Slowly testing the waters...

O

OSUguy98

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2006
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
3,959
I've been slowly learning at little here and a little there about HTPCs,etc..... Right now, I have an AIW 9600, that I bought more than a year ago (without much reading up on tuners/etc)..... and I figured it's a decent place to start since I already have the card....

After reading this forum and the stickies, I grabbed a free frontend (Got All Media) to give things a shot.... Last night I was playing around with GAM, and I noticed that if I make the TV full screen, after about 3 or 4 minutes, it gets jumpy..... starts pausing and picking up a few frames later.... It doesn't seem to do that when the TV is "windowed" in GAM.... just fullscreen....

I have ffdshow installed.... and Dscaler.... output is to a standard def. 19" TV (at least for the forseeable future...... The image looks pretty good, doesn't look quite as crisp as straight cable, but I expected that...... It just pauses and skips frames... Is this some GAM problem? or does it have to do with RAM or some other system variable?

system:
P4 2.4C OCed to 3.0
1 GB RAM
ABit IC7-G

I hadn't turned off the 2 instances of F@H that were running, so I could try that (short term).... I eventually want to get a PVR-150, but I was going to wait until I had a better handle on what I was doing ;) That, and I was going to make my dually 1700+ into my HTPC.....

Any thoughts/suggestions/etc?


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 
You might try disabling folding@home.

Otherwise, the best advice I could give you is to go with a dedicated tuner. The AIW cards aren't really meant for HTPC use, and as I recall, a lot of the software suites that are out there have problems with those cards, if they're compatible at all.

The PVR-150 is an excellent choice.
 
Anyone out there running F@H on their HTPCs? If I get the PVR-150, then the encoding/etc will be hardware, instead of on the CPU, correct?

I guess what I'm asking.... if I make one of my PCs into an HTPC (or build a new one), does that mean I can't run F@H on it.... I'd be okay throttling it back a bit, but I don't ever want to disable it....


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 
OSUguy98 said:
Anyone out there running F@H on their HTPCs? If I get the PVR-150, then the encoding/etc will be hardware, instead of on the CPU, correct?

I guess what I'm asking.... if I make one of my PCs into an HTPC (or build a new one), does that mean I can't run F@H on it.... I'd be okay throttling it back a bit, but I don't ever want to disable it....


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

Click to expand...


Hardware encoders take very up very little CPU usage. I can be recording using my PVR150 and my HD fusion card and I hardly notice them using any CPU usage. For example, right now I'm recording The Young and the Restless, and Alaska's Gold Rush Train, and a quick glance at my cpu usage shows that it takes about 3% of my cpu, and it hardly goes that high.

Whats folding? my server seems pretty bored much of the time, is there a linux client?
 
Take a stop in the Distributed Computing Forum.... in short, it's a program that runs in the background which does cancer (and many other diseases) research..... make a stop in the forum if you wanna, ask any questions you have,etc.... we're a pretty friendly bunch... just beware the moose ;) and yes, there's a linux client....

Looks like I'll be picking up a PVR-150 soon... What's the best way to make my Windows desktop look readable/decent on my SD TV?

Thanks for all the help guys... I'll probably have a bunch of questions as I go about setting this up....


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 
OSUguy98 said:
Anyone out there running F@H on their HTPCs? If I get the PVR-150, then the encoding/etc will be hardware, instead of on the CPU, correct?
I guess what I'm asking.... if I make one of my PCs into an HTPC (or build a new one), does that mean I can't run F@H on it.... I'd be okay throttling it back a bit, but I don't ever want to disable it....
Click to expand...
I fold with my htpc (A64 3000+, 1gig ram) and haven't had a problem recording TV. I did get a 'low memory' message this week, but that was because I had snagged a 1,000 pt WU which swallowed 200MB :D I guess I could set the folding options to not get big units to avoid that again.
 
Good.... glad to hear I can fold on it.... no sense in running a PC 24/7 unless it's folding ;)

Is SageTV the going standard for those of us in the Windows world?

As things stand right now, I was planning on picking up a PVR-150 bundle from pcalchemy... I'd need a remote (unless my ATI wonder remote works with Sage.... )

Do I need Windows MCE in order to use the PVR-150MCE that pcalchemy sells in their bundles? Right now, I have WinXP Pro...


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 
OSUguy98 said:
Good.... glad to hear I can fold on it.... no sense in running a PC 24/7 unless it's folding ;)

Is SageTV the going standard for those of us in the Windows world?

As things stand right now, I was planning on picking up a PVR-150 bundle from pcalchemy... I'd need a remote (unless my ATI wonder remote works with Sage.... )

Do I need Windows MCE in order to use the PVR-150MCE that pcalchemy sells in their bundles? Right now, I have WinXP Pro...
Click to expand...

SageTV is probably the most feature-rich/stable one that's out there, it's a favorite of the people here.

No you don't need MCE for the PCR-150MCE card. However if you know you're not going to using MCE then pcalchemy sells a cheaper model that does not include an FM tuner. I'm not sure if SageTV can even use it (the FM tuner that is)


Thanks for folding info. I've got installed on my server, and my work PC. I'm gonna convince every one i know to install it on their PC also, it's gonna be a good time.
 
bobbydole said:
Thanks for folding info. I've got installed on my server, and my work PC. I'm gonna convince every one i know to install it on their PC also, it's gonna be a good time.
Click to expand...

Just remember to set it up with username IanG, team 33 :)

Sage is getting better all the time, but still is lacking a decent media library. BeyondTV and Meedio are other good options.
 
Sweet! Stop in the forum and say hi.... we have alot of fun in there...

and he's wrong... the username is OSUguy98, and team 33 :D
-----------------------

What's the FM Tuner do? or not do? is it literally to get radio radios? or is it for rooftop-antenna use?

Isn't BeyondTV linux based? (I know miniscule amounts about Linux)..... edit--or is it MythTV that's *nix based?


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 
for over the air fm broadcasts. comes with a cheapy "t" fm antenna and has a coax connector on the card. mce supports this, and i have tried it. i live in nyc, which has a couple radio stations but i could only pick up a few from the top of the world here.
 
FM works pretty good, even in my basement apartment. My wife uses it more than I do - I have a big enough MP3 collection and don't like the crap on the radio.

BTV is a windows program. MythTV is the linux option.


Edit: The username is IanG. C'mon it's not like you need the points ;)
 
bobbydole said:
Whats folding? my server seems pretty bored much of the time, is there a linux client?
Click to expand...
*Gasp*

If you have the $$ to build a new rig i might recomend the 150 as well..... i've been looking around for a while, dont have one yet..... but I will probably get the 150.

 
I'm leaning towards SageTV.... read a review or two.... seems to be the local favorite.... and seems to have the most potential.... This is the Bundle I was planning on getting SO.....

If I pick up the above SageTV bundle from pcalchemy, can I use my ATI remote to work everything? (even if I change my video card to something non-ATI/etc, and as long as I install the drivers for the 'mote?)

As is stands right now, I have 2 remotes I use......... .one for the TV and VCR.... and one for the digital cable box....... would a Firefly remote eliminate the need for the other remotes?


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 
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