2GB Ram or 4GB Ram

I'm upgrading my HTPC. Mostly I use it as a DVR, using MCE2005 as the OS. It has a 3.2GHz processor, and 80GB and 1TB SATA HDs.

Can I suffice with 2GB of RAM, or should I order 4GB?

What about 3?

LOL zr2152.

[quoteaf52b8d0af]Can I suffice with 2GB of RAM, or should I order 4GB?[/quoteaf52b8d0af]
doylnea,
If I were you, I would just go ahead with 4. Especially if you are recording. Double Especially if you are recording HD. Triple Especially if your capture card does not have built in encoding, Quadruple Especially if you are going to be recording more than 1 stream at a time.


when it comes to HTPC's The more RAM the merrier.

Get 4. Ram is pretty cheap right now.

My video capture card is the Hauppauge PVR500 which has dual tuners onboard that do their own processing. However, I don't think I can use it for HD, which blows.

I found a deal yesterday for 4GB pf PC2-6400 for $45AR, which is more than double what I'd pay for 2GB, but I suppose I can rationalize the purchase by knowing that I'm future-proofing by buying the PC2-6400 instead of PC2-3200.

what you should really do
Upgrade to a 64 bit edition of Windows (unless your version is already 64 bit), and then get 8 gigs of RAM. shock

Sure, I'd be happy to do that. I'll check my paypal in the next couple of hours for your $200 donation.

[quoted4fda4010a="doylnea"]Sure, I'd be happy to do that. I'll check my paypal in the next couple of hours for your $200 donation.[/quoted4fda4010a]

Haha, The FIPG "Get Doylnea's System Pimped" donation fund. Can I set one up too?

In all seriousness, I would also go with 4. The price is slightly higher, but i think in the long run it will save you time and just be more beneficial.

BTW, How do you like you Hauppauge? I was looking to get the Hauppauge 1178 WinTV-HVR-1600

http//www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-WinTV-HVR-1600-Vista-Premium-Certified-Definition/dp/B000MGGTY8/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1205383017&sr=8-1

what do you think?

Well, I'll agree that you should just go ahead with 4GB given the minimal cost difference, but zr's comment about 3GB actually has merit. If you're running a 32-bit OS, you're only going to have access to ~3.0-3.2GB anyway. You won't see the full 4GB until you go to a 64-bit OS. But again, having 4GB allows you to utilize every last drop your system can see, and then if/when you move to 64-bit you benefit from the entire 4GB.

I [ba6e3c68e41][ia6e3c68e41]do[/ia6e3c68e41][/ba6e3c68e41] have a copy of Vista Business, but I don't know if I can tweak it enough to run as Vista Ultimate, which is what I'd like to use for the OS. I've searched, but can't find a guide on how to do that, anyone have a link?

D,

If I were you and considering an upgrade, you might as well go with 4 just in case you DO find a way to run V. Premium. Getting 4 wouldn't hurt you and I'm sure the price difference won't put a dent in your pocket.

When bought my laptop a few months ago, it came standard with 3 and the only 4 GB systems run at 64-bit. But like dmorris said, you won't utilize 4 running the system you are now.

In conclusion, go with 4 just in case wink

This might help

http//windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/3af7e05f-4d2a-4af7-a168-9242f9093bb81033.mspx

[quotec8722fe687="doylnea"]I [bc8722fe687][ic8722fe687]do[/ic8722fe687][/bc8722fe687] have a copy of Vista Business, but I don't know if I can tweak it enough to run as Vista Ultimate, which is what I'd like to use for the OS. I've searched, but can't find a guide on how to do that, anyone have a link?[/quotec8722fe687]
No, you can't tweak Vista Business into Vista Ultimate. Vista retail (and most OEM) installation media contains all versions, but the product key determines the version it will install, and you can't reliably "cannibalize" components from one version to build another version. People tried this with XP Home vs Pro and it didn't work. License violations aside, you might obtain a subset of additional functionality, but the differences are more than just replacing a couple of files.

Why would you want to? Are you trying to get Media Center (which Business doesn't have) for HTPC purposes? I'd suggest a more reliable solution would be to spring for Home Premium instead, it's not terribly expensive. If by chance you were referring to the RAM issue, it wouldn't make a difference -- Ultimate doesn't equal 64-bit, it's till 32-bit unless of course you actually have a 64-bit version.

I should make it clear again that I still encourage 4GB even if a 32-bit system can't handle it, and all of my recent builds and laptop purchases are 4GB machines. Because frankly the price is cheap enough, and you can [ic8722fe687]potentially[/ic8722fe687] gain a little from the extra 250MB or so beyond 3.0GB that your system can probably use.

