Windows vs Linux h264-decoding performance
#1
Has anyone noticed a performance difference between windows and linux - in favor of windows regardless of which player I use?

Myself, I have way better performance in Windows XP SP3 than in Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. That wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't so that XBMC has the jitters in windows and can't playback anything smoothly while the linux version runs perfectly smoot except for dropped frames.

Hardware:
Nforce 630i-/Geforce 7100-based motherboard
C2D E6420 @ ~2.5ghz
2gb PC6400
Radeon HD4550 (but the perfomance difference is there using the integrated graphics as well)
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#2
Please try testing at 3ghz. I had dropped frames in Linux on some content and certainly on Killa sample until I pushed to 3ghz, at that point things became pretty smooth.
Openelec Gotham, MCE remote(s), Intel i3 NUC, DVDs fed from unRAID cataloged by DVD Profiler. HD-DVD encoded with Handbrake to x.264. Yamaha receiver(s)
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#3
BLKMGK Wrote:Please try testing at 3ghz. I had dropped frames in Linux on some content and certainly on Killa sample until I pushed to 3ghz, at that point things became pretty smooth.

I think I answered you in another thread... Can't overclock that much.
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#4
You ought to be able to squeeze more than 300mhz out of it. Some folks are reporting at higher than 3ghz so I'd think you could at least get 2.8 - what speed is your memory running and what is it's spec?
Openelec Gotham, MCE remote(s), Intel i3 NUC, DVDs fed from unRAID cataloged by DVD Profiler. HD-DVD encoded with Handbrake to x.264. Yamaha receiver(s)
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#5
please don't encourage our users to overclock their systems. not everyone is comfortable with it as easy as it may be for you.

lolita, how many threads are you going to start asking the same question? if you're comparing non-xbmc windows players then it's likely that you're seeing some gpu acceleration. if you're comparing xbmc to xbmc (win vs linux) then it could be an opengl issue. it's tough to say without having the system in front of me and you don't seem to be getting much agreement from other users in any of the threads you've started.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#6
It got a bit spread out and I'm sorry for that. But I don't think anyone had told me that they've not experienced the same thing.

The thing is that the behaviour is in applications using livavcodec (xbmc, ffdshow, vlc and so on) which seems very strange to me since it was developed for linux primarily?
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#7
Hi,

I can confirm this bahaviour. When I look at Windows' XBMC, the decoding seems to be distributed more equally across both cores (never getting much above 80%), while under linux one cpu hits 100%, whereas the other core is <20%.

Core2Duo [email protected] (underclocked)
nVidia GeForce 7600GT

Regards,
riker77
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#8
Here is my experience with performance issues:

- Nforce 8200 based system
- Athlon X2 5050e @ 2.6 GHz
- 1 GB RAM DDR800

- XBMC 8.10 on WinXP SP2, latest stable Nvidia drivers
Some samples at 1080p. Nearly no frames dropped. OSD states avg. CPU usage between 50-80%.
When run windowed I can see in the task manager that both cores are used equally more or less.

- XBMC 8.10 on Ubuntu 8.10, Nvidia driver 177.x and 180.x
Same samples at 1080p. Much more frames dropped. OSD states each core separately. One core is used upto 100% while the other is idling at 50%.

Seems to me an issue in libavcodec and threading on multicore systems.

Any idea? Known problem?


mulder77
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#9
Now that sounds like a bug. File a ticket.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#10
malloc Wrote:Now that sounds like a bug. File a ticket.

I don't mean to sound stupid (which I, ehrm, often do), but aren't you supposed to be able to login on the trac with the forum user? Or am I missing something?
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#11
I filed a Ticket now.
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#12
riker77 Wrote:I filed a Ticket now.

Oh, great! But how did you do it? I feel a bit stupid not being able to do it. I'm feeling like Roy in the IT-crowd. I'm disabled.
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#13
LolitaRainking Wrote:Oh, great! But how did you do it? I feel a bit stupid not being able to do it. I'm feeling like Roy in the IT-crowd. I'm disabled.
I read HOW-TO submit a bug report, went to trac and used my forum account to log into it. The next step was creating a new ticket.
No problems whatsoever.

Regards,
riker77
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#14
I think so. Message pike.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.
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#15
mulder77de Wrote:Here is my experience with performance issues:

- Nforce 8200 based system
- Athlon X2 5050e @ 2.6 GHz
- 1 GB RAM DDR800

- XBMC 8.10 on WinXP SP2, latest stable Nvidia drivers
Some samples at 1080p. Nearly no frames dropped. OSD states avg. CPU usage between 50-80%.
When run windowed I can see in the task manager that both cores are used equally more or less.

- XBMC 8.10 on Ubuntu 8.10, Nvidia driver 177.x and 180.x
Same samples at 1080p. Much more frames dropped. OSD states each core separately. One core is used upto 100% while the other is idling at 50%.

Seems to me an issue in libavcodec and threading on multicore systems.

Any idea? Known problem?


mulder77

Can you point to any freely available samples that display this behavior? Might help troubleshooting and I'd like to see how it flies on my system. Right now I mostly just have H.264 encoded files and load seems pretty equal last I checked. Wondering if it's an encoding thing or what...
Openelec Gotham, MCE remote(s), Intel i3 NUC, DVDs fed from unRAID cataloged by DVD Profiler. HD-DVD encoded with Handbrake to x.264. Yamaha receiver(s)
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