hi def playback question

njc2482

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 23, 2006
Messages
146
I was wondering if a radeon 9700 pro and a 1.4ghz amd cpu can playback hi def content?
 
It might squeeze by with 720p content, but if you're planning on 1080p stuff without stutters, forget it. And high bitrate 720p content will most likely stutter at times also. Only way to know for sure is give it a shot, I suppose, but that card is fairly old and certainly doesn't have any of the newer decoding capabilities (it'll do MPEG2 hardware assist, that's about it).

There are still some fairly decent (and more modern) cards with AGP interfaces that will do a better job but, AGP is dying fast. Instead of "wasting" money on older hardware just to make it capable, it's usually a better recommendation to get a new system these days. The lower end desktops from Dell, HP, etc, meaning the sub-$500 range and sometimes even under $400 are way way more powerful than any 1.4 GHz machine that was ever built and even the onboard video in some of them is entirely 1080p ready and can handle that kind of content without breaking a sweat.

Hope this helps...
 
It will be fine for 720p.

Blu-Ray and H.264 will require more processing power than what your system can handle. Generally speaking you will need a dual core CPU and a HD 4xxx series video card. A current generation GeForce video card will work, but ATI's video cards can also process audio as well so you can simply connect a HD 4xxx video card (w/ integrate HDMI port) to a HDTV via HDMI cable and you will get both video and audio.

In essence, you need a new build to playback HD content. I'm guess less than $500 for all components (no monitor) should be enough.
 
I was wondering if a radeon 9700 pro and a 1.4ghz amd cpu can playback hi def content?

i had a 1.4 tbird and a 9600xt awhile back that played back 720p alright, but yeah, if i tried 1080p? it would choke and die miserably.
 
Thanks for all the input. 720p would be fine so I think im going to stick with my old system till I get some extra cash.
 
As I noted, an upgrade to a more current (but not necessarily very expensive) video card can make things work a lot better, but there's just limits to what offloading the decoding to the video card's GPU will do on a 1.4 GHz box.

You can easily find such cards - with AGP interfaces - for $50 or less these days and they'll handle almost all the actual decoding of high definition content, but again, it's money literally down the tubes because if you upgrade to a new machine you're not going to be able to transplant that card...
 
well i hooked it all up and it seems like 720p runs fine just aslong as I have it full screen otherwise it chugs bad! :)
 
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