cdw3423

I wasn't planning on spending that much on the computer, it's just that as long as the computer cost that or less, I am doing better than those $2000 DVRs that only do 8 cameras as 30fps D1. I was looking at putting together a machine for more like $500 with parts from newegg Are you sure I need PCI Express slots? I thought that card was just standard PCI? Also I was looking at the specs on the NV8416 E4. It says it needs a PCI express x4 slot. It's hard to find a mother board that has that unless it is one of the new i5 / i7 boards. Would it work in a machine with 2 PCI express x16 slots for dual video cards and use on of the x16 slots for this board? or will it work in the more common x1 slots?

I have been doing a lot of research into stand alone DVR and DVR Cards. It sure does seem hard to find clear details on what the various ones can do. Anyway here is what I want to do. I want to record in high res (4CIF/D1) high FPS, on probably 6 cameras. I may want more cameras in the future but for at least the short term it will be no more than 8. It seems the cheapest I can get a standalone DVR to do that is around $2,200. I have seen the NV7480 for around $750 at a few places online. That leaves me with $1,250 for a computer which is very easy to do. Since this card has hardware compression I don't need all that powerful of a CPU. That seems like a lot better deal to me. I also understand the software is a lot more flexible than what a stand alone DVR would have. With the 7480 I can have as many as 16 cameras, although that would cut my FPS down to 15 which still isn't bad. I have also looked at Geovision and Nuuo. It doesn't seem like they have a product that is as good of a deal. Am I missing anything? Should I look into other cards or stand alone DVRs? Chris W