htpc upgrade advice

alchemy · 9th January 2011, 11:02 PM

hey hey, i was hoping you excellent people could give me some advice on upgrading my htpc please?

it works works pretty well for almost everything except 1080p video, where there is a slight skipping of frames.. so it's obviously is in need of an upgrade but i'd like to try and pinpoint what part is the weak link in the chain rather than upgrade everything. i'd also like to do it for less than $100 if possible. i am happy to buy s/h parts.

current specs are

cpu: amd athlon 64 X2 4000+ 2.1ghz
mobo: gigabyte ga-ma69vm-s2, am2 socket
ram: 2gb, unsure of type/speed
video: gigabyte hd4550 w/128mb ram
hdd: samsung 1.5tb silencer series 32m
display: sony hx700 40" lcd via hdmi
running winxp sp3 + boxee

the machine is also running utorrent 24x7, but it is only seeding torrents when i am using it to watch media. it only downloads off-peak late at night.

i am guessing that it might be a bit short on ram or that the cpu that is a bit slow?? will bumping it up to 4gb of ram sort out the issues? are there any other CPU's that'd drop straight into the motherboard that'd be a worthwhile upgrade?

thanks in advance!

- dan

samo · 9th January 2011, 11:29 PM

should be able to play 1080p fine.

I have an Athlon X2 3800+ with 2GB RAM and nvidia 9400GT and it powers through 1080p without a hitch.

I have recently started using CoreAVC as my main H.264 decoder both in Windows and Media Portal so that CUDA is being utilised properly. I have always found that nvidia cards seem to be better suited for HTPC duties.

Your card uses AMD's Avivo tech, which is basically a Unified Video Decoder at its core and Im not sure if Boxee takes full advantage of it tbh. But even before I started using CUDA instead of MPC-HC's DXVA it would play 1080p just fine. Only real world difference I have notice using CUDA is that when skipping chapters the movie catches up a lot quicker (almost instantly) where as before it would take a second or 2.

My advice is to find a free or trial version of a media player that utilises AMD's Avivo and run a 1080p file with it. If playback is OK then I would point the finger at Boxee maybe? Alternatively you could buy a cheap NV card and give it a go.

Have you tried using MPC-HC or Media Portal for playback?

9th January 2011, 11:02 PM	#1
alchemy Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brisbane Posts: 541	htpc upgrade advice hey hey, i was hoping you excellent people could give me some advice on upgrading my htpc please? it works works pretty well for almost everything except 1080p video, where there is a slight skipping of frames.. so it's obviously is in need of an upgrade but i'd like to try and pinpoint what part is the weak link in the chain rather than upgrade everything. i'd also like to do it for less than $100 if possible. i am happy to buy s/h parts. current specs are cpu: amd athlon 64 X2 4000+ 2.1ghz mobo: gigabyte ga-ma69vm-s2, am2 socket ram: 2gb, unsure of type/speed video: gigabyte hd4550 w/128mb ram hdd: samsung 1.5tb silencer series 32m display: sony hx700 40" lcd via hdmi running winxp sp3 + boxee the machine is also running utorrent 24x7, but it is only seeding torrents when i am using it to watch media. it only downloads off-peak late at night. i am guessing that it might be a bit short on ram or that the cpu that is a bit slow?? will bumping it up to 4gb of ram sort out the issues? are there any other CPU's that'd drop straight into the motherboard that'd be a worthwhile upgrade? thanks in advance! - dan Last edited by alchemy; 9th January 2011 at 11:09 PM.

9th January 2011, 11:29 PM	#2
samo Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Adelaide Posts: 968	should be able to play 1080p fine. I have an Athlon X2 3800+ with 2GB RAM and nvidia 9400GT and it powers through 1080p without a hitch. I have recently started using CoreAVC as my main H.264 decoder both in Windows and Media Portal so that CUDA is being utilised properly. I have always found that nvidia cards seem to be better suited for HTPC duties. Your card uses AMD's Avivo tech, which is basically a Unified Video Decoder at its core and Im not sure if Boxee takes full advantage of it tbh. But even before I started using CUDA instead of MPC-HC's DXVA it would play 1080p just fine. Only real world difference I have notice using CUDA is that when skipping chapters the movie catches up a lot quicker (almost instantly) where as before it would take a second or 2. My advice is to find a free or trial version of a media player that utilises AMD's Avivo and run a 1080p file with it. If playback is OK then I would point the finger at Boxee maybe? Alternatively you could buy a cheap NV card and give it a go. Have you tried using MPC-HC or Media Portal for playback? Last edited by samo; 9th January 2011 at 11:49 PM.