Minimum AMD Processor to Decode x264 1080p Video

[homestarmy]

So I have an older Athlon X2 (939) at 2.0 GHz. It slows down sometimes on 720p video and 1080p is a joke.

What is the minimum current processor that will decode 1080p x264 content consistently without hiccup?

I know some pretty low end Intel chips will do this, but AMD has just been WEAK for a while and it's sad :*(.

Thanks!

 

[Falloutboy]

dual core 2ghz should be enough. I barely couldn't on my single core 2.2ghz 939 opty using the core codec. maybe just OC it to 2.2-2.5 should be good to go

 

[Rhoxed]

use better codecs
i have no problems playing 720P 1080P or 1080i on my old 3800 x2 (939) even at 2.2 (haven't ran it stock for ages)

as falloutboy said, try core codec its well worth the money

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Probably a Pentium Dual Core (E2200) and higher. The Athlon BE-2400 (K8 dual core at 2.3ghz 45w) wouldn't sweat doing 1080P i presume.

Keep in mind, my socket 939 X2 4200+ (2.2Ghz) absolutely had zero problems doing 1080P video. You should probably overclock your CPU a little bit. Maybe it is your video card.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I like KLite Codec Pack + Media Player classic.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
So I have an older Athlon X2 (939) at 2.0 GHz. It slows down sometimes on 720p video and 1080p is a joke.

What is the minimum current processor that will decode 1080p x264 content consistently without hiccup?

I know some pretty low end Intel chips will do this, but AMD has just been WEAK for a while and it's sad :*(.

Thanks!

That CPU is already good enough.

 

[frostedflakes]

It depends on the bitrate, not the resolution. I'd assume you're just wanting to play mkv files, and not Blu-Ray bitrate H.264. Without GPU assistance, you'd need a pretty high-end CPU to handle Blu-Ray bitrate (20Mbps+) H.264.

My X2 3600+ @ 1.9GHz seems to do fine with H.264 up to about 4Mbps. I use the K-Lite Codec Pack, which I think still uses an older version of CoreAVC for H.264 decode.

You could try turning off deblocking for the H.264 decoder, this will save some CPU cycles.

 

[HannibalX]

I have an Opteron 185 (S939) running at 2.6GHz and it does great. During 1080p playback the CPU stays pegged at 33%.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
It depends on the bitrate, not the resolution. I'd assume you're just wanting to play mkv files, and not Blu-Ray bitrate H.264. Without GPU assistance, you'd need a pretty high-end CPU to handle Blu-Ray bitrate (20Mbps+) H.264.

My X2 3600+ @ 1.9GHz seems to do fine with H.264 up to about 4Mbps. I use the K-Lite Codec Pack, which I think still uses an older version of CoreAVC for H.264 decode.

You could try turning off deblocking for the H.264 decoder, this will save some CPU cycles.

Bitrate isn't the only thing that matters, B-frames, and refs used can cause some pretty big hiccups as well as CABAC. (bitrate does play a big role though)

Over all, it really depends on the media you are trying to play, how it was encoded/what settings where used.

As others have said, CoreAVC is one of the fastest decoders available. FFDshow tryouts has a pretty good decoder as well (the best free decoder). Just note that most codec packs you download are really just using a version of FFDShow in the background. Its better IMO to just go get the latest real thing rather then play roulette with different codec packs.

If you have a semi-recent video card, you should be able to offload all the decoding to it. I'm not sure what codec is needed for it (I believe ATI and NVIDIA provide their own)

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
So I have an older Athlon X2 (939) at 2.0 GHz. It slows down sometimes on 720p video and 1080p is a joke.

What is the minimum current processor that will decode 1080p x264 content consistently without hiccup?

I know some pretty low end Intel chips will do this, but AMD has just been WEAK for a while and it's sad :*(.

Thanks!

The processor is fine, it's just having too much work to do because of codec issues. I think you need to tweak your system a bit.

Whatever you are doing it is not supporting hardware h.264 acceleration (assuming you have a rather current gpu). I would guess this points to a combination of your player and codec - kinda like Cogman said.

