MCE 2005 fresh install with problems

[Roosti3]

Fresh MCE 2005 install with new f3 drive just completed.

Installed Power DVD 9 free trial as an possible upgrade from powerdvd5 and windvd(circa2002) which i think were both installed before.

However live TV is now stuttering when watching through MCE (Uk freeview - digital tv over on coaxial dual tuners).

I also get an audio stutter when using a/52 over spdif on vlc, but i always had this with the old install as well.

Spec
Asus M2NPV-VM (onboard Geforce 6150)
AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+
2014 Ram (4 x 512 corsair)
Hauppage Nova-DT Dual DVB-T
Antec NSK2480 with a seasonic
1TB F3

Any idea what may be the issue?

Can anyone recommend the best dvd codec option, is powerdvd9 any good? dont fully understand what this provides regarding codecs etc but just want to know what is recommended before i make a purchase.

I have a sapphire x800GT spare, is it worth installing into my system or is the onboard sufficient?

Previous install had an OS HD and a Data HD. I have a 7200rpm sata 2 spare HD, is it worth putting the o/s back onto this?

Just defraged the os partition and data partition is ok...

thanks

 

[Tbirdkid]

I would put in that x800gt to see if that makes any difference...

 

[blckgrffn]

Well... here's what I would do...

Install Windows 7. No codec crap to worry about.

You need to make sure you are using a good MPEG2 codec or you'll be fighting it all the way. There is a command you can run to view the available MPEG2 codecs and select which one you want, you would ideally have one that is "MCE approved" or whatever. nvidia Purevideo worked fairly reliably for me but seems to be hard to get a hold of now days. It would compliment the 6150 onboard, though.

I was always putzing with 2005MCE and OTA HD. Heck, even Vista is 1000% better for OTA HD, but now I am rocking the clear QAM with 7.

Good luck.

 

[Roosti3]

thanks blckgrffn

So with windows 7 i dont need powerdvd for codecs etc?

I was only running a trial on MCE with the intention to buy, but if Win7 doesn't need it I may as well just buy windows.

Any idea if my HTPC spec below will be ok with windows7 and if i can run the 64bit version

Asus M2NPV-VM (onboard Geforce 6150) (socket AM2, DDR2 8gb max 240pin)
AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+
2014 Ram (4 x 512 corsair)
Hauppage Nova-DT Dual DVB-T
Antec NSK2480 with a seasonic

Samsung F3

 

[blckgrffn]

I would make sure your TV tuner has W7 support, but other than that you are good to go on the 64 bit upgrade.

Yes, W7 has mpeg2 and h.264 codecs built in, so HD OTA *just works*, so do DVD's and a lot of other videos that would have needed codecs before.

.mkv files are still an issue that requires a third party tool, however.

For what its worth, I am running a 3800+ x2 in my HTPC with dual tuners (hauppauge 1250 and ati 3650 HD AIW) & W7 64-bit. I do have a dedicated capture drive, but I am not sure that is crucial. It just lets me rebuild without fear of wiping stuff out, mainly

 

[Roosti3]

I was also wary about the drive setup. When I first built a MCE2005 machine 4ish years ago the thinking was 1 drive for O/S and 1 for data and page file.

However when quering how to upgrade this HTPC the consensis was that the new drives were much faster and just put evreything on one. So when I did the reimage last week I just put everything on the New 1TB F3 samsung.

I am however getting gittery live tv and slow file transfers which is why i am messing with codecs etc.......... if i do get Win7 I know I have a 80GB 7200rpm sata2 spare from the old build so might just use that for the O/S.