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Need Help regarding possibly upgrading HTPC

K

Kel-O-Tron

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
79
Right now, I have a decent HTPC build off of an old gaming rig plus a few upgraded parts. Here is what I have right now in it:

Case: Silverstone CW02
GPU: EVGA 7800 GTX KO
Mobo: MSI K8N Neo Platinum SLi
CPU: 939 Socket AMD 3500+ (Definitely my weakest link)
Ram: 1GBx2 Corsair XMS (The one with the LED activity lights)
PSU: Thermaltake True Control 550W

For the most part, the HTPC is somewhat good at what it does. It plays most 720p movies just fine. However, when it comes to most 1080p movies, and some of the 720p movies with higher bitrates the movies lag pretty bad, and the audio gets shot out of sync as well too. I am running onboard sound (the Mobo comes with 24bit onboard soundblaster audio). I was wondering if I can get some advice or recommendations in terms of upgrading my HTPC to play 1080p movies flawless, and possibly bluray/hddvd movies as well since I plan on getting the dual optical as well. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Pretty much just need to get rid of the crappy video card. Pick up a 4550/4650 and you should be okay.
 
Are you serious? Back when I was running an X800 Pro I didn't have any problems whatsoever, and that card is really crappy. I know I can somewhat survive on running just 1080p with the 7800GTX (bluray/hddvd is a different story though). What about the CPU? I'm running on a 5 year old single core processor, and I definitely want to upgrade that, what would everybody recommend on that? AMD, Intel? Also what about a soundcard as well?
 
I started to recommend upgrading to a dual core. However, after thinking about it, you might want to get a nice AM2 chip and a new motherboard with onboard video.

Thats the route I would take.
 
Kel-O-Tron said:
Are you serious? Back when I was running an X800 Pro I didn't have any problems whatsoever, and that card is really crappy. I know I can somewhat survive on running just 1080p with the 7800GTX (bluray/hddvd is a different story though). What about the CPU? I'm running on a 5 year old single core processor, and I definitely want to upgrade that, what would everybody recommend on that? AMD, Intel? Also what about a soundcard as well?
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Most folks on here recommend one of the following setups (for CPU and mobo).

Intel Core 2 Duo + Nvidia 9200/9300 board
AMD X2 (5050e seems popular) or AMD Kuma Core CPU + Nvidia 8200/8300 board

All these CPU's can handle the 1080p playback and by swapping out your current board to one of the Nvidia options you would have no need for your current graphics card (unless you plan on gaming in which case you may want that card as well). These boards can output 1080p video and audio over HDMI which is their main selling point. They also dont cost too much either.

Most will agree that the cost end favors AMD, however the performance side goes to Intel. Choose your poison.
 
Thank you. Will these CPU's be able to run a Bluray/HDDVD?

Also, what Mobo would you recommend should I go with Intel, or AMD?
 
Kel-O-Tron said:
Thank you. Will these CPU's be able to run a Bluray/HDDVD?

Also, what Mobo would you recommend should I go with Intel, or AMD?
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All of them would be able to handle blu-ray content easily as the GPU (provided you get an Nvida chipset as suggested) handles the decoding leaving the CPU almost untouched. I would recommend trying to go with a 45nm AMD X2 chip and a Nvidia 8200 or 8300 board (there are a decent amount of options there). It will run everything you need for blu-ray content and not draw an insane amount of power. It also will cost you a little less than a Core 2 Duo.
 
My HTPC plays 1080P BD, HD-DVD, and x264 rips perfect using onboard 9300 graphics.
 
Kel-O-Tron said:
Thank you. Will these CPU's be able to run a Bluray/HDDVD?

Also, what Mobo would you recommend should I go with Intel, or AMD?
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The thing is, as long as you have a decent CPU, regardless of dual or single core, and a video card/IGP mobo that supports hardware acceleration then you're pretty good.

I'm seeing more and more people building Blu ray HTPCs with a Sempron 140 (Sargus) and they seem to be pretty happy with it (they all say it plays whatever they've thrown at it).
 
Hey there. Ok, so honestly what you have there WILL work. I've built several HTPC's with the configuration that I have below. There may be better (everyone is entitled to their own opinions), but this is what I've used and I've found to work. If you want to keep what you have, I would suggest reading this: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1443403 . You can then configure ffdshow properly to decode the high quality stuff at a rate your hardware can handle (PM me and I can get you exact settings).

If you still want to upgrade, if I were you, this is what I would do:

Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H Mobo
Comes with built in HDMI and DVI on a ATI 4200 integrated chip. Not good for gaming, but it works JUST fine including decoding bluray and 1080p video files. Also comes with HDMI with 7.1 audio pass through and optical.

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz
Not the fastest chip in the world, but it gets the job done quite well.

OCZ Blade Series 4GB DDR2 800
You'll need new RAM too, and this is great RAM after a $10 mail-in it's not that bad at all.