The reality is that very very few applications utilize more than 2GB, so the primary benefit comes from multitasking multiple memory-hungry apps.

As you guessed, I was looking for Media Center out of Vista Ultimate, since that's not in Vista Business. I think for now, having just bought a HD, Case and RAM, I may wait on the new OS, and just use MCE2005 for the time being.

However, I'm going to need an HD PVR card as well, and at that point, I'm just about buying a new system anyway. I only have two PCI slots on the board, and one PCI-e. I have a Chaintech audio card leaving only one PCI slot for the PVR card, which is why I have the PVR500MCE right now. My preference would be to have a dual HD tuner card, but I don't think they make them, so I may go with the ATI HD Wonder card instead, and settle for one HD and one SD tuner.

save money use linux linuxMCE FTW.
(or just mythtv if you dont want a crazy slew of features like Zedwave support)
you can try these dedicated myth installs
knoppmyth
mythbuntu
mythdora

or go all out and download LinuxMCE for free.
and I beleive they all come in 64 bit edition.

http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2176025602905109829
/drool

[quotee2e6a05b5e="chrisrulesall"]save money use linux linuxMCE FTW.
(or just mythtv if you dont want a crazy slew of features like Zedwave support)
you can try these dedicated myth installs
knoppmyth
mythbuntu
mythdora

or go all out and download LinuxMCE for free.
and I beleive they all come in 64 bit edition.

http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2176025602905109829
/drool[/quotee2e6a05b5e]

I have heard alot of things about mythtv. Seems really awesome. though I have not had a chance to try it out. But if you want a good media center system, look into that.

I tried out them all except mythdora
knoppmyth is VERY easy to install. lacks a little update functionality though
mythbuntu has an awesome updater. Keeps everything in tune. I liked it a lot. I used it primarily. Its clean, robust, and interesting.

Linux MCE is just friggin awesome. I did have the most trouble setting it all up though. I also had a hard time getting my Happauge IR Remote to work with it. The UI is a little crummy sometimes as far as design gos. and its still buggy. But I did like it alot. It did find all of my networked drives, and other computer shared folders on windows, instantly though. I was able to start browsing through all the media on all of my network.

If you like to play around with linux. it can be a fun experience. If you dont like to play around with vista. it can be more of a hassle.

I've used MythTV for years, since long before the Myth distros. Building machines up from scratch and getting them running was a lot of work back then, but the distros make it a lot easier. Still, I got away from MythTV and HTPC's in general, because with digital converter boxes for satellite and then cable, and then the advent of dedicated and user-friendly components like DVR's and streaming media servers, it was just too much of a hassle -- so I retired Myth awhile ago. I also played around with early releases of LinuxMCE but it was very rough around the edges back then. I would certainly go back to Myth before I would use Microsoft MCE, but at this point, for my setup, there really isn't any value or benefit in running an HTPC.

My HD DVR's take care of all TV recording/playback, and my PS3 is a fantastic frontend to my Linux NAS box running MediaTomb for streaming audio/video.

go with 2gb. 4gb would be overkill

[quotecfbb26b986="baseball"]go with 2gb. 4gb would be overkill[/quotecfbb26b986]

shock

[quote2389084e7c="baseball"]go with 2gb. 4gb would be overkill[/quote2389084e7c]
Umm, no. Maybe for what you do, but don't assume others don't need more than you. Given the cheap cost of RAM today, there is virtually NO reason not to take advantage of 4GB.

HTPC's do a lot of memory intensive work, such as ripping, encoding, transcoding, managing recording and playback across multiple tuners, etc.. 2GB would be considered bare minimum for an XP-based box, and insufficient on a Vista box IMO.

which one?

SUPER TALENT 4GB (2 x 2GB) $43.99
TWINX MEMORY / CORSAIR 4GB DDR2 PC6400 $44.99

I'm thinking Corsair, because their rebates are much faster.

I have always gone with corsair. I've never heard of super talent, so I can't say yay or nay on those.

Corsair is usually good stuff. Super Talent too, but I'd give the edge to Corsair. However you might want to look around to confirm your mobo likes Corsair -- some don't. Either Corsair's site, or mobo forums/newsgroups, should be able to give you an idea.

Corsair

Ended up with 4GB Kingston for $35 AR.

Good god, I can remember being ecstatic about a 512MB stick of PC2700 for $30AR 4 years ago.