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PCI vs. PCI-e
http://forums.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19412
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Author:  wouldja [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:36 pm ]
Post subject:  PCI vs. PCI-e

I am very new to this so bear with me. I was wondering which is more important. I only have 1 PCI-e slot but I have 3 PCI slots. Should I buy a PCI-e capture card or should I save that slot for the video card? I plan on using this solely to watch and record ATSC signals on a HDTV. Thanks.

Author:  graysky [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:01 pm ]
Post subject: 

Are you capping HD content or SD content? Which capture card are you considering?

I don't know if a PCI-E capture card will be any faster than a standard PCI capture card... I will say I have noticed a BIG difference when gaming a while ago when my PCI-E 8800GTS was stuck in 1x mode vs. 16x mode on an older motherboard.

Maybe someone else can answer your question better.

Author:  wouldja [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:18 pm ]
Post subject: 

Thanks for the reply. I will be capturing both HD and SD, I suppose, as long as there is still SD content out there. I will be digital, obviously. As I stated earlier, I am new. I literally started researching this today. I see Hauppauge mentioned a lot for capture cards. I want the ability to record two programs at once.

Author:  graysky [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:23 pm ]
Post subject: 

I'm not aware of a PCI-E capture card (but I haven't been looking either). The SD card you'll want is the PRV-250 for sure since it has an onboard MPEG-2 encoder. HD content is different since it's already 'encoded' as I understand it. I only have an SD system at the moment.

Author:  tscholl [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:25 pm ]
Post subject: 

Can't say which is faster but I have noticed that its almost impossible to find a new motherboard with more than 2 PCI slots.

My current motherboard has 5 PCI slots, and I'm using 4 of them. If I want to upgrade I'll have to buy 2 new PCIe tuners.

So looking down the road it might be better to go with a PCIe tuners.

Author:  larrybpsu [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:38 pm ]
Post subject: 

IF your mobo has on-board graphics you could consider a PCIe capture card, but there's only a few out there that Myth supports. These are PCIe 1x cards, with the small connector.

The PCIe 16 slots are about as long as the usual PCI cards, and are best used for video cards.

The real issue is that PCI tuner cards are beginning to vanish, and have vintage hardware (old tuner chips) on them. I've been considering the Pinnacle HDTV PCI card. Some folks on the board are having some success with it, but it probably won't be fully supported in KM until version 6 is released.

Take a look at the MythTV, and LinuxTV wiki's for details on what's working.

Author:  Liv2Cod [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:52 pm ]
Post subject: 

I decided to go the HDHomeRun direction. I have two PCI HD cards in my system (used to be three but I ran out of slots). I think adding tuners via ethernet is a better idea. It really makes it simple to throw together a KM box. (Less of that pesky screwdriver stuff!)

Author:  Martian [ Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:32 pm ]
Post subject: 

The HDHomerun is hands down the easiest way to add two HD tuners to a Myth system. It really is "Plug and Play"!

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