I too use a Revo as really quiet frontend, and as noted above its just powerful enough to do everything. Highly recommended.<div><br></div><div>At risk of incurring the wrath of purists - I'd add another option. I bought a new TV some months ago that had network connectivity and a built in DLNA client. It's a perfectly serviceable MythTV player and I actually use it more than the 'proper' frontend. Yes, it lacks a few key features (like the ability to schedule recordings, but I do that using mythweb) but for simplicity, it's hard to beat.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Don, as you will find, the best thing about MythTV is the endless options and opportunities to experiment :-)</div><div><br></div><div>- David</div><div><br></div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 4:38 PM, Michael West <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:michael@iposs.co.nz" target="_blank">michael@iposs.co.nz</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="im">>Hi all,<br>
><br>
>I have go a Pentium 4 3ghz running as a backend with Mythbuntu - as discussed on this list :-)<br>
><br>
>This machine is okay - cannot quite cope with recording HD TV, or Commercial Flagging *and* serving media to my laptop. But it can record two (sometimes three) channels, and will do for now. It is too loud for the living room though.<br>
><br>
>I would like to get a machine for a front end, and any suggestions anyone has. Quiet is good :-)<br>
><br>
>Given my backend is a P4 - would this be good enough for a front end?<br>
><br>
>A number of machines have DVI out - can can I use this to output full hd using a DVI to HDMI cable?<br>
><br>
>Could I use a vga to rca type cable to get full hd?<br>
><br>
>Anyway - thanks for the help :-)<br>
><br>
>DOn<br>
<br>
</div>If you want a front end that can play back HD you normally need enough power to do de-interlacing or movement will look very bad.<br>
You can do this with a decent performance modern CPU in software but it will require a more expensive CPU and a higher power bill.<br>
Your next best option is to get a NVIDIA graphics card like a GT-620 for example that can use VDPAU to GPU accelerate<br>
Video decode and de-interlacing meaning ANY cpu will be good enough.<br>
<br>
If you really want low power and noise then you can get small motherboards (mini-itx) or machines that have atom processors<br>
and ION or ION2 graphics which is NVIDA based and just fast enough to do HD.<br>
These ION based machines may not do some of the high end de-interlacing modes well but they are ok mostly.<br>
Some of these come as very small mini pre built machines or barebones kits but check reviews online for fan noise issues etc.<br>
<br>
If you don't want to go for an Atom/ION solution the next best power saving/low noise option is a modern sandy bridge motherboard and CPU.<br>
Even the cheapest sandy bridge Pentium Dual Core G6xx's are quite efficient.<br>
<br>
If your trying to save the most money then any second hand machine with a pci-express graphics slot can be used with just a NVIDIA GFX card added.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/VDPAU" target="_blank">http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/VDPAU</a> <-- lots of good info there about different machine/GFX options.<br>
Note this is a bit out of date now and you may find it hard to source the older generation GFX cards mentioned.<br>
The GT 520 has been replaced with the GT-610 and GT 430 by the GT-620 but they all should work mostly.<br>
Higher end cards than these will work just as well but more money and power required so unless you want to use it for more than myth don't bother.<br>
<br>
Also watch out for HDMI on the GFX card as some of the earlier NVIDA cards do not have full support for sound output over HDMI.<br>
<br>
Also if it's just a front end only you will just need a basic hard drive to boot off but you may want to get a cheap 30GB or larger SSD instead as they are quite cheap.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
Michael<br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><b>___________________</b><div><b>David Lowe CA</b></div><div>209 Marshmans Road</div><div>RD7 Rangiora 7477</div><div>+64 21 395 204<br><div><br></div>
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