New PC configuration - Can it work with MediaPortal? (1 Viewer)

[Kernel.32]

Hi all and thank you for this piece of software.

I'm planning to build a new PC to use with MediaPortal.

This is the configuration I've in mind:
CPU: INTEL CORE i7 LGA1366 920 STEP D0 2.66GHz Box
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R (X58 / ATX) Skt 1366
RAM: OCZ 4GB Kit 2*2GB DDR3-1600 Intel i7 Platinum Low-Voltage XTC CAS7
HDD: WESTERN DIGITAL 1000 GB 1TB 32MB 7200RPM WD10EADS
VIDEO CARD: Sapphire 4890 Vapor-X 1GB (with HDMI output)
ALI: LC-POWER 560W LC-6560 Titan*
FloppyDTV S2/CI
FloppyDTV T/CI

Operating system: WinXP pro 32bit - Service Pack 3

I will use HDMI output to a onkyo 507, connected to a plasma TV.

Questions:
1 - Can this system work?
2 - Can I use the two Floppy DTV cards simultaneously? (The mobo has 3 firewires inputs)
3 - Floppy DTV works well? Are there better TV cards?
4 - Has "FloppyDTV T/CI" HD capabilities?
5 - Is a right decision using XP 32 bits?

Thanks in advance

 

[Owlsroost]

If this is just for HTPC use, the CPU/GPU hardware spec seems overkill - a reasonable Core2Duo CPU paired with an ATi 4670/nVidia 9500GT video card would be a sensible 'base' specification (and you can go lower in performance/cost if you choose carefully).

Remember that more performance => more heat => more fan noise.

I'd also take a look here - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14239742#post14239742

Tony

 

[hkjensen]

You only need one firewire port since the FloppyDTV can be daisy chained, I have 2 FloppyDTV/C and only one internal firewire port.
I also can watch HD channels with the correct codec installed.
I most agree with Owlsroost that the cpu/gpu is overkill, i would go for low power cpu (low noise) and optional passive cooled gpu.
and a low noise PSU

Henrik

 

[Kernel.32]

Thanks!
This PC will stay for a loooong time, so I've tryed to build something durable.

Returning to my questions:
1 - Can this system work? (yes it seems, I have no prob for the noise, btw the vapor-x is very silent)
2 - Can I use the two Floppy DTV cards simultaneously? (The mobo has 3 firewires inputs) - (I can chain the 2 cards thx hkjensen)
3 - Floppy DTV works well? Are there better TV cards? - (Let me know )
4 - Has "FloppyDTV T/CI" HD capabilities? (Yes, thx hkjensen)
5 - Is a right decision using XP 32 bits? (let me know )

 

[hkjensen]

For me the Floppy DTV works very well, the tv-signal can be routed from one card to the next (you need only one antenna input, no need for a splitter)
Floppy-DTV(1) -> FloppyDTV(2) -> Hauppage 1300

I seldom use use my Hauppage, since i do not have any DVB-T signal.

There is no need for xp 64, if the main purpose is HTPC, running TV-server + database (mySql) required aprox 140 mb, MediaPortal showing HDTV 500 mb, with a cpu load of 10-20 % on a AMP Phenom 9350e @ 1.00 GHz

 

[Kernel.32]

For me the Floppy DTV works very well, the tv-signal can be routed from one card to the next (you need only one antenna input, no need for a splitter)
Floppy-DTV(1) -> FloppyDTV(2) -> Hauppage 1300

I have (would ) two different Floppy DTV: FloppyDTV S2 and FloppyDTV T, so I have one antenna (for DVB-T) and one satellite cable for the DVB-S, so it seems I need 2 firewire inputs, right?
I also want to be capable to record from one interface and watch TV on the other one.

 

[hkjensen]

No you only need to use on firewire-port, you could use 2 port since your have them ;-)
Even with only one firewire port in use you can watch one channel, and record several channel on the same card if the channels are on the same mux, and record channels on the other card, in theory i could record up to 20 channels SDTV on my 2 cards, if HDTV the number is lower.