[Gareth82]

Hi Guys, i have got a HTPC with window 7 ultimate 64bit running XBMC Eden which has got a Pentium 4 2.80GHz and ATI Radeon HD 5400 card installed.

I need some help with which would be the best render setting to choose in the XBMC settings so that media playback runs smooth, especially 1080P. I have got the option Auto detect, Software, Pixel Shaders, and DXVA.

Any ideas on which setting i would be best to use, it's currently set to Auto detect as default but i'm not sure if that is giving me the best quality playback.

Thanks

[PatK]

Use DXVA which should take some of the cpu load off (ensure in your CCC settings you don't have anything but smooth playback toggled). When playing a movie.. hit the keyboard 'O' key to see what sort of load is on your CPU & GPU, (look for frame drops) you should be able to balance accordingly. When looking at 1080p files, be aware that depending on the encode (codecs, compression and container format) will determine your smooth playback, some 1080p videos will play smoothly while others might struggle. Google search kill-a-sample, it's a short but very intensive clip from the planet earth series that will tax any system if it's video challenged.

[Gareth82]

Thanks for the reply PatK.

I will use the render you suggested and see how it goes. One more thing, what are the CCC settings you mentioned? I'm new to XBMC so i'm just figuring out all of the features and settings etc...

Thanks

[tman12]

CCC = Catlyst Control Center for your ATI card. Typically helpful to turn all the extra settings off and use the "let the player control" options.