I am considering building a Knoppmyth pvr box. I want it to look decent, be fairly quiet, and not a power/heat hog. I figure that if I spend about $450 on the box, and $20 a year on the service, I will break even with Tivo shortly after 2 years
Tivo = $100 box + $15/month = $460 after 2 years.
Knoppmyth = $450 box + $20/year = $490 after 2 years.

But after 3 years, hell, I will have saved $130. Enough math, let's get on with the show.

# Video type: SDTV
# Type of system: combined front- and back-end
# Noise level: HOPEFULLY I can barely hear it from 5 feet away, but ????

# CASE: Athenatech A100SC.200 Black/ Silver Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 230W SFX Power Supply
# PSU: Stock (with case)
# MOTHERBOARD: ASUS M2NPV-VM AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
# CPU:AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Orleans 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA3200CWBOX - Retail
# RAM:Kingston 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model KVR800D2N5/512 - Retail
# CPU HEATSINK: stock (with cpu)
# NORTHBRIDGE HEATSINK: stock (with motherboard)
# CD/DVD-RW: Pioneer 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model DVR-112D - OEM
# HDD:Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
# GRAPHICS CARD: on motherboard, using RCA output
# SOUNDCARD: on motherboard
# TUNER CARD:Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE PCI Interface 1042 Tuner Card - Retail
+
Hauppauge WINTV-PVR-150 PCI Interface Tuner Card - Retail
# REMOTE CONTROL: Whatever comes with the PVR-150

Total cost: $447.92

I have no experience with any PVR, homemade or otherwise, but I do use Linux often. I am looking to get a reasonably priced unit that will be capable of playing and recording simultaneously (hence the two tuners). I also don't want to have a bunch of challenges during setup. Most, if not all, of these parts were taken from tier 1 systems on the forums.

Do any of you seasoned veterans out there have any recommendations or warnings regarding this? I am open to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism

Thanks.

Looks like my first myth box. The only suggestion I would say is maybe up the ram to 1gig. Even if you didn't, I don't think there would be an issue. I am in the "more ram, the better" camp.

Looks like you've done your homework. I have this board and the first thing that popped to me was the 230W psu that comes with the case. I've been using a 350w psu w/o issue, but check the manual (online) for the MB as I think there is a caution on the low wat side. Could be just a CYA warning, but you should be aware what the manufacturer states either way.

Also this unit would likely do HD as it is, but if you want to go this route in a couple months you'd be better served to up the RAM and get a 500 PVR (and another remote, streamzap?), that way you have a free PCI slot.

Let us know how it goes!

Wow, 2 very helpful responses, very quick! You have addressed 2 things that I was questioning.

1) RAM. A lot of info was saying that more than 512 is a waste except for HD. I know that more wouldn't hurt, but I would prefer to keep costs down, so I will have to ponder this.

2) Power supply. I am very concerned when it comes to combined power supply cases. I think I might have a 350W supply to throw in there anyway...

I'll add more info later... gotta run

And here is the more:

What are the tradeoffs for 2 PVR-150s vs. 1 PVR-500? My only thought is that one of the PVR-150s comes with a remote. Obviously the 500 frees up a PCI slot (which is important with only 2 slots). On the other hand, the PVR-150 that is not MCE comes with a remote. I'm also assuming that I don't need a remote for each tuner, just one for the system. Is this correct?

If I decide to go with the PVR-500, is there a recommended HD tuner at this point? I have noticed that it doesn't really appear that Hauppauge carries any.

Thanks for the input guys.

You will be fine for SD with 512. You may even be OK for HD. Obviously you can upgrade this in the future if need be.

I'm using an M2NPV-VM with a 240W power supply without problems. X2 3800+, 1Gb DDR2-800 memory. If I had one recommendation for your list I would say go dual-core if you can since you are looking at HD (I am also partial to the lower-wattage X2 AMDs, the ADO series)

One note - The M2NPV-VM is very picky about memory voltage (1.9v I believe). I have been using http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6820231102

Correct, just one remote per system, not per tuner.

I've been using the Dvico Fusion HD Lite for almost a year now and have been very happy with it. Although looking now it appears that it's been discontinued http://store.snapstream.com/fusionhdtv-lite.html

Buy the 1GB of RAM. Remember that the memory for the 6150 chip is used from the main ram.

My board has 1GB, and I am letting the 6150 chip use 128M. I tried 256M, but I didn't see any difference when viewing HD programming.

I'm using a 4200 Windsor X2 processor...rarely breaks a sweat.

SOT: Has anyone changed the northbridge heatsink? Mine runs very warm.

I've noticed this as well on all 4 of my M2NPV-VMs (2 KM frontends, 2 non-Myth desktops). Haven't had any problem due to heat, but I make darn sure each system has adequate ventilation...

How many hard-drives do you have plugged into the SATA? Does it see more than 2?

Me? I don't have any SATA drives attached to my M2NPV-VMs. The SATA drives are all in the basement attached to Promise TX4 controllers.

I've got 2 sata drives. If your not seeing more then 2 sata drives have you checked bios?

Works fine under Ubuntu, Windows, etc.. Apparently some issue with the older jm363 driver in the KnoppMyth kernel.

