HTPC upgrade questions

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Bigbacon

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So I have a older media PC, old Athlon X2 3800+ (i think), 2GB ram and a 9600GSO.

Right now we primarily stream to the 2 PS3s we have and if it needs to trasncode, CPU hit 100% and obviously play back just stutters along.

wife just got a desktop replacement laptop/hybrid so I now have access to an Athlon 3 core 3.2ghz (no clue which version), 4gb ram, and a 9600 GT OC card.

Will that significantly help the transcoding over the older X2? I know the tri-core isn't new either but it is much newer than the X2.

When transcoding with PS3 media player, does the CPU matter more than the GPU and does the GPU even do anything during it? I may throw the GSO in my gaming PC as a dedicated physix card but not sure. It is great little single slot card for the media PC.
 
If you're using PS3 Media Server then yes, its all about CPU power and the X3 450 should be able to handle 1080p video. PMS doesn't use any GPU acceleration for video encoding, so unless you use that PC for watching video as well it won't be worth it.
 
well... it isn't fast enough. CPU pegs at like 95% when it has to transcode. My main gaming PC, which is an i7 doesn't have this issue but i doesn't wokr anymore for some reason.

Is there a better alternative to PS3 media server that might work better and that will still allow me to stream to the PS3
 
i think it also has to do with my wireless. Signal strength is good but it only seems like it pushed 10mbit a second tops.

i have to try hardwiring this PC to the PS3 and see as well. the X2 couldn't even transcode smoothly even over a wired conn
 
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Try some power line ethernet adapters. I can get about 10MB/s and about 1-2MS response time. Plenty to stream blu-ray rips. Also I would get your hands on the cheapest i5 core true quad core chip if you want to continue using PS3media server.
 
Vengance_01 said:
Try some power line ethernet adapters. I can get about 10MB/s and about 1-2MS response time. Plenty to stream blu-ray rips. Also I would get your hands on the cheapest i5 core true quad core chip if you want to continue using PS3media server.
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i'd take alternate software if I knew what to use
 
Why not just get a couple of WD Live for $100-$120, and eliminate the need to transcode?
 
Bigbacon said:
because I would like to watch stuff in the bedroom
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I think that's what was meant. Hook one of those up to the TV you want to use, and your PC won't have to transcode anything since it should all play natively on the WD live box.
 
It will always max out the CPU at first while it prepares a buffer and will then start spiking as it transcodes more as the buffer is used.

Check the common transcoding settings, and make sure number of cores used for transcoding is set to 3.

Then go to the video files engines: MEncoder settings and make sure enhanced multicore support is turned on.

If these don't help, and your CPU is pegged after the transcode buffer is filled then yes it may not be powerful enough to handle PMS.

I tried a number of different programs when I was using my PS3 for streaming and nothing else worked properly. I hadn't used Plex at the time, but it does work with the PS3.

Plex handles transcoding to my Android devices from my HTPC running an AMD A8-6600K, which is 2 cores @ 3.9 - 4.2 GHz, just fine.
 
so, i got universal media player, updated FFDshow and java, and it works now....well, much better than before. it still starts to stutter like crazy and the buffer doesn't seem to grow that much. I can watch and the pause and what not.


CPU sits at like maybe 10%.

very strange but I think the wireless connection can't keep up which is weird to me, I would like 54 would be enough. signal strength is high.

or maybe after updating everything it no longer has to transcode certain things?

need to look at audio settings also because it sounds bleh....
 
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peak bitrates on things that stutter at times is never above 20.

I have a episode of big bang theory, 720p i think. work fine EXCEPT during the intro song where it stutters through half of it. afterwards it is fine.

copy of an episode of a popular british car show, 720p i think, plays fine all the time.

copy of a DVD I own, plays nearly perfect...very slight jitter the entire time it plays. almost unnoticable but obviously i can see it.
 
Yeah the PS3 has a wireless G adapter, which after overhead has a max throughput in ideal radio conditions of just over 22 Mbps. So that's likely your problem now.

