New HTPC Thoughts

Hi im thinking of converting my pc into a htpc but was wondering which items i need to replace before hand to efficently run 1080p and record and watch tv at the same time.

my system is as follows

ASUS M2A-VM AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+ OCZ 4X1gb ddr2-800 5-5-5@1.8v ATI Radeon X1650 Pro PCI-e Lite-on DVDRW LH-20A1S Seagate ATA Disk 160GB HDD

also what pvr unit should i go with?

thanks in advance for the responses

Matt

I think your system will run mythbuntu fine - over kill if anything. I would check the compatibility of you graphics card though (I've had plenty issues in the past with ATI cards). To watch and record tv at the same time you will need either 2 tuners or 1 dual tuner. The Dvico dual digital 4 is a brilliant dual tuner if your willing to pay the money. And it comes with a good remote control. Otherwise check [HTML]http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_Devices[/HTML] for device compatibility. There shouldn't be any problem running 1080p res as long as you card can do it.

Hayesio said: I think your system will run mythbuntu fine - over kill if anything. I would check the compatibility of you graphics card though (I've had plenty issues in the past with ATI cards). To watch and record tv at the same time you will need either 2 tuners or 1 dual tuner. The Dvico dual digital 4 is a brilliant dual tuner if your willing to pay the money. And it comes with a good remote control. Otherwise check [HTML]http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_Devices[/HTML] for device compatibility. There shouldn't be any problem running 1080p res as long as you card can do it.

the only thing i would add to this good advice is your need for significant hard disk storage for HD recordings. i also concur on the video card caveat- make sure that one runs smoothly with HD in linux. if not, the nvidia 8600 series cards work great for component-out HD and are cheap- last one i picked up was $79 new.

the seagate 1TB drives are cheap these days... i just ordered 2 more for $110 ea.