Upgrading from a laptop

[mitz]

Hi All,

The urge to upgrade my system has overwhelmed me .

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My current setup is a laptop:
- Pentium M 1.3 GHz
- 512MB RAM
- Integrated Intel 82855GM graphics controller with up to 64MB of shared memory for video RAM
- WinTV-PVR-USB2

It runs pretty smoothly except for 3 problems:
- stuttering when the channel is changed
- stuttering when the volume is changed (when the volume OSD comes on)
- tv guide takes a few seconds to load

Other than that, it works well. I don't do processor intensive tasks such video editing or encoding.

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For my new system, I will go with 1GB of RAM, but I'm clueless when it comes to choosing the processor and video card.

Processor: Would a Athlon 64 X2 3800+ EE Dual Core 2.0GHz do? I know it's dual core and everything, but 2.0GHz seems a bit low--I fail to see how parallel processing would reduce stuttering when changing channels or displaying the OSD. Would a single Pentium 4 @ 3.0GHz work better?

Video card: Would a budget card such as a Radeon X300 (PCI-E) do?

--

Your thoughts?

[3406E]

It has so far been my experience that you really do not need to spend a ton of money on an upgrade for PVR functionality.

Unless you are doing some serious HDTV recording/playback. spending a buttload of money on an uber-system is counter productive. As older hardware (look at my specs) does a damn fine job of it. Timeshifting my CPU load is around 20-25%.

as I'm not entirely sure what you want this system for (SDTV PVR, HDTV PVR, main system, Gaming, all of the above) and what your budget is, It is difficult to recommend hardware.

[mitz]

Thanks 3406E,

I guess I should have been more specific. This will be a dedicated system in which I will spend most of the time watching livetv-preview of SDTV. (no gaming no video editing at all.) This is meant to replace "regular" SDTV watching, but with the added convenience of scheduled recording.

I *don't* want an uber system, just one that is on par with my 5 year old TV. That is, my old TV does not stutter when I change the volume--even though there is an OSD--or change channels, and that's all I need for my new setup.

Clearly, a Pentium M @ 1.3GHz--which many people equate to a Pentium 4 @ 2.0GHz--coupled with 512MB of RAM and an integraded gfx card does not have enough horsepower to simulate a "regular" SDTV watching experience, because it feels labored whenever the channel/volume is changed. That is why I'm upgrading.

3406E, does your video ever stutter when the OSD comes on, and how quick are channel changes? I would love to use older hardware, so that I can use the money to buy a nice looking case instead, haha.

[3406E]

Alright. This I can work with.

Seen as how you are using a Laptop this will be more like a whole system build.
I can give you some basic guidelines to work with:

1. Hauppauge PVR-150. IMHO this is the absolute best SDTV tuner money can buy. Best drivers and software support around. (ATi based Theater 550/650s are good too but tend to be more expensive and the hardware and software support is not as mature as the PVR-150)

2. DirectX 9.0c Compatible video card. (doesn't need to be a dual-slot monster. Radeon x1300s, x1600s, 7600 GSs 7600GTs can all be found for very modest prices and will perform very well. and can all be found for less than $100 USD)

3. 1GB of ram. (you can get away with 512 if you have to, but 1Gig seems to provide a much smoother running system.)

4. Processor is up to you. Anything on the market today will do the job very very well and be overkill in most cases. As to weather you go with AMD or Intel they both offer excellent options in their lower end products (Sempron/Single-core A64s, Celeron D/Pentium D 8xx series respectively) that will perform very well for what you want.

5. Hard drive(s). the more the merrier. (7200 RPM, 8MB buffer Minimum)

6. last but not least: POWER SUPPLY. It is the heart of your computer. don't be shy to spend more on your power supply than your processor/mobo combined. It will be money well spent as you can take an expensive PSU to many system upgrades. I repair computers for people in my spare time. Failing PSUs cause TONS headaches and can be a b!tch to diagnose as symptoms will manifest themselves in strange ways. (Enermax 500W+ is excellent)

If you want to go cheap cheap cheap there's always eBay

My OSD doesn't stutter. I would attribute that to your on-board video more than anything.

PS. do not get an X300 PCI-E. they are junk. an X700 PCI-E would be better. nVidia 7600GT Best

-good luck

[dneprrider]

Great input and I wanted to add just a bit. Think about where the PC will be located. If it is right beside your TV you may want to look for a quiet or silent PC.
There is much info available on the net about building a quite system. I went with a Mobile Pentium 1.5GHz system. It is a very quite system and I am very happy with it. However transcoding video takes a bit longer than on my other 2GHz P4 system. But that one sounds like a helicopter taking off and is located in the laundry room.

If it is in another room then noise from CPU, Power supply and case fans is not a concern.

4. Processor is up to you. Anything on the market today will do the job very very well and be overkill in most cases. As to weather you go with AMD or Intel they both offer excellent options in their lower end products (Sempron/Single-core A64s, Celeron D/Pentium D 8xx series respectively) that will perform very well for what you want.

[mitz]

Yes, sound is important--I've been looking at http://www.silentpcreview.com/ the last few days to get an idea of what to do.

My laptop setup was good, because the fan came on only during video playback, during which the sound from the speakers was louder than the fans anyway.

I'm quite outdated on processor knowledge... do all modern CPUs run at lower clock rates when idle?