[kkj1961]

Hi. I know that XBMC currently only makes use of 2 cores, but the pc I'll looking at only has Quad Core options for the processor. Would a Q6600 or Q6700 be fine, or do I need to upgrade to something like the Q9300 to make sure I can get smooth 1080p playback??

Thanks!

Kevin

[alienagenda]

yes, a 2.4Ghz clock speed can do it.
see this post.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthrea...st15194709
you can see a 2.5Ghz dual core can handle 1080 mkv.

ignore any reference to offloading to the GPU since xbmc doesnt do it yet.

if its just a HTPC dont go overboard with graphics cards etc.
buy a board with a build in GPU.

[nekrosoft13]

yes, a 2.4Ghz clock speed can do it.
see this post.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthrea...st15194709
you can see a 2.5Ghz dual core can handle 1080 mkv.

ignore any reference to offloading to the GPU since xbmc doesnt do it yet.

if its just a HTPC dont go overboard with graphics cards etc.
buy a board with a build in GPU.

my 2.9ghz overclocked AMD, can play 1080p content perfectly outside of XBMC, but not in XBMC.

so there is more to it

[kkj1961]

Ok, that helps. I was actually going to upgrade the graphics card, since I do some gaming, and you never know, XBMC might start accessing the GPU at some point.

[ashlar]

my 2.9ghz overclocked AMD, can play 1080p content perfectly outside of XBMC, but not in XBMC.

so there is more to it

AMD sucks at videodecoding, simple. And I've been a good AMD customer but in the past couple of years they've really dropped the ball IMHO

[kkj1961]

my 2.9ghz overclocked AMD, can play 1080p content perfectly outside of XBMC, but not in XBMC.

so there is more to it

Interesting. I'm using a mac mini right now with Plex (xbmc branch). It's only 1.83 C2D, but plays 1080p pretty well. There is some stuttering though during slow pans and zooms. I was hoping by going to windows and a higher processor speed I would eliminate those issues. Based on your response, maybe not. What issues do you have with 1080p in XBMC?

Kevin

[nekrosoft13]

kind of realized that now, but the point stands, outside of XBMC I can play those files with no GPU acceleration fine, at about 50-70%. in XBMC is maxes out at about 88-97% CPU and either audio goes out of sync, frames skip or motion blurs.

[nekrosoft13]

What issues do you have with 1080p in XBMC?

Kevin

read up more about it here
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=41483

I was actually considering buying Quad Core Phenon to see that helps.

[ashlar]

kind of realized that now, but the point stands, outside of XBMC I can play those files with no GPU acceleration fine, at about 50-70%. in XBMC is maxes out at about 88-97% CPU and either audio goes out of sync, frames skip or motion blurs.

Are you using CoreAVC outside XBMC?

[nekrosoft13]

no, vista codec pack, audio and video is handled by FFDSHOW.

[ashlar]

no, vista codec pack, audio and video is handled by FFDSHOW.

well, that's strange. ffdshow is based on ffmpeg if I'm not mistaken, same as XBMC.

[nekrosoft13]

i know it is strange, i'm trying to figure out what is causing it. but if i need more brute CPU power maybe phenon will help.

I need the note on top of the forum about GPU acceleration, this really should be on top of their to do list.

[Louike]

AMD sucks at videodecoding, simple. And I've been a good AMD customer but in the past couple of years they've really dropped the ball IMHO

No way, my X2 6000+ plays 1080p perfectly smooth with 80% load.

I did found out my system reacts very bad to ajustments in brightness and contrast so i changed my tv settings a bit.

[ashlar]

No way, my X2 6000+ plays 1080p perfectly smooth with 80% load.

Architecturally speaking X2s are inferior to C2D, there's nothing to discuss. It's a widely accepted fact. And, frankly, there's nothing to discuss because I don't find the discussion very interesting.

[rernst]

AMD sucks at videodecoding, simple. And I've been a good AMD customer but in the past couple of years they've really dropped the ball IMHO

AMD doesn't do any video decoding for XBMC at all sicne XBMC doesn't use hardware support.