Specs For 1080p...

WetDaddy

I'm looking to get 1080p out of my F-I90HD build. I'm using the onboard video card (ATI Xpress 1250) and, as far as I know, I've a dual channel RAM setup: 2 x 512MB Corsair PC5300 DDR2.

I'm running XP MCE 2005 and I've uninstalled those pesky ATI Southbridge drivers on advice from another forum.

Can anyone tell me if this, theoretically, should be sufficient to output 1080p smoothly? What about if I want to run 1080p content over VGA and not HDMI? I know this last question is something of a paradox, but the content is 1080p (from a HDD, not a disc) and it's choppy during large, panning sequences.

Thanks!
Seán

zerobeen?

Hey, sorry to say, but I'm not sure your machine is up to it to be honest. My laptop is a core2duo, I have 2 gigs RAM and a 512mb nvidia card, and people on tech forums have expressed doubt at the capabilities. 720p is (to my eye) almost as good, and far less demanding...hope this was helpful!

WetDaddy

Hey zerobeen?,

I agree with you about 720p (or even 1080i) being almost the same. The difference *is* noticeable, but you have to go looking for it. And why would you want to go and do a thing like that?

What I'm concerned about is native resolutions, more than anything else. Some TV's ain't as good as others when it comes to upscaling!

SouperComputer

Its not streightforward to specify a spec as it depends largely on the specific codec and bitrate used. Theres a world of difference between 1080p and 720p if you are viewing from the correct distance

It can range from 1.8Ghz upwards. Anything thats core2duo sould be fine, if partnered with the right GPU

What OS do you plan using? If its vista, I would go for 2GB RAM.

WetDaddy

SouperComputer wrote:

Its not streightforward to specify a spec as it depends largely on the specific codec and bitrate used. Theres a world of difference between 1080p and 720p if you are viewing from the correct distance

It can range from 1.8Ghz upwards. Anything thats core2duo sould be fine, if partnered with the right GPU

What OS do you plan using? If its vista, I would go for 2GB RAM.

True SouperComputer, but that's also quite dependent on the size of your display as well! In any event, this is more about future-proofing myself; I probably won't be able to test it out for a while yet

I'm running MCE 2005 at the moment. I'm considering getting 2GB more (thus upping to 3GB) simply because I'll be using the final slots and matching RAM (Corsair PC5300 2x1024MB) is a pretty good price on Komplett at the moment.

I agree with what you're saying about it not being as clear cut as simple specs. Do you think the fact that my RAM is gonna run at 5300 speed will affect perfomance negatively in the future? Or will the fact that there'll be 3GB Dual Channel running practically negate that?

Thanks!

SouperComputer

True SouperComputer, but that's also quite dependent on the size of your display as well! In any event, this is more about future-proofing myself; I probably won't be able to test it out for a while yet

That was part of my point! Did you follow the link? It will tell you what distance/size screen you need for certain standards. Future-proofing is an illusion, especially with HTPC's.

TBH 1GB with MCE2005 should be fine. Unless you really have a need for the extra RAM, I wouldnt bother. 5300 is fine peformance wise. Personally with MCE2005 I've found 768MB to be sufficient.

Save your money for the next rig or if you decide to go Vista at which stage the RAM should be even better value.


Re spec and 1080p, from andandtech

anandtech wrote:

For video acceleration features, the X1250 is capable of hardware acceleration of MPEG-2 and WMV9 playback. MPEG-4 playback decode is not hardware accelerated, but it is supported in software via the driver. DVD and TV (both SD and HD resolution) playback can be offloaded from the CPU, but we have seen some playback issues with HD media formats at 1080p with processors slower than an E6420.

source

WetDaddy

I had a glance at the link, but TBH I didn't fully investigate it I will, though!

Actually, the on-board video (which is actually quite good) is being given 256MB via the BIOS, so I keep forgetting that actually I'm only running 768MB! Hmmm, still doesn't explain the choppiness at certain points in certain titles though. I've decent codecs (can't remember which specifically) installed and the box isn't being pushed hard in any other way. It *is* running over VGA out at the moment, but that wouldn't explain why the audio gets choppy at the same time.

I may spring for a least another 1GB RAM anyway. Can't harm, at least load up times wouldn't be too bad. Thanks for your advice guys!

SouperComputer

why not monitor your resource usage with task manager before spending money? See if you need more RAM or if the CPU is the bottlenek for HD content.

WetDaddy

SouperComputer wrote:

why not monitor your resource usage with task manager before spending money? See if you need more RAM or if the CPU is the bottlenek for HD content.

Y'see? *THAT'S* why I come to Boards for answers! No, not just so I seem stupid for overlooking the obvious, but rather so that I can get helpful suggestions

Weirdly enough, it appears that ONE processor (well, one core really; it's a E4400) is working pretty much flat out for the strenuous video. But the other core is idling around 15%! Anyone any ideas at what level this might be happening? BIOS? OS?

I'm not really sure where to look...

SouperComputer

Well the codec\playback software probably isnt multi-threaded so it cant make use of both cores. In fact I dont know of any that are offhand, but thats not to say they dont exist! The spread across cores that you see is somewhat normal.

Windows (or any OS for that matter) can spread processes across cores, but it cant split a given process across cores. What you need is more horsepower per core.......................

Overclock the chip

Or you could try moving the affinity of the process that is being maxed to the other core which might be just enough to work.

Im still going with OC'ing though. Its a crime to have the chip/mobo combo that you have and not have it overclocked The E4400 runs a 800mhz FSB so you have lots of overhead for OC'ing while still maintaining stability and keeping temps down.