Bluray computer

D

d3stiNy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2003
Messages
170
I was looking on the forums and I couldnt find anything on this topic, so sorry if there is another post with the same thing but I was looking to play bluray on my computer. I got a Dell 2208wfp for christmas and I looked online and saw it was HDCP, which I believe to be HD ready. Is this true, because I am not looking to get a new monitor so if its not HD ready then I wont bother. I also am planning on getting a bluray player for my computer.


I was wondering if I needed a new video card. I currently have a radeon x1650. It is quite old, I built my machine in 06, so im assuming I need a new card and am willing to spend around $100. I dont do a lot of gaming, but I still would like a card that would handle the newer games, if thats possible. alond with being able to play blurays.

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks in advance.
 
When playing 1080p video on a 1680*1050 screen, it'll just get resized to a smaller form. Will still look good, just kind of stupid to get a blu-ray drive to play $30 movies with more detailed acne and pimples on a screen that won't really show the movie in it's grand (pimple-tastic) glory.

You might not need a new video card, but if you're set on getting blu-ray.. well just get it, try it and if it doesn't play well, any ATI 3XXX series card and NV 8X00 and above will do the job.
 
You can get away without changing your graphics card by using AnyDVD-HD.
It is a program that sits in the background and removes the need for HDCP compliance.
It also can remove trailers, adverts etc and allow you to copy your movies to hard disk.
It is not a movie player, for that the best one is PowerDVD 8 Ultra.

You have until Jan 11th to buy a lifetime subscription of AnyDVD-HD as they are changing it to yearly fee subscription.
http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html
 
With AnyDVD-HD will there be any difference in quality than if I get a better graphics card?
 
No difference in quality.

What CPU do you have? We should establish if its fast enough to play Blu Ray.
If not I'll find out if your GPU is suitable for accelerating playback (so we can configure PowerDVD to use the gfx card)
It most likely is capable, but if not you may need a faster CPU or more capable gfx card, your choice.
 
Thats ok for a well optimised system.
If you get any problem, clock it to 2.5GHz and you should be safe.

Your graphics card meets the minimum requirement for accelerated playback so all is good.
If this doesnt work, at least your CPU can take over ok.
So you are nearly home and dry.
 
Nenu said:
Thats ok for a well optimised system.
If you get any problem, clock it to 2.5GHz and you should be safe.

Your graphics card meets the minimum requirement for accelerated playback so all is good.
If this doesnt work, at least your CPU can take over ok.
So you are nearly home and dry.
Click to expand...
Um... The X1650 won't offload HD playback from the CPU. I tried this with an older build and I was nearly maxing out my E4500 on some movies.
 
Nenu said:
http://www.powerdvd-ultra.com-http.com/system-requirements.html


Which older version of PowerDVD, did it support Blu Ray and GPU acceleration?
Click to expand...

I have 7 Ultra (nothing really new in 8) and I can assure that it won't offload all HD from BD's. My E4500 found itself MAXED on many occasions. It's an older GPU that didn't have this in mind when it was made. I swapped in a 9600GT and CPU utilization went down to 5 - 10% (mostly background tasks causing the spikes).

Many X1650's were HDCP capable, so I'm guessing that's why PowerDVD has this in the requirements list.
 
yamahaSHO said:
I have 7 Ultra (nothing really new in 8) and I can assure that it won't offload all HD from BD's. My E4500 found itself MAXED on many occasions. It's an older GPU that didn't have this in mind when it was made. I swapped in a 9600GT and CPU utilization went down to 5 - 10% (mostly background tasks causing the spikes).

Many X1650's were HDCP capable, so I'm guessing that's why PowerDVD has this in the requirements list.
Click to expand...

His CPU is fast enough so maybe that is the best route when using AnyDVD.
There must be a CPU overhead minimum using GPU on ATI.

It is starting to look like a new card is a good option unless you find the other features of anydvd useful.
Its a shame you cant try out either solution without spending money.
 
I thought AMD was behind the curve on Intel. His AMD Dual Core 2.2, 4200+ is the same clock speed as the E4500 I was maxing out... He may really be pushing it and have some stuttering every now and again. Definitely won't be able to have a background task running.
 
yamahaSHO said:
I thought AMD was behind the curve on Intel. His AMD Dual Core 2.2, 4200+ is the same clock speed as the E4500 I was maxing out... He may really be pushing it and have some stuttering every now and again. Definitely won't be able to have a background task running.
Click to expand...

There are minimum and recommended CPU's, his CPU unclocked falls in the recommended section.
So if his PC is well optimised it should be fine.
As mentioned earlier, if there is any problem, he can clock the CPU to 2.5GHz.

He may have issues playing back x264 MKV files but Blu Ray should be fine.
 
I see on the PowerDVD website that the resolution must be 1920 x 1080. I currently have a 22in monitor, which is 1680x1050. Will there be any problems or will it just run at 720p?
And I believe that i will end up purchasing this video card which should take away any problems.
 
Your resolution will work ok as PowerDVD handles the downscaling to match your resolution.

I cant recommend Sapphire cards because of their awful online support.
That card will be fine though (as long as it doesnt break :)).
 
Nenu said:
There are minimum and recommended CPU's, his CPU unclocked falls in the recommended section.
So if his PC is well optimised it should be fine.
As mentioned earlier, if there is any problem, he can clock the CPU to 2.5GHz.

He may have issues playing back x264 MKV files but Blu Ray should be fine.
Click to expand...
I understand what minimum and recommended specs are, however, from EXPERIENCE, I don't think it's going to be as smooth as 'recommended' makes it sound. He can most certainly give it a shot, but I think he'll want a new video card after what he finds.

I've got 3 HD DVD/BD computers.
 
Sadly the op cant find out either way without spending money so looks to be going with the new gfx card option.
A fair choice imo.
 
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