HTPC Hardware Needs?

[Texun]

I'm looking for clarification on HTPC needs, specifically CPU and graphics. I've read tons of info on various sites where people claim a anything from a 1g Celeron to a C2D or x2-5000 Black Edition are needed for power, and for graphics some claim anything from a basic FX5200 to an 8500 are needed for H.264 decoding. Those are some pretty large gaps.

I've got some old AGP\S754 hardware that works perfectly as it was intended for back in its prime but I don't know if it will cut it now.

Venice 3200
PVR250
1.gig of RAM
320g Seagate
Either a RADEON 7000 or a 256 meg Gforce 6200 (obviously better).

I have available VGA and component inputs on my Sony 42" and I'm currently running XP but would like to try Ubuntu\Myth if I can find some good authoring software for DVDs. If not I guess I can stick with XP.

HD quality would be great but I would be happy for now if I could get good DVD quality playback on my 42" Sony.

Audio shouldn't be a problem. Something functional in 5.1 would be fine but it doesn't need to be the highest quality I've got a 5.1 card. I think it's the Chinatec AV710 but it's been so long since I've opened the case I'm not sure about that - but it works fine. I also have a cheap Audigy SE and an older SB Live 5.1 in a box.

Can someone crituque my parts and tell me if I have enough for a good DVD quality PVR? I read that RADEON cards are not supported as well in Linux as nVidia for HTPC. If that's true then I should probably stick with an nVidia AGP solution for now. I'm not fond of dumping more money in to dead end hardware so I'm hoping I can use most of what I have.

One last question: I've seen remotes on Ebay for cheap. Any recommendations?

Thanks.

 

[BassBomb]

If you plan on using that old CPU make sure you pair it with a strong GPU (at least a 7900GS) otherwise you will NOT be able to watch 1080p without severe lag/stuttering.

If you really do not care about 720P/1080P then you will be fine.

If you DO care about 720P/1080P and h264 acceleration, make sure you get a card with either VC1 or H264/x264 acceleration and the proper program + codecs to decode this using your GPU.

I am running a P4 3.0ghz w/ 7900GS and it runs 1080P content pretty well (80% cpu usage) with hardware acceleration.

 

[Texun]

Thanks for the info. I use it now for offloading content from my DVR box, converting my VHS tapes and authoring my own movies and slidewhows. I've got tons of content on the HD but never use it to watch TV. To get good playbackl I have to author and burn it to a DVD and then play it back on my 3 year old Pioneer home player. Playback from the PC has never been as good as my old Pioneer which is why I wanted to know where my hardware limitations were. Being stuck with the AGP slot doesn't leave many options unless I want to dump more money in a dead end system. I've got DDR2 ram available, so for the cost of a good AGP card I could get a new mATX board and start building up again. Would a X2-4600 and a card capable of h264 be enough?

 

[BassBomb]

Cheapest option is to pair a Dual Core AMD to a AMD motherboard with onboard 790 or 780 which can hardware decode and send out HDMI

 

[Texun]

One more- does an mATX board exist with IG that will to do HD well?

 

[Texun]

That was fast! Thanks

 

[Sphexi]

I'm running the following:

ASUS mobo
P4 2.4ghz Northwood
1.5GB in dual channel DDR400
XFX AGP HD2600 Pro 256MB
3x500GB Samsung SATAII in RAID5
Fusion RT7 HDTV Tuner
Onboard Sound

I can run HD content off it just fine, I don't record HD content.

 

[dandragonrage]

Video card will make little difference unless you use a program that can use acceleration from the video card such as PowerDVD/WinDVD

 

[Texun]

Well I tried my 6200 this evening with the latest drivers. DL'd Power DVD 8 for a quick test. The video stutters (dropping frames?) and the audio clicks. I'm using it on a Dell 20" using VGA at the moment. CPU usage on the 3200 is 70-90% but how do I know if h.264 is enabled, or do the drivers and Power DVD take care of that? H264 in PDVD is set to enable. Many of my files are MPG encoded right from my PVR250 tuner. Both MPG or DVD files play about the same -crappy. Thanks!

 

[Sphexi]

Originally posted by: Texun
Well I tried my 6200 this evening with the latest drivers. DL'd Power DVD 8 for a quick test. The video stutters (dropping frames?) and the audio clicks. I'm using it on a Dell 20" using VGA at the moment. CPU usage on the 3200 is 70-90% but how do I know if h.264 is enabled, or do the drivers and Power DVD take care of that? H264 in PDVD is set to enable. Many of my files are MPG encoded right from my PVR250 tuner. Both MPG or DVD files play about the same -crappy. Thanks!

See here's the problem, I don't think either of the cards you listed above support on-board HD acceleration. I specifically went and paid about $60 for this AGP card I have (HD 2600 Pro) because it supports DX10 and ATI's Avivo for on-board 1080p processing. Even though my CPU is a little lower powered, the card itself handles most of the video. Only with certain things does it stutter, and that's only if I have a few programs open at once.

If you don't want to upgrade too much, you might want to consider just upgrading the video card, look for an AGP HD 2600 card somewhere, they're cheap and even though they're not great for gaming, they'll do wonders for video playback.

 

[Texun]

I have a plan. I swapped out the 6200 for a 6600GT but it's loud and hot. It works better but in the end I know I want to add a digital HD tuner so I figured I would look at a new platform to build on.

So far I have selected these two 780G boards as my options.

Gigabyte

or

Biostar

and one of these

65 Watt X2-4800

or

45 Watt 4450e

From what I have read the IG on the 780 handles HD perfectly well. If that's correct I should be good to go. Is this a correct?

 

[dandragonrage]

The newer Intel GMA x4500 plus a 3x watt Conroe-L should be a better solution (IE lower power) than AMD once Intel respins it's G45 chipsets to make the video work properly. The newest AMD Semprons are 65W which is absolutely ridiculously high for an HTPC.