Upgrade? And if so, what?

Wes Newell wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 20:08:25 -0400, Freewheeling wrote:
>
>> Well, Knoppix didn't work. It gets to the end of the installation, and
>> just starts intermittently "flashing" some stuff on the screen. I let
>> it go for close to an hour, and it just kept flashing. Tried both
>> version 4 and version 5, with the same result.
>>
> That's strange.
>
>> Again, if I wanted to set up a system to play HDTV off of
>> cable/internet/phone what would I need to get? A new hard drive
>> probably, right? (I currently have 2 40 GB drives, but they'd obviously
>> be unsufficient for TIVO.) A new CPU probably, also? And a new video card?
>>
> For cable, you'll need a QAM capable tuner. Phone? (Fios maybe, don't
> know). Internet, you can forget for HDTV. 1080i broadcast take about 7GB
> per hour. 720p about 4GB per hour. SD only takes about 1GB per hour.
>
>> I wonder why Knoppix behaves this way? Perhaps it's the same problem
>> that I have with video? Some sort of intermittent problem? Some
>> hardware conflict?
>
> Maybe that IRQ sharing you have.
>
I got this creature:

http://tinyurl.com/rvoaf

(Used http://www.tinyurl.com to resolve wrap problem for long URLs)

It will at least solve my DVD playback, although it didn't actually say
it was QAM tuner capable. If not, I suppose I can bring it back for an
exchange. But they only had three TV/Video AGP cards available, and
this was the cheapest.

Now, I suppose I'll need to upgrade the HD (if I intend to use TIVO) and
the processor, in that order. I'd still like a more substancial hint on
what to use as a processor. I just can't figure out what all the
nomenclature is about. Can you just suggest something in the $60-$70 range?

Thanks for all your help, BTW. Usenet is fantastic, as are you!
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 12:44:03 -0400, Freewheeling wrote:

> I'm getting the Cable TV "triple play", with phone, TV and internet.
> I've ordered two converter boxes for regular TV, but thought I'd give
> HDTV a try. So all I need is a tuner card? Can I get that with video,
> and kill two birds?

For regular cable, you don't want or need cable boxes for clear QAM. Just
plug the cablke from the cable company into a QAM capable tuner card. you
can get all cable channels except the encrypted ones. For those, and
HD, you need a cable box that has a firewire output and you'll need a
firewire input into the PC to record it. Since I've never had cable or
sat (and never intend to), that's about the extent of my knowledge on it.
If you just want OTA HDTV, all you need is a $25 HDTV (ATSC) tuner card.
Your setup is going to be at least 10-20 times that.

--
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 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

Wes Newell wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 10:22:21 -0400, Freewheeling wrote:
>
>> Anyway, it's irksome but it'll get sorted out.
>
> I saw Win XP Saturday fro the first time in my life. i'm not impressed. I
> chenged the MB in my brothers box. XP wouldn't boot at all, not even into
> command line mode. I knew from reading that a repair install should fix
> it, but I couldn't get that option. After a little web searching dicovered
> it won't work if you have Go Back installed and enabled, which he did.
> Disabled that and then ran a repair install and got everything working.
> So, boot the install cd and do a repair install. That should get it
> working.
>
I've done that.
I actually can't see any way other than to use Remote Desktop, assuming
Windows is actually booting but I'm just unable to see it. The fact
that it gets to the point where the logon screen should come up,
suggests that it is, but I can't tell for sure without trying Remote.

I hear that the Apple OS is far more stable than Windows. Heck, the
Amiga operating system from 1986 was more stable, come to think of it.
Windows was just a third-rate version of those, at the time. It got off
the ground because, well... Big Blue.
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 10:22:21 -0400, Freewheeling wrote:

> Anyway, it's irksome but it'll get sorted out.

I saw Win XP Saturday fro the first time in my life. i'm not impressed. I
chenged the MB in my brothers box. XP wouldn't boot at all, not even into
command line mode. I knew from reading that a repair install should fix
it, but I couldn't get that option. After a little web searching dicovered
it won't work if you have Go Back installed and enabled, which he did.
Disabled that and then ran a repair install and got everything working.
So, boot the install cd and do a repair install. That should get it
working.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:31:19 -0400, Geena Phillips wrote:

> Freewheeling wrote:
>> BTW, if I get a new hard drive will Gates allow me to register my
>> operating system on it? Also, what if I change the CPU? With the way
>> hard drives crash I can't imagine that it'd be a problem, but you never
>> know with those guys.
>
> You know, the fact that you refer to Microsoft as "Gates" tells me
> roughly 90-plus percent of everything I'll EVER need to know about you.
>
And the fact that you quoted 120 lines just to write your stupid remark
and that your sigline of over 30 lines isn't setup properly tells me 100%
of everything I need to know about you.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

Wes Newell wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 10:22:21 -0400, Freewheeling wrote:
>
>> Anyway, it's irksome but it'll get sorted out.
>
> I saw Win XP Saturday fro the first time in my life. i'm not impressed. I
> chenged the MB in my brothers box. XP wouldn't boot at all, not even into
> command line mode. I knew from reading that a repair install should fix
> it, but I couldn't get that option. After a little web searching dicovered
> it won't work if you have Go Back installed and enabled, which he did.
> Disabled that and then ran a repair install and got everything working.
> So, boot the install cd and do a repair install. That should get it
> working.
>
I took the ATI board back. A question about the Sempron Socket 754
3000+. The processor speed is listed at 1.8Ghz, so strictly speaking
it's only marginally faster than the Thunderbird at 1.4Ghz. Would it be
advisable to get a newer motherboard *and* a faster CPU? Alternatively,
can the Sempron be overclocked to get it above 2.0 Ghz? If a new
motherboard, what would you suggest?

