I'd be re-evaluating the support that's out there for the [SIZE=-1]Technisat [/SIZE] hardware.

I'm not knocking the Twinhans, they're the devil I know.
...and the grass is always greener . . .
Considering these two guys probably own the biggest part of the market, I wouldn't be comfortable with any other manufacturers.
Nor would I go for anything new and cutting edge, either.

Do keep us informed of your pursuits.

 

[turbosat]

Thks Anole, I only have 2 pci slots in this new computer, and 2 pci-express slots(which I had never even heard of) but its got a bunch of usb ports, and sata-connections too. So getting the right drive wouldn't be a problem. So much to learn , not sure where to start. But I will research a bunch before I go for any of it. Just tired of missing my fav hockey games!!!

 

[Sadie]

I found it was all about the video card my last computer was running an AMD 2000xp cpu with 256 RAM and a Twinhan 102g.
Using a Radeon 7000 64MB video card HD wouldn't work, it kept hesitating CPU use was 80 to 100%
Switching to a Radeon 9600 256MB video card completely cured the problem, CPU use is under 50%

Later when I changed the mother board and CPU to a sempron 3400 the CPU use was basically the same.
I haven't tried recording HD.

 

[turbosat]

Thanks Sadie, that helps. Your AMD2000XP was exactly what I had, until the mb started dying of faliing capacitors last month. I'm pleased with the new 64, though I prob didn't really need a 64bit computer. Price was so good on this AMD64 I couldn't pass it up. AMD has lost so much money, maybe they're were having a fire-sale. It should do ok with a dvb card once I decide on one.

 

[updatelee]

my amd sempron 3400+ w/nvidia 5200 barley works for HD. if I had a little faster and a little better card it would work flawlessly.

if its slow motion then it looks great, if its fast motion, like hockey games where they pan the camera fast and alot, then its no good, my computer just cant keep up.

 

[colbec]

For purposes of comparison I have am older IBM [SIZE=-1]6792-22u - p4 1.8ghz (256kb) - 256 meg sdram - 40 gig ide 7200rpm hd - nvidia vanta 16mb 4x agp with a 103g pci card. This will decode HD (probably not 4:2:2); once decoding a HD channel it will run along fine, but any attempt to move to a different channel is a hopeless task since I can't get the OS to respond in a reasonable time. Try to do anything at all on the computer and you can walk away and come back a half hour later and it is still trying to do what you asked. Much quicker to pull the plug on the box and reboot.
[/SIZE]

 

[concord]

Having a good video card is the key, at least when I do HD OTA stuff. Under linux, the nvidia FX series are good cards and under mythtv you can turn on an option that reduces the cpu load quite abit (has mpeg2 acceleration using XvMC), note that you will need the right driver version for the right card.

I have the FX5200, it's does an ok job (there is freezing, artifacts once in a while) on a P4 1.8 sempron system, would recommend checking out the FX7xxx series though.

For pre-built myth installs, including the OS, check out:
G-Ding.TV | Viewing Linux in a whole new way (Fedora)
KnoppMyth (Knoppix)
| Mythbuntu (Ubuntu)

 

[turbosat]

Thanks Concord I am a linux user. Once I get thru Christmas I will prob get back to working on this idea some more. It's been quite a long dry spell
(I work in a mortgage-related job)