Advice on an upgrade

[ga_mueller]

I have both 256mb and 512mb 8400gs cards and they are both great. Never knew there was a 125mb version so can't comment if that's the problem. You need a DXVA capable decoder. When DXVA is working CPU usage will be below 10% (around 5% on my wimpy hwe). For mpeg (broadcast) get Cyberlink pdvd7/8/9 (clvsd.ax). For h264 get mpc-hc decoder (mpcvideodec.ax).

[soccerdad]

I was wrong in my specs. It really is a 256mb version. I will look into pdvd. Thanks.

[soccerdad]

Another dumb question. Is the PDVD decoder available by itself or do I need to buy the Power DVD software package?

[soccerdad]

Well now I am more confused than ever. The more I google, the worse it gets....

Anyway, I think I am missing some basic knowledge. Please be gentle.

I am trying to play HD files recorded off my cable system in the standard .ts format. Are these mpeg files or h264? (I am thinking mpeg).

How do I know if dxva is working? I installed the demo version of powerdvd and now have the cyberlink decoders, but the CPU is still at near 95% and not fluid at all. Some of the other decoders use less cpu, but are just as bad or worse on playback quality.

I don't really understand what dvxa checker is telling me. Under the decoder device tab I had it check DirectShow decoders. Under the Cyberlink PVD10 line nothing is listed. When I play a recording with the checker, it plays just like in NPVR and it shows 85% CPU and the gpu% is blank. Does that mean the GPU is not doing anything???

Sigh

[stustunz]

in npvr settings/decoders>in both mpeg2 and h.264 video check power dvd decoder properties make sure you have selected Dxva

[soccerdad]

I am now pretty sure I have dxva running on the cyberlink for mpeg video. But it still is pretty choppy even though it is only at about 55% CPU. I only get a black screen for the mpc decoder, which is the one I want to use. In the ... setup for the mpc, the dxva is grayed out and says something like it is not active. I have no idea why the mpc decoder give me a black screen.

Anyway, I have tried and tried and have got the CPU down, but it just won't play smoothly. I am stumped and am starting to think that it won't ever be happy with this PC and OS. It runs terrible with the powerdvd player as well. I hate to give up though. I just don't know what else to try. It won't even play an HD file well that is stored locally on the client.

[mikeh49]

I've been testing a spare system, and just encountered a similar problem - fairly low CPU use but choppy playback. I haven't solved it, but here's something to look for:

In task manager, go to the CPU tab and click on the resource monitor button which will show you all the processes using CPU cycles. In my case, with Win7, NPVR was using about 20% CPU, but System was using about the same. When I explored what in System was using the CPU (with process explorer, a separate, free download), it turned out to be dxgmms1.sys, which is a DirectX file of some sort.

This situation developed after I installed ffdshow beta 7 (it ran like cr*p, high cpu use and choppy video and out of sync audio); uninstalling and reverting to the MS video decoder and AC3 filter did not restore smooth video. Prior to this, I could play HD on this system with the MS DTV-DVD decoder smoothly at about 40% total CPU use. System was not prominent in the CPU users.

That's all I know at the moment. Maybe of some help to you.

[ga_mueller]

That athlon 64 3500+ has a passmark of 579 vs my Atom 330 at 633. As I see 5-8% CPU on MPEG2 HD broadcast, and you see 55%, I'd have to say DxVA isn't working. Also, apparently the new PDVD codecs only play well with that application, so you need to try the older ones (PDVD7/8 I know work, I use PDVD8). You can find these with some "persistant Googling".... good luck, this should work.

[hoborg]

Did you tried ulocked SAF5? (link below).

[soccerdad]

Thanks for all the ideas. I uninstalled the PVD10 and now have the SAF4 unlocked set in. Still with the same issues. I also tested the HD Pack 2.2 which has the PVD 7 and 8 in it. Same issues. I have tries so many setups, I am not sure what config the PVD8 was in. I did not find the "enable dxva" check box until recently. I might have to load up those again and test it out. I wonder if it could be a driver issue. I am using the latest nVidia driver for the card. What version of the driver are you using?