2012-02-18, 18:50
Hi guys, I don't want to take it too far off topic, but since limited discussion of video hardware as it pertains to these HD audio builds is permitted, I wanted to provide some quick input.
I added an HD6450 to my system (an i3 with iGPU) and this is what I observe relative to the change;
1. HD audio formats work exactly as they did with the iGPU. I get HD audio bitstreaming of all audio formats. If I sync both content and display, I still get audio dropouts (of Dolby True-HD only) with the Radeon card, just like with the Intel.
2. With the option of "match refresh rate to source" I get the same exact number of frame drops with the Radeon card as I did with the Intel iGPU, about 2 frame drops every 7 or so minutes. I have not been able to quantify yet whether or not the frame drops are more or less noticeable with the Radeon card vs. the Intel video hardware.
3. When I start playback with DXVA enabled, I see a brief moment of macro blocking at the beginning of playback, similar to what the Intel did. However, after initial macro blocking the picture is fine. With the Intel if DXVA enabled the picture is unwatchable, although it's fine with DXVA turned off and only uses about 25% CPU.
4. I am seeing a lot of the same driver weirdness with Radeon that I saw with my last go round. For example. I set the overscan to 0 for the desktop resolution of 1080p/60. When I started playback of a 1080p/23.976 movie, the video had overscan applied. I had to go in, change the desktop resolution to 1080p/23 and then manually set the overscan for that resolution. Very very annoying as it looks like I will have to do this for every video resolution. Scaling in the video card is not an option for me. My $4000 TV does a better job of scaling video than the $30 Radeon card so I want the TV to do this work.
I will concede that FF/REW seeking is better with the Radeon than with the onboard Intel graphics.
So, if you want better FF/REW get a Radeon, but be prepared to screw around with the drivers a lot (I spent a LOT of time just tricking the drivers into letting me disable all of the graphics adjustment garbage).
Otherwise, there is no real advantage over the onboard Intel hardware.
I added an HD6450 to my system (an i3 with iGPU) and this is what I observe relative to the change;
1. HD audio formats work exactly as they did with the iGPU. I get HD audio bitstreaming of all audio formats. If I sync both content and display, I still get audio dropouts (of Dolby True-HD only) with the Radeon card, just like with the Intel.
2. With the option of "match refresh rate to source" I get the same exact number of frame drops with the Radeon card as I did with the Intel iGPU, about 2 frame drops every 7 or so minutes. I have not been able to quantify yet whether or not the frame drops are more or less noticeable with the Radeon card vs. the Intel video hardware.
3. When I start playback with DXVA enabled, I see a brief moment of macro blocking at the beginning of playback, similar to what the Intel did. However, after initial macro blocking the picture is fine. With the Intel if DXVA enabled the picture is unwatchable, although it's fine with DXVA turned off and only uses about 25% CPU.
4. I am seeing a lot of the same driver weirdness with Radeon that I saw with my last go round. For example. I set the overscan to 0 for the desktop resolution of 1080p/60. When I started playback of a 1080p/23.976 movie, the video had overscan applied. I had to go in, change the desktop resolution to 1080p/23 and then manually set the overscan for that resolution. Very very annoying as it looks like I will have to do this for every video resolution. Scaling in the video card is not an option for me. My $4000 TV does a better job of scaling video than the $30 Radeon card so I want the TV to do this work.
I will concede that FF/REW seeking is better with the Radeon than with the onboard Intel graphics.
So, if you want better FF/REW get a Radeon, but be prepared to screw around with the drivers a lot (I spent a LOT of time just tricking the drivers into letting me disable all of the graphics adjustment garbage).
Otherwise, there is no real advantage over the onboard Intel hardware.