HD Playback with AMD Sempron?

[blackpaw]

I'm trying to spec a low power silent media center. I've decidied on the motherboard - a GA-MA78GM-S2H. Its freaking nice, HDMI output with MPEG2, MPEG4 and H.264 acceleration.

Finding a low power CPU is harder - they're very difficult to source in Australia. I can get a a AMD Sempron 64 LE-1600 2.2GHz:45W (for $45!) and supposedly combined with the M/B it can manage 1080p fine.

Just wondering if anyone else had tried it or had an opinion

Note:I will be running commercial detection on every recording and a lightweight mail server (!) - only two users

Thanks,

Blackpaw.

Edit:I could of course just get a Dual Core 4200, but the power consumption and fan requirements would be rather higher. But better that than stuttering playback.

[wtg]

With the right combination of decoder, drivers and graphic card, that should be enough CPU for 720p and 1080i mpg. I pull it off easily with an Athlon 2500+ and an ATI x1600 Pro.

However, H.264 and MPEG4 are much more tricky. If the 780g drivers and decoder work in sync it should be fine. However, peoples' experience seems to vary right now, and if everything is not just perfect, decoding of 1080p H.264/MPEG4 requires a high-powered CPU and that Sempron won't be enough. Personally I'd probably opt for the dual core just because you can never have too much CPU IMO, but then again it's not like the $45 Sempron puts a big dent in the wallet. If you decided later it wasn't enough you aren't out a ton of money.

[blackpaw]

Thanks wtg, yeah I wondered if I was pushing it for H.264 HD. The Dual Core 5000+ is just 65W, I might just go with that. Though as you say $45 is basically a throwaway

[gazoo]

WARNING! Don't fall for that review about the HA. IF you are using XP, it will probably be more difficult. Please read through these posts:
http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=34802
http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=34082&page=5

I have an Asus board which is 780g based on XP and in GB-PVR, I cannot get HA to work nicely at all yet. For a while, it wasn't event working at all until the leaked beta drivers came out (http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=34801). It still does't play nice within GB-PVR even with the beta driver. It works fine in WMP in XP (but that uses VMR7) and within the DXVAchecker program that checks for HA.

It really seems to be a driver issue. The AVSForums on this motherboard states the same thing. I'm sure it will eventually be sorted out with the drivers, but don't risk it and buy a higher end dual core. I have an X2 3800+, but I would really recommend a 4000+ or even a 4200+. If you are power concerned, go for the 45W X2, but it has a lower clock speed than mine. As an FYI (and it is included in one of those posts), my system uses about ~60W-70W consistently AND I have a nasty power factor of like .68 or something. This means don't worry about the power. Also, Semprons are getting harder to find and the price is dropping fast on the X2's. You can get the X2 4000+ with stock fan for $55 USD on Newegg.

All this is assuming you're looking into playing HD material, specifically 720p and 1080p .mkv internet files. If you never intend to do HD on it, the Sempron is fine.

Just a heads up..

[gazoo]

How's that for an opinion! :eek:

My system can play internet .mkv H.264 720p files at about 55%-60%. I'm not sure what profile those are, but they are probably L4.1. I use EVR, and it's totally done in software due to the aforementioned HA ATI driver problems (damn you ATI!:mad

My system also runs really cool..I mean REALLY cool. The CPU heats up ok, but I have a nice fan on that. My exhaust fan is the only other fan I have and it's whisper quiet and low RPM and doesn't really push a crazy amount of air.

[whurlston]

Your mkvs are probably H.263 not 264. Nothing will hardware accelerate H.263 as far as I know.

[gazoo]

Possibly. GSpot doesn't really tell me much about them, but when I run a graphedit on them, CoreAVC gets in the picture. I thought core was h.264 only but perhaps it is h263. The "place" where I downloaded them from said it was encoded from bluray in H.264.

[blackpaw]

Thanks for the heads up Gazoo. I'll still go with the M/B, but I'll definitely get the Athlon 5000+ - its 65W, I can live that.

I can hope that ATI will release decent drivers eventually

One of the things I'm going to do is install Ubuntu via Wubi, then install Mythbuntu. GBPVR will be the primary media player but I'm interested in booting to mythtv to test out the drivers and compare.

The nice thing about the Wubi installer is that there is no need for repartioning and its easily removed.