DXVA and an HD 3200 on Windows 7

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xrintrahx

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
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Not sure if this is the best forum to post, so I'd be glad to be directed elsewhere, but I'm hoping someone here can help. I've upgraded to Windows 7 recently. My system is an AMD X2 5400+ paired with ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+ 780G (on board Radeon 3200HD) and 2GB ram. I cannot get MPC-HC to work properly in EVR Custom Pres. **, which I believe means hardware acceleration and thus DXVA is not enabled. Whenever I select EVR Custom, the video becomes choppy, slow, and laggy, however, selecting the "System Default" DirectShow Video Output works much better, but of course that means DXVA is disabled. For the majority of my video files, the default output is fine. Though I'd like to be utilizing the GPU for various reasons (temperature, save CPU, fan speed, etc). The problem comes when I try to play 1080p files. Luckily I don't have many of them. Take for example the 1080p Quantum of Solace trailer. The video plays slower than the audio, so they loose sync and video is possibly dropping frames. CPU stays around 70-80%.

XP on the same system can play the 1080p files fine (though I remember I had to tweak a lot to get them to work. I believe I was using CCCP and enabled hardware acceleration in ffdshow somehow)

On Win7, I don't have any codec packs or anything installed besides Gabest’s Matroska Splitters. Any idea why EVR Custom produces worse results on my set up? Any suggestions on how to get DXVA working?
 
when I right click a playing video, after enabling EVR Custom Pres., and I'm getting the choppy, laggy video, I click "fliter->MPC video decoder" and under DXVA settings. It says "DXVA mode- H.264 bitstream decoder, no FGT". And when I have EVR Custom turned off and the default on, it says "Not using DXVA". So I have to assume DXVA is on under EVR Custom, but maybe there is a driver issue, or maybe HD3200 doesn't do hardware acceleration under W7x64, but does on WinXP? It seems odd, which I why I'm seeking additional input. Speaking of which, thanks for your reply!
 
Your using the latest ATI drivers and MPC-HC (August 2009)?
You can also try using Haali's media splitter instead of gabest's, but to rule it out you could try with a MP4 file instead of MKV if you have any.
 
Press Ctrl+J (assuming you have the DirectX Runtime libraries installed) and get a screenshot of when you get stuttering.
 
Yes, latest drivers and MPC. I think the 007 trailer was mp4 (the one I described above with video/audio sync issues). Also, this behavior also happens (to a lesser degree) with non-HD .avi (XviD/DivX). The video plays smoother, but still seems to slow down the system/become laggy a bit choppy.
 
Definitely sounds like a driver issue - when you use EVR, the video card still plays a role in what you see, with 'enhancements' like noise reduction, contrast boost, etc. With Overlay and the other renderers, the video card can't affect the video.


If you have the CCC installed, open it, go to the Avivo Video panel, All Settings, then uncheck everything under Advanced Quality, Video Playback and Video Demo Mode.
 
I unchecked all those options in CCC, and it made no difference. Here is a ctl-j screenshot as asked. Hope this helps.

fbeps5.png
 
Right click on the video, Renderer Settings, Reset, Reset to default renderer settings. If that doesn't work, Reset to optimal renderer settings. If that doesn't work.. we'll see.
 
Ok, Reset to default didn't do anything noticable. Reset to optimal appeared to turn aero off and I have a message in the tray saying a program was incompatible with running at something and turned the colorspace down. Something along those lines. However, the video does play smooth now (but my taskbar and windows are no longer transparent). Hmm... I've had other issues with the HD 3200, so maybe it isn't beefy enough to run full aero and HD videos at the same time? And that would explain why the videos worked in XP (no aero). It's good to know that if I am in a pinch, I have something I can do to play the videos, but I don't think I want to live with aero off. I have been planning on upgrading my video card, but I'm waiting a few months for the budget ATI 5xxx to come out. Any more ideas?
 
Just sounds like the HD3200 isn't big enough for you. Save up for another card, if it's purely a HTPC you don't need a 5000 series card. I want to say the 4650 (I don't know ATI very well) is good enough.
 
It isn't a pure HTPC. It is my main system. I don't do any gaming. So yeah, I was considering one of the lower 4xxx, but for some reason I decided to wait. I don't remember why, though. lol I don't think it had to do with audio because I have 5.1 analog speakers being feed from an m-audio revolution 7.1, and therefore I don't have a receiver or any need for bitstreaming 7.1 audio. But I know that is one of the advantages of the newer cards. Hmm... I do remember reading something that made me decide to simply wait for the newer cards, but I can't recall what. I guess it wasn't that important. I'll consider getting one of the cheaper, passive 4xxx then.

BTW, my monitor is a 30" LCD with the 2560x1600 resolution.
 
You don't need one of the newer cards if you don't game. I mean if you do something that is visually heavy, like rendering graphics or something sure. But if you just need something that'll support that giant monitor of yours, get a 46xx~47xx should be just fine.
 
Maybe my desire to wait for a budget 5xxx was due to my experience with the HD3200. I thought the 780G would be good enough when I built the system over a year ago. I wanted an onboard solution, and didn't want to have to buy a dedicated card. But that hasn't been the case. So I'm reluctant to get the lower end 4xxx stuff for similar reasons. I'd rather be overpowered a bit, then have to deal with choppy video, and laggy guide menus in 7MC. But I guess if I can get a $20-30 card, I can test it out, and i'm not out much $ if it doesn't work good enough.
 
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