[ubergoten]

Hey everyone,

I'm building a new HTPC and I'm wondering if I should go with XP or Windows 7. I hear something about ATI cards and DVWX2 not available on XP, is that a big deal? What does that do?

Are there any reasons that I shouldn't use XP/should use 7?!

I have an intel e5300, ati 5450hd card, 2gb ddr3 ram, and yeah- so any help is appreciated! Thanks!!

[maruchan]

With Windows 7, you will be able to use XBMC's DXVA2 decoding, which allows you to decode h.264 and possibly other formats, using your GPU. Otherwise, you'll have to use your CPU to decode video. To use DXVA under Windows XP, you'll have to look into the DSPlayer branch. With 7, you'll also be able to use WASAPI for audio.

Really, the only advantage I see to running XP over 7 is that you can customize a lot of the elements to make it more "set-top box-esque"... by replacing the windows boot screen with an xbmc one, etc.

[jhsrennie]

Windows 7 would be the sensible choice as hardware acceleration¹ is not available on XP.

JR

¹ in the trunk version of XBMC

[Lister of Smeg]

Basically what maruchan & jhsrennie said.

The only thing i would add is that your CPU is probably powerful enough to handle 1080p on its own so XP is an option if you choose.

Win7 is the better choice though as the GPU decoding of the later nightlies & svn's would allow for cooler running of your HTPC.

Your e5300 might use upto 60-80% usage on high bitrate 1080p files which would mean the CPU cooler spinning like a turbine

[paul]

Windows 7 is the best option by far it plays everything i throw at my asrock ion pc fantastic for the money £310 including operating system, so yes get yourself windows 7
you won't regret it.

[>>X<<]

There's no reason you cant use XP if its a case of already having it and not wanting to fork out on Win7 but as maruchan said you have to run DSPlayer branch to get hardware decoding which is exactly what I run on an Asrock Ion

[christoofar]

If you DO decide to step up to Win 7, I would recommend getting the 32 bit over 64 bit, as it is more friendly to drivers & other apps, at least in my experience. I'm using Win 7 Pro 32bit with both nighly XBMC builds & Boxee on my HTPC & both work well together. Also you can use WASAPI audio in Win7.