[mythtv-users] [Mythtv-Users] Digital TV Cards. USB V PCI V PCIE

[Brian Wood]

Chris Henderson wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> After a lot of reading i need a bit of clarification on the different
> architecture types for TV tuners.
> I am not looking at brands here just performance. Mainly because i have
> to move soon and i am not going to have the space for my Mythdora
> frontend and backend system. I am really left with moving to a combined
> FE/BE system in a Shuttle box and that does not have room for the 4
> capture cards i want to run with.
> 
> Also i an specifically talking about Digital TV cards. (both SD & HD,
> but i really only record SD here in melbourne, Aust)
> 
> The main players are USB, PCI & PCI-E
> 
> From what i have read the fastest is PCI-e, no surprise there. But what
> did surprise me is that USB is better than PCI.
> 
> This is the part that i dont understand, i know that all the PCI slots
> on a MoBo share bandwidth, so i guess you could flood the bus with 2 or
> 3 dual tuner cards.
> 
> But the post i read (for the life of me i cant find it now) said that
> USB is better that PCI.
> I know that USB devices share the bandwidth of the controller, and that
> there are usually more than one controller on a MoBo, but is this true.
> 
> Lets get specific here, i want 4 tuners (Aust tv stations dont play nice
> so i have to put a 14min wrapper on each show to make sure i get it)
> that gives me two options (well only one really as the shuttle only has
> one PCI slot, but bare with me)
> 
> 1. 4x USB tuners (prob dvico nanos) on two separate controllers running
> through a powered USB hub each.
> 2. 2x dual tuner cards ( isnt the second tuner card on these USB
> anyway?????)
> 
> can anyone clear this up for me?

The ever-present question: are you talking about SD or HD tuners?

I have four PVR-150 cards on a standard 33Mhz. 32-bit "consumer" type
PCI bus and I have no problems is all are in use at the same time for SD
recordings.

The only thing even remotely non-standard I'm doing is a RAID0 array for
recording. I don't think this is really necessary though.