I have a fully working MCE 2005 system using an ATI HD Wonder (2004 PCI version) and I would like to add another PCI tuner (was considering the Avermedia AVerTVHD MCE A180)
I want to be able to record two OTA ATSC HD broadcasts at the same time but I am worried that my PC may not be able to keep up.  I only need to record at the same time, not time-shift or watch one while recording (although that would be nice but not necessary)

1. Are my hard drives fast enough? 
2. Is it better to record on seperate drives or on same one? 
3. Does slave/master setting usually matter in this case?
4. Do I need a dual-core CPU?
5. Any other compatability issues I need to know about?

My current specs are:

Athlon XP 2400+ 2.0Ghz 133FSB
Asus A7V333 motherboard KT333 chipset using onboard sound
1 GB Kingston PC2700 memory
ATI 9600PRO 256MB AGP 4X Video Card
2 WD1600 7200rpm 8MB ATA drives

Thanks for your help!

Nah, in order to get a nice HD experience, you'll need a new CPU (atleast a dual-core), video card(atleast a Geforce 7600), and more ram (atleast 2GB). Not to mention you'll want a higher bus speed, 133 is very low compared to today. Your PC is a dinosaur.

You can do it, but you probably won't like the experience. Especially with that video card.

bummer, i was afraid of that.  Anyone else had any experience recording 2 HD shows on a older rig like mine?
my ancient PC parts are so perfect for a quiet, cool-running Media Center but it's certainly not great at major multitasking.
I was hoping that the dual tuners might not be a problem except for data transfer to the hard drive(s) which might be overcome with a 10,000 RPM drive but maybe the FSB will be the main bottleneck...

Perhaps i'd be better off just putting the new Avermedia tuner in my dual-core rig and just transferring the capture to the MCE PC to watch on the HDTV?
hmmmmm

My rig a couple months ago:

Athlon XP-M 2600+ 2.4ghz

768GB RAM

GeForce 6600GT 128MB AGP 8x

500GB 7200RPM Seagate

Fusion HDTV3 GoldT

Avermedia A180

KWorld HD PCI 115 x 2

I can get all 4 ATSC tuners recording simultaneously without any problems.

 

I've since swapped out the graphics card for an ATI HD 3650 and added a LG Blu-Ray/HD DVD drive and everything's working just fine.

laggytoad:

bummer, i was afraid of that.  Anyone else had any experience recording 2 HD shows on a older rig like mine?
my ancient PC parts are so perfect for a quiet, cool-running Media Center but it's certainly not great at major multitasking.
I was hoping that the dual tuners might not be a problem except for data transfer to the hard drive(s) which might be overcome with a 10,000 RPM drive but maybe the FSB will be the main bottleneck...

Perhaps i'd be better off just putting the new Avermedia tuner in my dual-core rig and just transferring the capture to the MCE PC to watch on the HDTV?
hmmmmm

I'd say it's upgrade time, friend.  My desktop (specs in sig) has... issues with HD content:  pause/rewind results in major hangs & stuttering (with Live HD.)  Recorded plays back fine (pause/rewind and all), though. Combination of a slower proc, low RAM, slow FSB, and a dated videocard make for an 'iffy' HD experience; and, upgrading anything on it is so expensive these days that it's just not worth it.  It's time (for both myself and you) to build a new system.  A Raptor isn't going to help - HDD I/O isn't the bottleneck.  The system itself is the bottleneck.
The server box, though, can handle multiple simultaneous HD recordings/viewings (I've pushed it to four active QAM tuners for testing with no issues; real-world, regularly runs three with no problems.)

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~Chris
'nearly every day of my life is some kind of computer hell'

Desktop: Shuttle SN41 (AthlonXP 2700+), AIW, T550, PVR-USB2, HDHR; server: Intel E6400 on I965P mobo, 2GB RAM, 2x 500GB WD, PVR500, NV DualTV, Saber2020, 2xHDHR; Xbox MCX, Xbox360

gman4911:

 

768GB RAM

 

 

Am I reading this right?

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Yep! Im Tall