HTPC Problem/Upgrade

[nar160]

I have a media computer whose (relevant) guts consist of the following:

GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2H http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128328
AMD Athlon 64 LE-1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103199
2 GB DDR2 800

For OS and playback I use

Win XP Pro
VLC player

The computer is hooked to a 720p plasma TV. The onboard video is used. The most intense usage it gets is 720p movie playback (no gaming). My problem is that some movies at some times become choppy. It is only movies whose image covers the full screen and then only during a few intense moments. The task manager indicates that at those times the CPU is running 100%. I have experimented with overclocking the CPU and it does help, but I can't push it much past 2.5 gHz and even at 2.5 (where it's at now) it isn't smooth all the time. It really seems that it is just barely not quite enough... on most movies it is not a problem or is something I can put up with.

My question to you is this: what is the cheapest way to eliminate this problem? Here are the options I'm thinking of:

- Other software. The onboard video is ATI Radeon HD 2100. I have installed the newest version of ATI's Catalyst Control Center and use VLC's newest media player. Is there anything else I can do?

- A different OS. Someone suggested I install Ubuntu... any thoughts? Could this be just efficient enough to get the job done? Are there any issues with drivers for the mobo? I need to use the SPDIF output; will this be a problem? I've not messed with Linux before but figuring it out shouldn't be a problem. I might do this to experiment anyway.

- Video card. My thought is that installing a video card might drop the requirements on the CPU down just enough to keep it below max. Is this possible? Do you have any suggestions for a cheap, low profile, PCIE x16 video card?

- CPU. The socket AM2 CPUs are cheap. I could go with either the (45w) 4850e 2.5 gHz dual core for $54 or the (65w) 5600 2.9 gHz dual core for $67.


What do you think? Thanks in advance.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I would start off by replacing the CPU with the 4850e like you mentioned. 720p content is still going to stress the onboard video of your motherboard. I would pick up a cheap HD4350 or something if the onboard can't keep up after the CPU swap.

MSI R4350-D256H Radeon HD 4350 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127391 $34.99 - $10 MIR

I don't think the playback software or OS will fix your problem. You've just reached the limits of your hardware.

 

[gkay09]

+1^ first off add a dedicated gfx card, later u can think of upgrading the CPU...
But may go for a little more powerful card wit onboard HDMI, which will be a gud addition...
SAPPHIRE 100252HDMI Radeon HD 4550 512MB 64-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Low Profile Video Card - Retail $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102819

 

[MykC]

In a quick pinch switching to coreavc for h264 decoding should solve the problem. My AMD64X2 4200+ decoded 1080p no problem with coreavc and with no help from a GPU.

But, the upgrade the 4850e or the 4550 should also solve the problem no problem since your problem is only durning the most intense full framed scenes.

 

[Tuj]

First thing I would try is to make sure the GPU-hardware decoding is turned on in your software setup. The codec is the most important thing in having hardware decoding or not, and I'm pretty sure CoreAVC doesn't support it. Maybe you can try Media player classic-home cinema first (http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net ). It's a free-ware player with built-in hardware decoding codec which supports most of the GPUs on the market. The ati 780 chipset is really powerful and you shouldn't have a problem with 720p or even 1080p H.264.

If it still doesn't work then the best way is to upgrade your CPU. I would suggest the newer 5050e. But 4850e should be enough.

 

[nar160]

Thanks for the info... I installed MPC home cinema and after some fiddling I am good to go. I lowered the CPU back down to stock speed and the most intense scenes now hit 90% CPU at the most... I haven't seen it get choppy once. I did some searching and it looks like VLC does not use the GPU for decoding which makes sense now. Thanks again.