Are you willing to volunteer from where your files come ???

 

[JavaMomma]

I'm using klite codec pack, I also could not decode 1080p smoothly on my 3800x2 @ 2.0Ghz. I have my machine currently running at 2.6Ghz and it has zero problems. I don't recall having any problems decoding 1080p at 2.4Ghz either. I'm guessing somewhere around 2.2Ghz+ for smooth playback using klite... I'd suggest overclocking or finding a more efficient codec.

 

[homestarmy]

The video card I believe currently is a 7600GT. I had an X800 in there previously. They're relatively strong cards, but not very current.

As for the files, they come from newsgroups and torrent sites, like revolutiontt.

I'd like to be able to not have to rebuild the system, it's a waste of money. I've tried different codecs, etc, but I'll have to try the Core one, as recommended.

Can someone link to the right thing, so I can make sure that I get it? And how can I make sure that other codecs, etc, aren't getting in the way?

I used to overclock to 2.4GHz, but for some reason, I had to reset it one time and it would no longer do that frequency... not sure why. I haven't been tweaking for a while.

My other system uses onboard video and a low-end "pentium" dual core processor that plays 1080p with no sweat. Wish this one could do the same. Weak.

 

[s44]

Not much sympathy for a guy playing stolen vids.

 

[Falloutboy]

what I would recomend if this computer is jsut an HTPC and the only reason to upgrade the processor is for video, get a AMD4350 and use windows media classic cinema edition. I ended up going that route so I didn't have to OC my opty, I actually have my opty underclocked to 1.6ghz now and passivly cooled, and use a 3450 passive as well, using WMP HC it will play basically anything. was the cheapest way to get 1080p decoding, since 939 stuff is expensive, and didn't feel like upgrading the whole rig to am2

 

[Bateluer]

http://www.videolan.org/

This may help. My 2.1Ghz Dothan single core used to struggle with 720p, 1080p was next to impossible to play smoothly. Upgraded from VLC 8.6h to the .9.x line and I've been able to play most 720p videos and a number of 1080p vids reliably. The Dothan is still weak though.

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
The video card I believe currently is a 7600GT. I had an X800 in there previously. They're relatively strong cards, but not very current.

...
I used to overclock to 2.4GHz, but for some reason, I had to reset it one time and it would no longer do that frequency... not sure why. I haven't been tweaking for a while.

My other system uses onboard video and a low-end "pentium" dual core processor that plays 1080p with no sweat. Wish this one could do the same. Weak.

It's not your cpu holding you back, it's your gpu. And it's not the intel pentium dual core in your other system that plays the 1080p with no sweat, it's the onboard video gpu that offloads the hd content from the cpu. Even slow atom cpus (WAY slower than your x2-3800+) can do hd playback when they have the right gpu.

You need a recent gpu to offload the decoding content from your cpu. It doesn't need to be a particularly powerful gpu -- even recent integrated gpus slower than your 7600gt do it -- but it needs to be recent. Powerful old cards will not do it. Read up on some reviews to see which gpus do, but pretty sure that the AMD HD3450 does it, and it comes cheap too. If you want to game also (at least as fast as your 7600gt lets you game) then you need at least an hd3650 / 9500gt to equal your current card in gaming. If you want to play any recent games then you need a better card than that.

 

[JavaMomma]

The most demanding videos I find are the 1080p trailers at www.apple.com/trailers -- good way to test. Not sure why they were so choppy, maybe higher bit rate?

 

[homestarmy]

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but I "upgraded" (notice the quotes) to this video card after giving the computer to a friend.

XFX PVT94GYRF2 GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150503

720p works pretty well, but 1080p is a no-go. I tried all of the codec packs listed.

I was under the impression that it supported hardware acceleration, but no matter what I tried, I could not get it to make any difference. Did I just make a bad move and get the wrong card? Should I just get a 4350 and call it a day?