Assuming your HD is a SATA drive, put that all together and you are looking at:
$169.98-$10 mail in = $159.98.

Note that the price for the mobo and proc is $20 cheaper if you get them in a combo.

If you want to keep your existing hardware, let me know and I can help you get it configured. Your GPU isn't your bottleneck though, it's your CPU (as you already guessed). Otherwise, consider these items. I've built MANY systems in a similar configuration and they do a fantastic job for the price.

One other thing I wanted to note, while normally I would tell you to use a 64-bit OS, I HIGHLY recommend that you use a 32-bit OS. I know there are people on here who will disagree with me on this, but for a HTPC at least for now with all the codecs and things out there Trust me here, 32-bit OS for right now with HTPC just solves a LOT of headaches right now. For normal computing, I'd never do anything other than a 64-bit OS for 4 Gigs and up, but in this case, it's better to stick with a 32-bit OS.

Ok, that last paragraph was longer than I wanted! :) At any rate, that should get you going. I'm going to bed (2 AM here) so drop me a line and I will be more than happy to help you out. Good luck!
 
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Here's what I think based on my experience with an HTPC that had almost identical specs to your system.

Your CPU cannot handle software decoded 1080p video, and your video card does not also handle hardware accelerated 1080p video. You have to at least upgrade one of these to get good playback of the high def videos.

In addition, how are you outputting your audio? Is it digital or analog? In order to output full HD audio (Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) you need HDMI audio output. If not (or do not think your speakers/receiver is high quality enough to discern the difference between lossy and lossless surround audio) and you can output digitally right now, then just keep it as is.

So if you're not upgrading audio, then an NVIDIA 9xxx series or higher card will provide you with acceleration of 1080p material that even ATI's highest end cards cannot do (L5 or L5.1 h264 1080p video material) and allow output via HDMI (video only, no audio)

If you want to upgrade audio and video, then an ATI 4xxx or higher series will allow for HDMI video and audio output and 1080p acceleration but only for material up to L4.1 encoding in h264, so some material you may come accross (whether you download it or encode it yourself) will not play accelerated because ATI's cards are more strict in what they will play.

Conversely, you can just upgrade the CPU to a dual core CPU that will fit your motherboard (939 socket I assume?) so a dual core 939 Opteron or Athlon X2 and use a software decoder. CoreAVC is the most efficient software codec for h264 playback and a dual core Opteron or X2 will suffice to play back since it is multithread capable and will use both cores.

If all you're playing back is L4.1 or lower encoded h264 1080 material or BluRay Discs, then an ATI 4xxx series is all you need. Just be prepared to have to re-encode certain files that may not have originally been encoded to conform to BluRay spec.

If this sounds like a hassle, then the all in one boards with the 9300 IGP (the only NVIDIA solution that can output HDMI audio) or a board with an 4xxx IGP built in will give you the ability to have both software and hardware playback.
 
byusinger84 said:
It works just fine. There are others out there, just happens to be the one I pick and chose from. Just one man's opinion.
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StarTrekFacePalm.gif
 
Seriously. When I guy starts out like this:
Not to toot my own horn as they say, but I've been building HTPC's for a LONG time now and I've been around quite a bit of hardware and software.
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Anyone looking for valuable info automatically start taking notice of the info in the post. The fact that he recommends a 700 series mobo despite being as outdated as it is AND then recommends to install garbage on your HTPC, new guys are going to think you have a clue as to what you're doing.

Shit. I've been into HTPCs for a long while now. What he posted had some decent info but those two things invalidate it all.

Saying you "know your stuff" and then giving two crap suggestions that anyone who actually knows their stuff would never do does a major disservice to anyone looking for actual info to getting their HTPC going.
 
CrimandEvil said:
Seriously. When I guy starts out like this:

Anyone looking for valuable info automatically start taking notice of the info in the post. The fact that he recommends a 700 series mobo despite being as outdated as it is AND then recommends to install garbage on your HTPC, new guys are going to think you have a clue as to what you're doing.

Shit. I've been into HTPCs for a long while now. What he posted had some decent info but those two things invalidate it all.

Saying you "know your stuff" and then giving two crap suggestions that anyone who actually knows their stuff would never do does a major disservice to anyone looking for actual info to getting their HTPC going.
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How about instead of insulting and being angry, why don't you offer a DIFFERENT suggestion? If you seem to know so much, then by all means, prove me wrong. But flapping your mouth does nothing to validate your point. And just FYI, the board that I put up there yeah, is a little older, but it's a newer revision and works JUST FINE for what he wants. If you have something better then SAY IT!

I swear, people in this world only get pissed off anymore if they don't agree with something. I'm not saying we should all sing Kumbaya, but if people would offer other suggestions then MAYBE he can make the best choice for him. What I suggested works for me and I've built many boxes like this and they all work, NO PROBLEM. I'd be interested in your thoughts because I'm ALWAYS looking for ways to improve my HTPC. Please help or don't. But don't just bash someone for trying to help the guy.
 
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