Slow Response With an Old PC

[chrisv]

Hello all. I have an old PC (PIII - 733, 512 MG RAM) with an NVIDIA GeForce MX440. I don't expect great results but I expected better than what I am currently getting. Recording is no problem since I have the Hauppauge HVR-1600 (very low CPU usage). When viewing LiveTV (live preview mode or timeshifting), I am close to 100% CPU and the playback always freezes. I have tried many video decoders with the same results.

Another thing I have noticed is that when bringing up the guide, it takes forever. I usually give up since it takes so long, but I have seen the guide twice and managed to shcedule a recording. How long should it take for the guide to appear?

I have also tried the BeyondTV trial and playing back only consumes about 40% CPU, so I'm sure there's something I can do to get better results with GBPVR.

I am using version 0.99.12.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


Chris
________
Kids Nexium

[sub]

Sorry, I know its not what you want to hear, but your PC is below the recommended minimum spec so I would expect it to perform like crap.

You might be able to help live tv by switching to the overlay video renderer, and by finding a decoder that has low CPU usage. I think the MX440 supported some DXVA features, so a decoder like the Cyberlink decoder with hardware acceleration enabled should lower the CPU a fair bit.

Of course dont even think about trying any high definition channels via your HVR1600. You machine will not cope with these no matter what settings you tweak.

[arjones85]

Just so you don't feel bad, I have tried an AMD Thunderbird 1Ghz machine with 460 megs of ram. Also performed terribly. This is with SD.

I am now using a P4 3.2ghz with 1 gig of ram and using about 20-30% cpu on live tv.

Consider trying a faster machine You can try some other decoders, but with me I found that no matter what you do, an old machine is not going to give you acceptable results. At least for me anyway

[pastro]

My 1.8 Ghz Celeron uses 10-20% CPU on Overlay. I use a 9550 ATI card and Nvida Mpeg decoder. Sounds like you aren't getting any hardware acceleration from your video card, but I would think you wouldn't get any in Beyond TV either. Definitely try Overlay as Sub said, that's your best shot.

[jksmurf]

I am reasonably happy with mine (specs) below, even on the PC. I set the priority to above normal and have Nvidia Purevideo. I don't have HD or anything though it's all mpeg2 (DSL Cable and FTA).

k.

[chrisv]

I'm definitely not doing HD with this PC. I'm taking the S-Video out of my satellite receiver into the capture card, and I am also using Overlay. I would love to upgrade but I just got a new laptop last year so it's not in my budget yet. I'm surprised at the difference in CPU usage I'm experiencing between GBPVR and BeyondTV.

How long does the guide normally take to display?

[arjones85]

For me it's instant

[sub]

Yeah me too - instant to open the guide.

Any difference in CPU usage during live tv will just come down to differences in video decoder and video renderer. GB-PVR isnt doing the playback itself - it just uses Directshow to do playback, so assuming you use the same video decoders etc then you should have the same CPU usage as BeyondTV (which also just uses Directshow).

[chrisv]

In BTV, I am using the Snapstream Video Decoder. That doesn't appear as an option in GBPVR. Do I need to do something else to get it to appear?

Sub, awesome job with this software.

[sub]

I've never used that decoder, so its not on the known list of decoders in config.xml. You can either try adding it to the list, or use a different decoder.

(though I wouldnt be surprised if hardware acceleration is disabled in that decoder unless its running in their application)