I haven't tried overclocking, but the next time I'm at his place, I will. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Rhoxed]

I recommend getting rid of all codecs and starting over (your video card isn't decoding the video because another codec is being used making the processor decode it)

Make sure you install everything you need for GPU acceleration
I'm not sure what would be the best codecs now, i just use VLC media player because it works, and I don't need GPU decoding.

 

[aigomorla]

Minimum recomended...

is a C2D class @ 2.0ghz..

So any X2 @ 2.2ghz should do it...

 

[Morg.]

Just .. wrong way to look at the problem.

Try MPC-HC, it should do x264 on a brazos -- (GPU decoding makes a bit more sense, doesn't it ?)

 

[nenforcer]

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but I "upgraded" (notice the quotes) to this video card after giving the computer to a friend.

XFX PVT94GYRF2 GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150503

720p works pretty well, but 1080p is a no-go. I tried all of the codec packs listed.

I was under the impression that it supported hardware acceleration, but no matter what I tried, I could not get it to make any difference. Did I just make a bad move and get the wrong card? Should I just get a 4350 and call it a day?

That CPU / Video Card combination SHOULD be more than enough to handle this.

Its a PureVideo 3rd generation card which has H.264 acceleration but I noticed one caveat looking at the WikiPedia page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purevideo

All current third generation PureVideo hardware (G98, MCP77, MCP78, MCP79MX, MCP7A) cannot decode H.264 for the following horizontal resolutions: 769–784, 849–864, 929–944, 1009–1024, 1793–1808, 1873–1888, 1953–1968 and 2033–2048 pixel

Which to me looks like it excludes 720P but both 1020 and 1080 are included as an unsupported horizontal resolution. (at least how I read it anyways, although isn't 720 the height (horizontal scan lines) and 1280 the width for 720P?)

BTW installing all of those codecs can cause conflicts if you don't know which codec is being used by which media player.

I've played 1080P just fine on an nVidia ION machine with Flash Player 10.1 and the ION GPU is basically an integrated 9400 GT.

 

[soccerballtux]

The video card I believe currently is a 7600GT. I had an X800 in there previously. They're relatively strong cards, but not very current.

As for the files, they come from newsgroups and torrent sites, like revolutiontt.

I'd like to be able to not have to rebuild the system, it's a waste of money. I've tried different codecs, etc, but I'll have to try the Core one, as recommended.

Can someone link to the right thing, so I can make sure that I get it? And how can I make sure that other codecs, etc, aren't getting in the way?

I used to overclock to 2.4GHz, but for some reason, I had to reset it one time and it would no longer do that frequency... not sure why. I haven't been tweaking for a while.

My other system uses onboard video and a low-end "pentium" dual core processor that plays 1080p with no sweat. Wish this one could do the same. Weak.

card does not support hardware decoding, even though NV says it does. Pick up a cheap $30 AMD card, that should work.

 

[Arkadrel]

So I have an older Athlon X2 (939) at 2.0 GHz. It slows down sometimes on 720p video and 1080p is a joke.

What is the minimum current processor that will decode 1080p x264 content consistently without hiccup?

I know some pretty low end Intel chips will do this, but AMD has just been WEAK for a while and it's sad :*(.

Thanks!

Minimum is a C-50 dualcore 1ghz ^-^
it can do 1080p at keep near constant 48 fps.

its CPU + GPU is rated at 9 TPW, though its usually much lower.

It's not your cpu holding you back, it's your gpu. And it's not the intel pentium dual core in your other system that plays the 1080p with no sweat, it's the onboard video gpu that offloads the hd content from the cpu. Even slow atom cpus (WAY slower than your x2-3800+) can do hd playback when they have the right gpu.

QFT

 

[86waterpumper]

It's not all about cpu speed. The older generation hardware just does not do as well with streaming and decoding video. I have a old 939 rig myself, and I notice alot higher cpu utilization on it than on newer hardware even if the clockspeeds are lower on the new systems. You can probably configure your system to do what you want using the right setup and codecs but don't expect a low cpu utliziation on 1080 for sure.