suggested system

[pvrdude]

I'm thinking of building a core2duo machine for my gbpvr computer.

Is this sufficient or overkill?:

Gigabyte mb: GA-965P-DS3
video card: Nvidia 7600 GT ?? or?
power supply: Corsair CMPSU-620HX
dvd sata drive: Liteon SH-16A7S
Hard Drive: Hitachi 500 GB SATA
Tuner Capture Card: Hauppauge PVR 1600
Memory DDR2: 2GB
Case:
CPU: E6600

I'd like to use my AMD 4200+ machine but I am not thrilled with the idea of doing various computer activities on the same computer as the one recording. I have songs, documents, programs etc. on my current drive and it's only 120GB. I will want to watch videos, dvds, web search, listen to music etc. but I don't want anything effecting the recording. I'm not sure how much will be HD recording but I suspect it would make a difference what I'd be doing on the computer if I use HD signals.

Comments?

[Smoker]

I'm very new to htpc's but THAT is overkill man

[pvrdude]

I'm very new to htpc's but THAT is overkill man

Which of the hardware is overkill? All? The cpu I listed is expensive but the rest isn't too bad. Could I make do with a E6300 cpu?

[pastro]

I don't think HD recording is going to tax your system that much. 2.5 MBytes/sec for HD isn't going to use much of your available bandwidth to your disk. HD playback may be a different story though for CPU cycles.

[Smoker]

Which of the hardware is overkill? All? The cpu I listed is expensive but the rest isn't too bad. Could I make do with a E6300 cpu?

I've seen cpu's as low as an anthlon 2800+ used

[sub]

Whiles lower CPUs are probably fine, if I was intending to do HDTV, I'd probably opt for a dual core processor. For value for money, I'd probably purchase a E6400 these days.

[Trips]

I think I'd probably use the AMD parts for the dedicated HTPC and then build a new rig using the Core 2 for your main computer. The 4200+ is an X2 correct? I can't remember if they made a single core 4200+.

[pvrdude]

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions! I just want the option of HDTV and I thought it best to have another computer running the pvr system.

I chose the core2duo since with a good cpu and video card, I should be able to avoid video issues.

I chose the AMD computer as the 2nd computer for all-purpose computing because I still dabble in linux but I don't like spending a lot of time addressing the numerous issues. For e.g., as far as I know, there are issues with the Intel P965 boards and the IDE controllers.

I heard that current Intel processors are going on sale soon when the new ones come out. I could even wait to see what comes of that and buy the other components. I was just unsure of the motherboard and whether to get a ATI or Nvidia video board. The rest, I have a good idea.

[Smoker]

i am a little confused here thought about HDTV from a HTPC.
I thought that one couldn't capture HDTV from cable lines, only from the air waves. Is that what your doing ?

Smoker

[pastro]

i am a little confused here thought about HDTV from a HTPC.
I thought that one couldn't capture HDTV from cable lines, only from the air waves. Is that what your doing ?

Smoker

You can capture HDTV from cable although there are not very many cards that do that right now.
I'm pretty sure hdhomerun supports ATSC and digital (un-encrypted) cable.