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steadysteve

109 posts

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  #508368 18-Aug-2011 09:40
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ok, thanks, that's good to know.
but i guess there are limits? i have an old P4 machine, but no PCI-e slots, so probably not worth the effort...



GamerOC
439 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #508369 18-Aug-2011 09:43
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"amd on an asus motherboard - i always liked that combo.

so even though that machine is a few years old, it still performs as HTPC?"

Yes as I said it was my old machine but for HTPC service is more than capable as I have another HTPC in my bedroom that does everything and it is only a Pentium 4 3ghz single core with nvidia 8600GT and 1gb or ddr 400 ram and see no problem with performance but i dont play hard core games on that pc due to old gpu. but web surfing, live tv and recording, skype, google plus, and nztv on demand online all works like a charm.

I use the Hauppauge wintv HVR 3300 provide remote for media playing
and wireless mouse and keyboard for pc use and I even setup my steering and pedals for car racing games.  You dont have to break the bank I purchased most things cheap on trademe.


Good luck,



Andy


 

davidcole
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  #508370 18-Aug-2011 09:45
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My board, ASUS M2V has one PCIe for Video and everything else if PCI (4 PCI slots). Slots are currently filled by 2 x HVR3000 trimode DVB-S/DVB-T tuner (mostly for satellite, and one of them does dual duty as DVB-S and DVB-T) and one Nova-T 500 a dual DVB-T tuner.

I wouldn't recommend the Nova T though. An HVR2250 is much better, but this is a PCIe board. So you make do with what you have.




Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server
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GamerOC
439 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #508373 18-Aug-2011 09:51
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if you want to try out or test drive and have a decent AGP video card give it a go, to be honest I test drive with the pentium 4 and a crappy nvidia low profile silent 5200 graphics card and run fine the tv but once u pushed the denifition up it struggled. I was running DVB-S at the time so Standard Defintion is not so hard than DVB-T. though.


what other hardware you got there?


Andy 

steadysteve

109 posts

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+1 received by user: 4


  #508378 18-Aug-2011 10:04
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pentium 4 and a crappy nvidia low profile silent 5200 graphics card 


funny you should say that - i have that exact setup lying around. maybe i should use it as a test system before i build the "real" one...
interesting that your test drive performed well for standard def.

davidcole
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  #508380 18-Aug-2011 10:07
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the 5200 will be fine for DVB-S but very underpowered for DVB-T.

I think only the PCIe cards, minimum of an 8500GT, were the first that included the hardware to hardware decode the h.264 stream we use for DVB-T.




Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server
Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight 


 
 
 

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).
GamerOC
439 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #508381 18-Aug-2011 10:09
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something like these will work very well for you as it has good cpu dual core
can put upto 8gb of ram
good PCI-E card in
and has PCI-e x1 and PCI sockets for mothern tunners,
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/CPUs/Intel/auction-399913992.htm


yeah that crappy system works and the card did not have HDMI so I used Svideo and worked fine also if you have a pretty smart tv can help the card too,


good luck and check the link,


Andy 

GamerOC
439 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #508382 18-Aug-2011 10:09
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something like these will work very well for you as it has good cpu dual core
can put upto 8gb of ram
good PCI-E card in
and has PCI-e x1 and PCI sockets for mothern tunners,
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/CPUs/Intel/auction-399913992.htm
http://www.google.co.nz/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Intel+DG965WH


yeah that crappy system works and the card did not have HDMI so I used Svideo and worked fine also if you have a pretty smart tv can help the card too,


good luck and check the link,


Andy

steadysteve

109 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4


  #508395 18-Aug-2011 10:23
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good links, cheers andy

is TM a good place to buy components? i usually buy from an online store, because of come-back if necessary

i'm thinking i won't waste my time with that old P4 machine - just do it once!

GamerOC
439 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #508400 18-Aug-2011 10:28
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i buy most of my stuff from trademe and never had a problem but I make sure check with seller Items work fine and no overclocking have been done to the cpu and also check that they will be sending item safe so it does not get damage during posting. however there is an element of risk of getting damaged during posting and you dont have a warranty either but if you want cheap hardware then tradme is a good place. but If you got the cash to buy new that is better though.


good plan and good luck,



Andy 

GamerOC
439 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #508407 18-Aug-2011 10:38
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this looks like a nice little beast as a small silent and capable card
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/Video-cards/PCIExpress/auction-399529687.htm

I have not tried this one myself but im thinking about it us noise from graphix card can be annoying..
the features are nice too.
Graphics GPU FeaturesNVIDIA® GeForce 210

Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 Support

HDCP compliant

Dual Dual-link DVI Support: Able to drive the industry’s largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560x1600

NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology: Essential for the Ultimate HD Movie Experience on a PC

NVIDIA Hardware Decode Acceleration: provide ultra-smooth playback of H.264, VC-1, WMV, DivX, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 HD and SD movies without the need for a dual or quad-core CPU 

quoted from:
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/EN210DI512MD2LP/


anyway I better get to work now,


good luck,


Andy 

 
 
 

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).
steadysteve

109 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4


  #508412 18-Aug-2011 10:57
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yes good specs. i think that silent technology is essential for HTPC

davidcole
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  #508426 18-Aug-2011 11:22
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Does it have HDMI? I'd look for one that does, makes like more convienient hooking to a TV. And then if your motherboard has toslink or digital coax outputs, then that can feed an AMP.




Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server
Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight 


steadysteve

109 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 4


  #508483 18-Aug-2011 12:08
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i think it does - anyway there are similar newer asus cards available with HDMI

interesting...are you saying that the sound goes via HDMI to the TV and then to an amp?

atm i take TV sound via an optical cable to an amp - so that can stay as is. i like it

GamerOC
439 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #508517 18-Aug-2011 12:38
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if you use HDMI sound and image goes through same cable but you can get the output from the tv into a home theater sound system.


good luck,


Andy 

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