[kwlug-disc] Building a new MythTV Frontend

[Daniel Agar]

>> This is what I'm currently using.
>> http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=38919&vpn=IONITX-C-U&manufacture=Zotac
>> http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/215072/M350/Mini-Box/
>>
>> + 1GB DDR2 800
>>
>
> That's a much more sensible motherboard than what I pointed out.
>
> A couple of questions:
>
> - - Neat case.  How do you like it?
>
> - - Do you have any fans in the system?  Is passive cooling enough?
>
> - - Is the single-core Atom enough for MythTV (or whatever media software
> you are using)?
>
> Thanks!
> Lori

The case is nice, basically just a simple metal box. It's also the
least expensive case I could find. This particular version of the
motherboard comes with a 90W external "brick" power supply. A minor
feature that makes this suitable for bedroom use is the power light
doesn't flash when your in S3 (suspend). You can mount it to the back
of a monitor/tv with a 100mm VESA mount, although you need to get the
proper double head screws and the only place I could find them in
North America wants $20 to ship 4 screws.

This system is completely silent (no moving parts). It can get pretty
warm (especially playing HD), but I rarely use it more than an hour or
two per day. The rest of the time it's asleep. It it was running 24/7
I might consider a fan.

I netboot minimyth so the only thing really running on it is
mythfrontend. I doubt this single process would benefit from 2 cores.
If it was doing anything else I probably would have opted for the dual
core version. Certain aspects of myth obviously aren't quite as
responsive compared with my 3GHz workstation, but I find it more than
acceptable especially given the size, power usage, silent operation
and total cost.

Here are a few photos
http://picasaweb.google.com/dagar86/IONITX?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_1ttzwyvePwQE#