Also, there appear to be 2 flavors of the same CPU: 90nm SOI and 130nm
SOI. Does it matter which? Finally, will my board take a 754 pin?
It's supposed to be a Socket A. What's the difference? Just curious.
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 10:19:59 -0700, Freewheeling wrote:

> I took the ATI board back. A question about the Sempron Socket 754
> 3000+. The processor speed is listed at 1.8Ghz, so strictly speaking
> it's only marginally faster than the Thunderbird at 1.4Ghz. Would it be
> advisable to get a newer motherboard *and* a faster CPU? Alternatively,
> can the Sempron be overclocked to get it above 2.0 Ghz? If a new
> motherboard, what would you suggest?
>
don't get a socket 754 3000+, get the 3100+. It has twice the cache.
Either will clock well over 2GHz. I'm running a 3100+ at 2.1GHz now
(9x233) and i didn't even raise vcore from 1.35v And you can't compare the
1.4 of the old Tbird to 1.4 of a K8. Even at the same speed, the K8 will
be quite a bit faster. As for a 754 MB, I'd get one with Nforce 3-250
chipset or newer. If you want to consider an upgrade path I'd get a new
AM2 MB. The one I'm using now is excellent and has all the bels and
whistles you are likely to need for many years. it does require DDR2 ram
though. But it will run anything from a Sempron to an X2 dual core.

> Also, there appear to be 2 flavors of the same CPU: 90nm SOI and 130nm
> SOI. Does it matter which? Finally, will my board take a 754 pin? It's
> supposed to be a Socket A. What's the difference? Just curious.

No, your board won't take a 754 Sempron, and you don't want a socket A
Sempron because your board won't run at the default 166Mhz FSB speed. if
you want to use your board, you'll need a cpu with a default 133MHz fsb or
an unlocked model. upgrading your cpu is definately the cheapest route for
more cpu power, but if you want to not leave yourself stuck, then an AM2
MB and new cpu and ram won't cost too much if you start with a cheap CPU
that will still be much faster than your tbird 1400. I know. Too many
options.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

Wes Newell wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Aug 2006 10:19:59 -0700, Freewheeling wrote:
>
>> I took the ATI board back. A question about the Sempron Socket 754
>> 3000+. The processor speed is listed at 1.8Ghz, so strictly speaking
>> it's only marginally faster than the Thunderbird at 1.4Ghz. Would it be
>> advisable to get a newer motherboard *and* a faster CPU? Alternatively,
>> can the Sempron be overclocked to get it above 2.0 Ghz? If a new
>> motherboard, what would you suggest?
>>
> don't get a socket 754 3000+, get the 3100+. It has twice the cache.
> Either will clock well over 2GHz. I'm running a 3100+ at 2.1GHz now
> (9x233) and i didn't even raise vcore from 1.35v And you can't compare the
> 1.4 of the old Tbird to 1.4 of a K8. Even at the same speed, the K8 will
> be quite a bit faster. As for a 754 MB, I'd get one with Nforce 3-250
> chipset or newer. If you want to consider an upgrade path I'd get a new
> AM2 MB. The one I'm using now is excellent and has all the bels and
> whistles you are likely to need for many years. it does require DDR2 ram
> though. But it will run anything from a Sempron to an X2 dual core.
>
>> Also, there appear to be 2 flavors of the same CPU: 90nm SOI and 130nm
>> SOI. Does it matter which? Finally, will my board take a 754 pin? It's
>> supposed to be a Socket A. What's the difference? Just curious.
>
> No, your board won't take a 754 Sempron, and you don't want a socket A
> Sempron because your board won't run at the default 166Mhz FSB speed. if
> you want to use your board, you'll need a cpu with a default 133MHz fsb or
> an unlocked model. upgrading your cpu is definately the cheapest route for
> more cpu power, but if you want to not leave yourself stuck, then an AM2
> MB and new cpu and ram won't cost too much if you start with a cheap CPU
> that will still be much faster than your tbird 1400. I know. Too many
> options.
>
I noticed that the bios on my board allows you to increase the FSB speed
in 1 Mhz increments. I was sort of scared to try it, but basically
there's a menu item for +1Mhz or -1Mhz, and you apply it repeatedly. I
suppose one can't assume that this would actually work, but it's
interesting that the bios software allows it.
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what? 

On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 09:23:50 -0400, Freewheeling wrote:

> I noticed that the bios on my board allows you to increase the FSB speed
> in 1 Mhz increments. I was sort of scared to try it, but basically
> there's a menu item for +1Mhz or -1Mhz, and you apply it repeatedly. I
> suppose one can't assume that this would actually work, but it's
> interesting that the bios software allows it.

Yes, and newer boards lock the other buses down so that changing the FSB
doesn't get them out of spec. However older boards like yours didn't do
that so when you change the FSB, you also effect the other buses in the
system. Some boards allow setting the dividers of the bus speeds up to a
max the chipset supported. The divider for the via 266 chipset is 4:2:1,
at a 133MHz FSB. Meaning the FSB is divided by 4 for the nominal PCI bus
speed of 33MHz. The 2 representes a multipler of the PCI bus spee for the
nominal AGP bus speed of 66MHz and the 1 is for the ram bus speed. Divide
or multiply the FSB. Either way, it runs at the same speeds as the FSB.
Messing with the FSB speed gets tricky without a system lock on the other
buses, but it's possible to to raise it some on any system if it's allowed
in the bios.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
 >> Stay informed about: Upgrade? And if so, what?