If whatever you're using now can't set a max bitrate I would still look into Plex, which can. It also got an updated, faster transcoder a while ago.
 
Bigbacon said:
very strange but I think the wireless connection can't keep up which is weird to me, I would like 54 would be enough. signal strength is high.
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That means less than nothing if you're in a very wifi saturated area like an apartment complex. Personally, i'd suggest running a cable to the PS3. Hardwired connections almost always beat out wifi.
 
It sounds like you have a twofold problem, 1. cpu power for transcode and 2. network throughput

To answer your question about the 3800 vs x3, then you will probably see a fairly decent increase in transcode performance. For example I have a synology 1512 with an atom d2700 that would stream to one device at a time. Well moving over to a i3 2100 I am able to stream at least four sources pretty well. (Also of note if that x3 is socket am3 you might be able to pickup a cheap drop in processor that will get you more bang if you need it). From what I can tell, at least with plex is that it really boils down to single thread processing... then secondarily how many devices for how many threads (or cores) you need.

As for the second problem you will be totally limited in potential throughput with wireless g (max 54 Mbit = aprox 6 MB/s max more like 2-4MB/s in reality with 100% signal) So as suggested earlier you could try hard-wiring, powerline adapters, a network bridge (wireless n or higher if your router supports it) or something on that front.
 
FnordMan said:
That means less than nothing if you're in a very wifi saturated area like an apartment complex. Personally, i'd suggest running a cable to the PS3. Hardwired connections almost always beat out wifi.
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My house is the only house around so wifi isn't being saturated by other things.

Router is not blocked by any walls to the computer and the PS3 (at least one of them anyway)

how fast are the plug in network things and do those work where I can have one near the router that plugs into it and can still serve to other devices?

I want to hardwire the house, but that is some time off but if I can get all my other devices sort of hardwired with the plug ins then I'd totally go that route. do they have some that have multiple ports on them

I'd need some that have at least 2 to 4 ports since then I could wire the serving PC, PS3, Cable box in the main room and then one for the bed room which could then hook up the other cable box and that PS3
 
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I've yet to use any of the ethernet -> powerline adapters, but I've seen people state that they can range anywhere from 3Mbps -> 120Mbps. Key variables include the power wiring in your house, the distance between nodes, and the equipment you buy.

Wireless G is simply not enough for personal HD video streaming in my opinion. As others have mentioned, you really only get a max of 22-24Mbps throughput on 802.11g with full signal. At minimum you need wireless N; ideally you would want something wired for 30-40Mbps to take interference out of the equation.
 
The other issue I've seen with powerline adapters, which I don't know is the case anymore, is that they don't work well between different circuits. So if your HTPC is on one breaker and the PS3 is on another you get abysmal performance.

It does work across breakers it just works BETTER on the same circuit. It partially depends on the country. In countries that use 220 volt all breakers are connected in the panel so it should be pretty easy to go from circuit to circuit. In the US and other countries that use 110 every other breaker is on on the same feed. 2 adjacent breakers are on different feeds so they have to all the way out to the transformer on the street. This can be quite a distance and sometimes it will still not pass though the transformer.

Pretty much the more cable you must pass the more signal loss you get. Also the more cable you have the more likely it is that something else will interfere with the data. Anything that has a small motor tends damage the signal.
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Do you already have a wireless N router? If you do, you can always pick up a cheap extra N router and use that as an AP for the PS3. Depending on the distance the signal has to go between your main router and the PS3, that may work just fine.
 
i dont think my routers are N, maybe G

edit
the modem./router is N but it blows as the wireless on that router dies all the time so I use my old verizon fios modem/router for wireless.
 
I guess that rules out wireless unless you want to pick up a decent N router along with an AP for the PS3.

Powerline may be fine if you go with Homeplug or Homeplug AV. If you try it just make sure you can return them if they don't work. I would also test performance across circuits so you know how future expansion will go.

You can have more than 2 devices on a powerline network, they just all have to be using the same standard (eg. Homeplug or Homeplug AV). You also start sharing bandwidth with more than 2 devices on a powerline network just like Wifi.
 
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