The following HTPC was built in 2005 and now a number of parts have died, so I am hoping this will be able to play HD-DVD and Bluray Spec DFI Lanparty 925X-T2 Intel P4 3.2 1GB Crosair XMS2 Memory - being replace by 2GB Crosair Maxtor 1x160gb Operating system 1x300gb 1x750gb --> moving to seagate 1.5TB Digin X15E case OCZ Modstream Power supply 520W really quiet DEAD --> Nexus RX8500 850w just becuse it is silent 1 x Blackgold TV tuners 1 x dual Sweetspot dual dig tuner(sometimes disappears, needs board power off ro reset) Maudio 192 Plextor 716A - DEAD ---> replacing with LG GGW-H20L BD/HD-DVD etc Zalman Fans Asus EAX800XL ATI x800XL 256mb DDR3 Pioneer 50" MXE1 connected via DVI So my question, which I would very much appreciate comments on, would the GPU be ok? Many thanks
A P4 won't have the required horsepower for CPU-based decoding of HD video. You could use GPU-acceleration if you upgrade the GPU.
Ok, ops I was worried about that .. Which GPU would you suggest to solve this? BTW .. my plasma can't take 1080p, just 720p and 1080i Thanks Andy
720p is far less demanding than 1080p, download a HD sample and see if you can play it without trouble. That hardware might be ok with 720p. For a replacement GPU something like an nVidia 9600 would do just fine, it doesn't need to be particularly powerful at all. Any DX10-supporting GPU will generally give you access to GPU accelerated video.
If you do go the Nvidia route, you'll want to make sure that you get a GPU with VP3 (3rd Gen PureVideo) so that you get VC-1 acceleration, too. I'm not sure how many Blu-Ray's actually use VC-1, but it would probably be prudent, given that it's in the specification. Also, I'd have thought that downscaling a 1080p stream to 720p would place greater load on the system, than just viewing it at 1080p. But I'm no expert..
Downscaling is done by the video renderer which is also graphics card accelerated. That P4 is pretty old for HD. I'm thinking if you get a good enough graphics card to handle HD like suggested you will be able to play blu-rays. But with downloaded content, even microsofts sample WMV videos. You will most likely have trouble with, since hardware acceleration doesn't usually work out of the box outside of applications like powerDVD for blu-rays. IMO even though its possible, attempting to play HD on an old P4 is probably going to give you more headaches then its worth.
Ah my bad, sorry. I used to have an Athlon XP clocked at 2.4GHz. That could play a 720p x264 Matroska file just about with VLC under Linux: no acceleration on the GPU really at all, aside from the obvious 2D. So when I saw the PCI based 8400GS cards coming out I figured I'd slap one in and make a decent media centre out of it. I figured at the very least, I could use VDPAU to accelerate 1080p content with it. I say it's worth a shot to try it with the current CPU and simply upgrade if it's not enough; either way you're going to need the graphics card, but at least if you try it 'as-is' first, you might save yourself some money.
Thanks for the replies.. Looks like I have stuffed myself, LOL I have just found that both my single Blackgold TV card and Dual BG tuner don't work ... before the power supply stopped all worked ok .. I can only assume it took the cards out. I have taken the sungle Tuner and fitted to another PC ; that won't allow the Driver to be installed .. So.. I now have the 2GB of Ram, can I change the CPU to help with my HD quest .. OR is it better to go for a new Mobo and CPU ? Some pixs of my HTPC .. Thanks for any comments
Well I sorted all my tuner cards by buying new ones ... I have just bought a HD4770 GPU, so fingers crossed that will help me play BD
Woah, you use a 3.2ghz P4 in a HTPC? I assume it's a Prescott. Not that i have much experience with HTPCs, but i would have gotten something that isn't capable of keeping your house warm on cold winter days.
Forums seem to say that .. but the reality is that it runs cool ... Being a HTPC it is nver pushed running MCE .... If I have to upgrade the CPU ... any idea what would fit and be best for my Blu Ray quest? I don't really want to chaneg the Mobo
Well you could get a pentium D if you can still find them. They're decent dual cores, extremely cheap, they run cool and overclock extremely well. I have a D805 2.66ghz running at 3.6ghz on air and default voltage, and i heard it does 4.1 on water! Picked it up for about $100 in 2007 IIRC. With the exception of ARMA II, it still handles anything i throw at it.
Well, I now have installed a XFX HD4770 part number HD-477A-YDFC, bought from OCUK, which list a different part number with a smaller fan, so it was lucky this GPU just fitted in my HTPC case .. Seems it will need a bit of tweaking to work with my Plasma ..but at least I can play the BD I have
