Hi everyone,
Some time ago I bought a HTPC from my friend, but I wasn't able to play any 1080p-movies with it using XBMC.
I had to resort to using Windows 7 Media Center with the CoreAVC-codec to get those movies to play on my HTPC. I have a 42" Full HD Plasma TV, which is why I'm wanting the 1080p-experience.
I'm not really liking the W7MC-interface and would much rather be using XBMC, but I know that I would need to upgrade my system, I just don't know what needs upgrading… (This HTPC is the first Windows-machine I've ever owned, after a long line of Macs, so I've never opened or even upgraded computer hardware, but I'm curious and willing to learn).
This is what's in my HTPC now:
Motherboard: ASUS M2NPV-MX :
More info
CPU: Dualcore AMD Athlon 64 X2 2200 Mhz 4200+ :
More info
- NVIDIA GeForce 6150 + nForce 430 (Integrated motherboard GPU)
- 1 GB RAM
- Windows 7
- 40 GB harddrive (connected to 1 TB Samba server)
Does anyone know what my options are to increase the performance on my machine so I can use XBMC to play my HD-content?
a new gpu is the only change needed. and maybe some more ram, i dunno if 1gb is enough on memory hungry windows.
spiff Wrote:a new gpu is the only change needed. and maybe some more ram, i dunno if 1gb is enough on memory hungry windows.
Thanks for the advice!
As I'm new to the Windows-scene and don't know what I should get, do you have any advice as to what GPU might fulfill my needs?
More RAM might indeed be a good idea, but as soon as I get 1080p working in XBMC I'm probably switching back to XP which should help, I guess.
Why would you want to downgrade from Win7 to XP? A retrograde step.
GPU - Depends on what you want to do with it - if its only for HTPC (no gaming) consider either an ATI 5450 or Nvidia GT220/240.
steelman1991 Wrote:Why would you want to downgrade from Win7 to XP? A retrograde step.
I would think that with only 1 gig of RAM, I would be better off using XP as I presume it uses less memory to stay active in the background than Win7. No?
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into those cards you mentioned.
I won't be doing any hardcore gaming with the HTPC, just some casual emulated games.
No one is ever better off using XP. 7 will run just fine on that. You're better off with 7 anyway so that you can take advantage of DXVA2 rendering for one thing. Get one of the cards listed above, another gb or so of RAM, and you'll be golden.
You could swap out the 40GB hdd for an SSD. 1GB of RAM is OK on my ION box but I have killed the explorer shell and replaced it with eventghost instead and it seems to have around 300MB free, even with 256MB being dedicated to the GPU.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
I opened my computer earlier (first look at the insides of my HTPC and BOY was it dusty!) and saw it had 1 PCIe x16 slot available and 2 PCI-slots used for my TV-card and my Wifi-card. Looking at the specs of the GPUs suggested I make an observation: they need PCIe 2.0 or 2.1 and I can't seem to find any mention of the "2.0"-part on the asus-site…
Am I screwed?
Any words of wisdom and/or consolation?
you cannot use xp, we don't support hw (gpu) decode there.
BastienVH Wrote:Thanks for the advice everyone.
I opened my computer earlier (first look at the insides of my HTPC and BOY was it dusty!) and saw it had 1 PCIe x16 slot available and 2 PCI-slots used for my TV-card and my Wifi-card. Looking at the specs of the GPUs suggested I make an observation: they need PCIe 2.0 or 2.1 and I can't seem to find any mention of the "2.0"-part on the asus-site…
Am I screwed?
Any words of wisdom and/or consolation?
No, you are not screwed.
PCIe 2.0 motherboard slots are fully backward compatible with PCIe v1.x cards. PCIe 2.0 cards are also generally backward compatible with PCIe 1.x motherboards, using the available bandwidth of PCI Express 1.1. Overall, graphic cards or motherboards designed for v 2.0 will be able to work with the other being v 1.1 or v 1.0.
spiff Wrote:you cannot use xp, we don't support hw (gpu) decode there.
He can use DSPlayer though. But using Windows 7 with XBMC built-in DXVA is a lot more convenient and with 2 GB RAM and a ATI 5450 it will run smoothly.
Handa Wrote:No, you are not screwed.
PCIe 2.0 motherboard slots are fully backward compatible with PCIe v1.x cards. PCIe 2.0 cards are also generally backward compatible with PCIe 1.x motherboards, using the available bandwidth of PCI Express 1.1. Overall, graphic cards or motherboards designed for v 2.0 will be able to work with the other being v 1.1 or v 1.0.
That's a big relief! Will the difference in available bandwidth be an issue when playing back files in which the videocard has to do the work or will it work fine?
Handa Wrote:He can use DSPlayer though. But using Windows 7 with XBMC built-in DXVA is a lot more convenient and with 2 GB RAM and a ATI 5450 it will run smoothly.
I tried to go the DSPlayer-route because I thought I could point the xml-file to a player which used the CoreAVC to decode but that was just a big loss of time, I never got it going, so I'd like to steer clear of that…
I don't think I'm gonna go for SSD as all my movies are on my server, so I'm guessing it won't improve anything.
Thanks for the help everyone.
P.S.: Out of the suggested GPUs (ATI 5450, Nvidia GT220 or GT240), is there one that is preferred?
Are there other GPUs you can recommend?
P.P.S.: I'm leaving for a short holiday (one week), so I won't be able to read or reply to your posts, but I am very interested in your opinions and wisdom and will check on the forum as quickly as possible!
nvidia seems all around better for video playback, less hassle all around.
That being said, recent Dharma builds with recent ATI drivers have been pretty much perfect for me (fanless 5450 in the main HTPC, ION as the secondary).
The 5xxx ATI Cards also have built in sound for 7.1 PCM output over HDMI... if it weren't for ATI's screwy video accelleration, I'd fully recommend them...
nathanjones Wrote:nvidia seems all around better for video playback, less hassle all around.
That being said, recent Dharma builds with recent ATI drivers have been pretty much perfect for me (fanless 5450 in the main HTPC, ION as the secondary).
The 5xxx ATI Cards also have built in sound for 7.1 PCM output over HDMI... if it weren't for ATI's screwy video accelleration, I'd fully recommend them...
I keep reading about all this hassle users have with ATI cards, I've had 2, a 4670 and 5450 and had no problems with either - guess I'm just lucky.
Also tried an Nvidia GT240 (Still got it if your interested Bastien?)
BastienVH Wrote:P.S.: Out of the suggested GPUs (ATI 5450, Nvidia GT220 or GT240), is there one that is preferred?
Are there other GPUs you can recommend?
I've got 2 gt240's, I can't fault em. I had a g210 too (which worked well in mpc-hc but at the time xbmc didn't have DXVA support, but i don't see why it wouldn't work), but I wanted to do a little gaming, so I sold it.
The g210, gt220, gt240 and I guess any newer nvidia has 7.1LPCM too.
Again, thanks for all the input!
I'm getting closer to the solution by the hour!
steelman1991 Wrote:Also tried an Nvidia GT240 (Still got it if your interested Bastien?)
You've got PM
