Build of Asus M3A78-EM (780G)

[soccerdad]

I just finished a build of a low dollar client using some recycled parts from an old e-machines box and some great black friday deals.

Specs:
Emachines case (required minor mods), dvd-rom and 100gig drive
Asus M3A78-EM mother board
Athlon 64 X2 5200+ chip
4 gigs Corsair DDR2 800
Vista Home Premium 64bit

Everything is now running amazingly well. The only problem that I have is that it locks up after coming out of standby mode. I have not looked into that yet.

BTW- I know that a Popcorn Hour is less expensive than this and I am looking to get one for another TV in the future, but I needed PC- internet funtionality at this TV as well so it was a great build. It also allows me to start to learn the evils of Vista :eek:

Setup:
EVR
Video Decoder: ffdshow
Audio Decoder: ffdshow
AC3 Decoder: AC3 filter
All others are set to default

Besides what is already on home premium, I only installed AC3 filter and the Vista codec pack and 64 bit extras from here: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/vist...ackage.htm

I have the client set up for streaming because on file share I get solid stuttering. I had to add the ffdshow or I would get stuttering on anything using EVR, but VR9 worked fair on streaming with the microsoft mpeg decoder.

The server is running the ATI Mux so I am streaming MPEG files.

CPU usage is about 15-20% on HD channels from my HVR-1800. The picture quality on HDMI to my 42" Visio is as good as it is from my STB.

The case is almost silent even with the standard AMD CPU fan (running q-fan). Total build was $216 including vista. I got amazing deals from New Egg on Black Friday. (4 gig of ram for $15 after rebate! $79 Vista)

Now all I need is a cheap IR remote receiver that I can configure and I should be completely done.... Well are you ever really done?

[pBS]

have you tried using the avivo decoder? 'ATI MPEG Video Decoder'
it works on lots of stuff and offers full accell in xp..
also be sure to set the output page in ffdshow to output only NV12 and check 'interlaced' box at bottom...tho it sounds like you've possibly already done it..helps vmr9

i may be getting one of these MB also here as i'm using a dedicated 3450 card and it's kinda toasty in my tiny case..

what ATI driver ver you using?

[soccerdad]

have you tried using the avivo decoder? 'ATI MPEG Video Decoder'
it works on lots of stuff and offers full accell in xp..

what ATI driver ver you using?

I see avivio in the catalyst control center, but I don't get ATI MPEG as a video decoder in config. How do I get it?

The driver is: Driver Packaging Version 8.561-081201a1-072276C-ATI

[pBS]

ADD 'ATI MPEG Video Decoder' TO LIST OF SUPPORTED VIDEO DECODERS in config.xml..then it'll show up..
[cut n paste, caps matter..and don't forget the comma between]
oops...sorry about the caps..:o

look in cat control center under info if it says what catalyst version...8.10 8.12 etc....
tho if it's drivers off cd they're probably custom...[i hate that they don't include a base rev #]

your system should be capable of bluray playback along with just about everything else..

[soccerdad]

Hmm, I added it, then found that it was already on the list of 'supporteddecoders'. It still does not show up in config. Do you know the file name for the decoder? Or another way to find out if I have it installed.

Here is all the Catalyst info:
Driver Packaging Version 8.561-081201a1-072276C-ATI
Catalyst® Version 08.12
Provider ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version 7.01.01.849
2D Driver File Path /REGISTRY/MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Control/CLASS/{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}/0000
Direct3D Version 7.14.10.0630
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.8304
Catalyst® Control Center Version 2008.1201.1504.27008

I appreciate all the great help and insight!

[gazoo]

Awesome build, and seemingly as cheap as the popcorn hour device. This will keep you going for years to come (hopefully.)

The integrated graphics on this board is just as good as discrete graphics for the purposes of home theater. If you try to get it to do hardware acceleration (which you don't need because the CPU is handling it beautifully) is where you might get some issues.

You might be able to use the Hauppauge board serial input for remote if it has it. It's just easier that way unless you want it to bring it out of sleep then a USB windows remote might be better.

[soccerdad]

Hi gazoo- I was just reading your build notes from your client. It is a lot like mine but I went the really cheap route and got lucky shopping. I pulled my hauppauge pvr 150 board since it will not work with 64 bit vista. I see that you down loaded the ATI MPEG decoder in your build. I can't seem to find it. Where did you get it? (or send me a PM and I will shoot you my email address if you have a copy)

[pBS]

avivo encoder is a separate download...on the ati site, look at the separate components link under the normal catalyst dl and there you'll see a link for avivo encoder package..
[even tho it says for 1xxx+ cards]
it consists of the avivo de/encoders/mux and parental restriction apps..
install that..
then it'll show up..
works great for mpeg,full hardware decode....not much other use except the encoder for transcoding....[it can be found in basic cat control panel only,second tab i think]

oh and for some reason i get both hardware decode and deinterlacing with ffdshow tryouts in xp [dxva1]

Man, i wish i'd skipped the Intel[not!] G45 board and got one of these...i've found it confirmed that intel won't be accelerating anything under xp!
[which is pathetic!!!] [dxva2 only]
such potential, but blown by a lawyers inability to do their job...[they're afraid of hdcp compliance lawsuits they say! lol as if anyone is Totally compliant yet?] i bet more like signed some exclusive agreement with some vendor or the movie industry, for far less money then they would have made selling boards...
now we'll just go ati or nvidia and intel will be just another platform to run the good graphics on..

still waiting on that new chipset for intel cpus with decent integrated graphics..! [MCP7x?]

[gazoo]

yes, where he said to get it

I use the ATI codec for mpeg, but I never got HA under xp. Under Vista, it crashes my system so I use Cyberlink (no HA either, but it doesn't crash).

[soccerdad]

Thanks to both of you for your help. I did as you said and now have the ATI Mpeg dec working. A couple of odd things though, should I have any configuration choices for the decoder when I select it? In config, I have ATI selected, but it does not give me any options (or even pop up anything) when I click the little .... box. Performance wise, it seems to work about the same as the ffdshow dec. Can HA be made to work in vista on mpeg files?

Also, it likely is a coincidence, but now it takes about 45% CPU to decode HD stuff, using any decoder. This is up from about 15-20%. I also now get stuttering on live TV on both streaming and file sharing. Something changed and I am not sure what it was. I looked and can't find anything in catalyst for HA. Is this something I should be able to turn on and off?

A little off subject, but connected... I have most success using streaming to the client but still have some stutter on some channels. I did some testing and have the following info from task manager graphs.
File Share:
3% network traffic, huge amount of stutter on live TV
14% network traffic 45%CPU usage when watching a recorded show (HD). Viewing looks good without stutter

Streaming: 70% network traffic, bad stutter on some channels, no so bad on others, 55% cpu on live TV
14% network traffic, 45% CPU when watching a recorded show. No stutter.

This does not make sense to me. I would expect live tv in file share to be much better. I would think it would be in timeshift mode and playing back out of a buffer file (file sharing?), and therefore act like a recorded show. Instead, it looks like it gets no buffer and tries to stream what ever piece the server can dish up. Do you know of any way to increase this buffer or am I just not understanding this??? As you see, when it works, it seems to use a lot of CPU.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.