I hadn't thought about the video using the RAM, so I guess 1 GB would be a smart move. I will go with slowtolearn's recommendation on the G.Skill, too, since that's what I have in my desktop computer.

Obviously the cost of this is already jumping up with the added cost of a remote (going with the PVR-500) and the other 512 MB RAM.

Is there that much benefit to a dual core processor? I don't mean to go too cheap on this system, but I don't want to overkill on things that will not affect performance.

I also noticed that the power supply in the case is SFX, not ATX, so I may need a specialized supply to replace it... Can anyone tell me if an ATX supply will fit into the listed case? more food for thought, I guess... Below is where I currently stand now:

# CASE: Athenatech Athenatech A100BB.350 Black/ Silver Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case SPI SFX 350W Power Supply - Retail - 69.99 - LinkWorld case - 34.99
# PSU: Stock with case (350W) - Linkworld 400W
# MOTHERBOARD: ASUS M2NPV-VM AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - 89.99 - alt-link - 81.50
# CPU:AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Orleans 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA3200CWBOX - Retail - 42.99 - Sempron 64 3400+ - 36.90
# RAM:G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail - 42.99 - alt-link (512 MB) 29.99
# CPU HEATSINK: stock (with cpu)
# NORTHBRIDGE HEATSINK: stock (with motherboard)
# CD/DVD-RW: Pioneer 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model DVR-112D - OEM - 29.99
# HDD:Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - 74.99 (on sale from 79.99) - alt-link - 74.50
# GRAPHICS CARD: on motherboard, using RCA output
# SOUNDCARD: on motherboard
# TUNER CARD:Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE White box PCI Interface Personal Video Recorder - Retail - 139.99 alt-link - 125.00 - 2 x PVR-150 107.98
# REMOTE CONTROL: Streamzap PC Remote Control - 29.99

Total cost: $519.92 - alt-pricing - $425.84 or $442.86

This is starting to grow out of my price range... does anybody have suggestions on how to cut costs without cutting corners? Newegg's been good to me, but maybe I need to check ebay for gently used items?
Edit 2 - Updated prices 10/04/07 9:03 PM CST

First, your system will only record analog OTA or cable. Analog OTA is gone in Feb 09 and analog cable is going away one day too. I think you can record via S-Video input, but you need a set top box to provide the signal.

Check newegg, fry's, and fatwallet for prebuilt systems on sale. Maybe you can just change out the case and add the tuner.

I use air2pc "ebay special" tuners, they're about $30-40 each, ATSC only.

You don't need dual core, but, when you want more from the box, the dual core will give it to you, the Athlon won't. Commercial flagging, transcoding or xvid encoding, these things really eat cpu cycles. I just bought another hard drive because I keep a lot of recordings. I'm starting to do a lot of xvid encoding, however, my Athlon isn't fast enough to do it while I'm watching TV so it all happens in a six hour window overnight. Really that's just enough time for 2-3 shows, mostly SD at that. A dual core should allow you to watch TV and do heavy background jobs at the same time. If you wait a couple of months everything will be 10-15% cheaper.

If all you want is basic functions for analog signals, you can buy used ReplayTV's really cheap now, and the monthly fees are less (lifetime service is also available).

I noticed a performance boost when I replaced my 3200+ with the X2 3800+. Everything responded much quicker, and any stuttering I had with HD (and there wasn't much) disappeared. I only mentioned dual-core as you were looking at HD down the road.

Newegg frequently has these boards in their "Open Box" listings for ~$50 US.

Since you mentioned you wanted this rig to be quiet, I can recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835106073 for a nice quiet CPU HS/Fan. I can barely hear anything from my system from 5 feet (stock solution was audible anywhere in the room) and it's reasonably priced.

One note: My SD recordings consume ~2.2Gb/hour, whereas my HD recordings are in the 7.5Gb/hour range. Keep this in mind when deciding on the right sized disk for your system.

If you truly can't put together the pieces you want right now, waiting a few months may be your best bet. The closer it gets to the holidays the lower the prices on many of the components on your list. Personally I always try to buy in the lower-middle range, expecting a system to last at least 4 years before I need to upgrade anything in it (disk space aside).

EDIT: What mogator88 said regarding dual-core, waiting awhile. Beat me to it /EDIT

I don't have a problem waiting a few months to purchase this, my only concern is things getting discontinued. I built a new computer from newegg back in February/March and a lot of the parts I used for that are no longer listed there.

I did notice the motherboard open box, but unfortunately their policy says that it will only contain the OEM board, not any of the cables, even though they are necessary.

It's interesting to know the rate that your recordings fill the hard drive, I will definitely keep that in mind.

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Sort of Off-Topic, but in the forums what are we calling "SDTV"
I don't know jack about digital TV, but I was doing some searching online and it appears that SDTV is not analog TV, more like standard Digital TV, which I don't even have. So I guess my setup would be "Analog" rather than "SDTV".

Back to being more on-topic, does the PVR-500 have 2 tuners with just one coax jack? I just noticed the picture shows FM In and TV in, not 2 "TV In"s.

And lastly, if anybody has any recommendations for other cheap cases, I am all ears (or eyes in this case). I am a little concerned with whatever crazy power supply is in this one, because where would I find a replacement if it dies? Thanks for all the responses, and keep 'em coming. If I find better deals on things I will continue to edit my previous post. I hope it helps others, too