720p MKV overloading Athlon64 3000+?

[biodtl]

I run an HTPC built from spare older parts. Currently running an Athlon 64 3000+ proc with 1GB ram on Windows 7 (which runs surprisingly well on this machine). I experience varying amounts of choppy video with this setup. Generally it will play divx/xvid fine, but when I play 720p MKV, I have very high CPU utilization, 80-100% which seems to result in choppy video. It is still watchable, and not always choppy, but seems to get choppy at 100% cpu.

Am I just expecting too much from this processor? It doesn't seem like more RAM would help, although I think I can easily bring it up to 2GB. If it truly is overloading the processor, can anyone recommend a cheap drop in replacement?

First time poster, thanks for your time!

 

[error8]

You need a dual core for HD movies, if I'm not mistaken. Any X2 that fits your mobo is fine.

 

[Falloutboy]

yeah single core at that speed is just not fast enough, you can try getting the coreavc codec but thats no guarantee even at that speed. what I would recommend a cheap 3x or 4x series radeon card and that will run anything up to 1080p perfectly with MPC-HC that's what I did when I had a opty 144 in my HTPC. otherwise get yourself the cheapest dual core chip you can find that will work in your system (I'm assuming 939 so 3800x2) but that will run you at least 60 for a used one and a cheap video card would be cheaper.

AGP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16814121315R
PCI-E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121259

 

[biodtl]

I have a socket 754 MB, MSI K8N Neo3-F. I am running a passive cooled MSI 7300GS video card. MPC-HC=Media Player Classic Home Cinema? Are you talking about using video card hardware acceleration to help decode media?

 

[Spoelie]

a normal dual core A64 will be sufficient for 720p but it will still be insufficient for 1080p. You need a phenom or top of the line (3hz+) dual for that

hardware decoding is another option (a cheap HD4350 or HD4550 card) BUT hardware decoding only works for L4.1 spec mkv's (1-9 ref frames at 720p & 1-4 ref frames at 1080p), and there are a lot of L5.1 spec files floating around the interwebz,. So having hardware acceleration doesn't guarantee you seamless playback of every file out there, only a fast processor will.

In the case where you can't upgrade without a total platform change (like socket 939 and 754 mentioned above) a hardware decoding card is the only cheap upgrade, just keep the above mentioned caveats in mind.

 

[biodtl]

I may be in a bind, a quick search seems to indicate that there is no X2 for the socket 754 platform. Best proc i could find would be a 3700+. Probably not worth the upgrade cost. Even if I could find a cheap one, do you think it would solve my issue? I'm not so sure.

 

[kkk60091]

if you go with DXVA through video card, it is better to get Nvidia video card that has VP2/VP3 ( most 8xxx series except the first ultra/gts, all 9 series & 200 series).

Nvidia card is capable of H264 1080p L5.1 and up to ref 16 in DXVA bitstream mode with MPC-HC internal decoder.(Note, there are other encoding settings affect dxva, thererfore some files will still refuse to play, but not because of # ref) If you need subtitle under DXVA, make sure to use vmr 9 renderless / evr-cp output mode in MPC-HC and only enable internal subtitle engine.

if you do use external subtitle engine, such as vobsub, you can the Cuda enabled Coreavc with Nvidia card.

Only ATI UVD is limited up to L4.1 ref4 @1080p. it doesn't apply to Nvidia.

Nvidia is a better choice, either dxva or cuda will work.

 

[lopri]

Someone at my work has a laptop with Pentium M 2.0GHz (single-core Dothan) and it plays all manners of 720p fine. (the GPU is 6800 Go I think)

How much memory does your 7300 GS have? Is it a 'Turbo Cache' model? If so, there lies in the problem - your GPU is borrowing frame buffer from system memory, and that can hog down everything including Aero.

Edit: Welcome to AnandTech Forums, biodtl. I'd like to remind you that we do not allow cross-posting of a same thread here.

 

[vj8usa]

You should be able to handle 720p flawlessly using CPU alone. Check out CoreAVC - it's a very efficient decoder that should let you decode 720p without hitting 100% CPU utilization. Using CoreAVC, my single core 3700+ could even handle 1080p with a slight OC. You won't be able to handle 1080p with your CPU regardless of decoder, though (unless you OC it a lot).

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: biodtl
I have a socket 754 MB, MSI K8N Neo3-F. I am running a passive cooled MSI 7300GS video card. MPC-HC=Media Player Classic Home Cinema? Are you talking about using video card hardware acceleration to help decode media?

In a word: yes. Almost all of the modern cards, even the low end ones, have hardware acceleration for video. That's what you need, much much more than you need a cpu upgrade. Any of the ATI cards that say "HD" in the name, which is basically any recent card, should do fine, if I'm not mistaken. Nvidia has a bunch of them too, and there may be some subtle differences between them, as a poster a few posts before me pointed out. And there is no need for a high end card -- we're talking <$50.

 

[biodtl]

Originally posted by: lopri
How much memory does your 7300 GS have? Is it a 'Turbo Cache' model? If so, there lies in the problem - your GPU is borrowing frame buffer from system memory, and that can hog down everything including Aero.

Edit: Welcome to AnandTech Forums, biodtl. I'd like to remind you that we do not allow cross-posting of a same thread here.

I believe it is a 256mb model, and I do not recall Turbo Cache. I will check and see what it is specifically.

Thanks for the welcome, although I'm not sure where the cross-posting comment came from.

I'll give CoreAVC a try as suggested by Falloutboy and vj8usa.

I'm a bit mixed on what to upgrade if I don't get it worked out via a no cost solution. I could go 2 ways, either a newer accelerated video card, or a new proc/mb combo. Seems that the new video card is not a for-sure fix. I could go with an AMD 5050E and MB for a little over $100 which is almost a guaranteed fix, and probably not have to replace the video card. I'll play with the machine a bit tonight and see what I can improve.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I will post back with my results.

 

[Farmer]

I dont know the details, but my older configuration could play 720p mkvs fine using MPC HC. It was a single core AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0 GHz) and a 256MB X1950XT. It could not play 1080p in a watchable fashion. This was on Windows XP.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: biodtl
Thanks for the welcome, although I'm not sure where the cross-posting comment came from.

That comment was meant for someone else and I didn't realize my mistake. My sincere apologies.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: vj8usa
You should be able to handle 720p flawlessly using CPU alone. Check out CoreAVC - it's a very efficient decoder that should let you decode 720p without hitting 100% CPU utilization. Using CoreAVC, my single core 3700+ could even handle 1080p with a slight OC. You won't be able to handle 1080p with your CPU regardless of decoder, though (unless you OC it a lot).

I would hesitate to use the term "flawlessly". I have an HTPC built out of a 3400+, it can keep up on high bitrate scenes, but just barely. It'll probably work, but he's going to be cutting it close.

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: vj8usa
You should be able to handle 720p flawlessly using CPU alone. Check out CoreAVC - it's a very efficient decoder that should let you decode 720p without hitting 100% CPU utilization. Using CoreAVC, my single core 3700+ could even handle 1080p with a slight OC. You won't be able to handle 1080p with your CPU regardless of decoder, though (unless you OC it a lot).

I would hesitate to use the term "flawlessly". I have an HTPC built out of a 3400+, it can keep up on high bitrate scenes, but just barely. It'll probably work, but he's going to be cutting it close.

Even for 720p, with CoreAVC? That's odd. I figured 720p would be much easier to decode than 1080p.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: biodtl
I run an HTPC built from spare older parts. Currently running an Athlon 64 3000+ proc with 1GB ram on Windows 7 (which runs surprisingly well on this machine). I experience varying amounts of choppy video with this setup. Generally it will play divx/xvid fine, but when I play 720p MKV, I have very high CPU utilization, 80-100% which seems to result in choppy video. It is still watchable, and not always choppy, but seems to get choppy at 100% cpu.

Am I just expecting too much from this processor? It doesn't seem like more RAM would help, although I think I can easily bring it up to 2GB. If it truly is overloading the processor, can anyone recommend a cheap drop in replacement?

First time poster, thanks for your time!

In all likelyhood you are using the MS codec which is utter crap!
Get either the codecpack or ffdshow.
Download the utility from hack7mc to select/change the codec used by windows and change it to ffdhow or the one from the codecpack.

I had h264 issues on my brand new Athlon 5050e until I replaced the codec.
Now it's a dream.

Even my old P4 2.8Ghz can play 720p h264 without any issues.