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Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 534

post #15991 of 18935
1/19/11 at 6:16am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cu_shane View Post

I'm using the "autochange fullscreen monitor mode" option in MPC-HC

Which video renderer are you using?
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post #15992 of 18935
1/19/11 at 6:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Which video renderer are you using?

EVR Custom Pres.
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post #15993 of 18935
1/19/11 at 8:58am
I have been following this thread for awhile and i respect the insight and knowledge here.

Can someone please help me choose a heatsink and fan that will fit my case (please see atched photos) that is as quiet as possible? My current stock one sounds like a kitten in a blender! I prob wont be doing any overclocking. Chip is i7 920. Hope that is enough.


I have never done this before, so ease is a premium. I would rather not have to take the motherboard out if at all possible, but to obtain peace and quiet i would possibly risk it.
LL
LL
LL
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post #15994 of 18935
1/19/11 at 9:22am
Quick question. I know I saw somewhere what settings I should be using in CCC for a Radeon, but I can't for the life of my find it. The reason I'm asking is that I converted an mkv to m2ts and it's blocky when played on the HTPC. It plays great on two different computers and on the Xbox extender, but not on the HTPC.

THanks
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post #15995 of 18935
1/19/11 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by csd View Post

Quick question. I know I saw somewhere what settings I should be using in CCC for a Radeon, but I can't for the life of my find it. The reason I'm asking is that I converted an mkv to m2ts and it's blocky when played on the HTPC. It plays great on two different computers and on the Xbox extender, but not on the HTPC.

THanks

I'm no expert; I've just been reading these forums for a while, but I think you need this: http://shark007.net/
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post #15996 of 18935
1/19/11 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scopeyus View Post

I'm no expert; I've just been reading these forums for a while, but I think you need this: http://shark007.net/

Yeah, I should have included that I do have Shark007's pack installed. I've tried the defaults, his settings, and uninstalling. In all cases, the m2ts files play blocky. On the other PC's, they are fine just playing in media player. Since the files still play poorly with Shark007 uninstalled, I started thinking maybe a video driver problem. That's why I was asking if anyone knew where I might have seen the CCC settings listed out.
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post #15997 of 18935
1/19/11 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

2500K/2600K + H67 + integrated GPU is a good combination, in particular for desktop machines with heavy CPU load. The main issue of integrated GPU are:

- No 23.976Hz support
- Not good support by free and open source software (e.g MPC HomeCinema codecs).

Quick Sync is a hardware video encoder integrated in all Sandy Bridge processors.

Please read the AnandTech article for details.

I use XBMC (xbox media center) for pc for all my media and occasionally use VLC, do you think the iGPU H67 setup will be a problem with this? Also have you tried XBMC, VLC, and MPC-HC, if so which is best?
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post #15998 of 18935
1/19/11 at 7:01pm
hey guys, what do you use as tuner for over the air reception?

looking for something solid and affordable. thanks
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post #15999 of 18935
1/19/11 at 7:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smokarz View Post

hey guys, what do you use as tuner for over the air reception?

looking for something solid and affordable. thanks

There are lots of good options, including the AverMedia AVerTVHD Duet, Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250, and SiliconDust HD Homerun - all dual tuners.
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post #16000 of 18935
1/19/11 at 7:22pm
thanks gsr,

wow, these things are a little pricey...

can i use these tuners within Win7 Media Center? or do they only run on their own software?
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post #16001 of 18935
1/19/11 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smokarz View Post

thanks gsr,

wow, these things are a little pricey...

can i use these tuners within Win7 Media Center? or do they only run on their own software?

Those all work with Windows 7 Media Center as well as with their own (crappy) software. Pricey is a relative thing. I'm using a pair of Ceton InfiniTV 4 CableCard tuners, so those other options seem really inexpensive to me .
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post #16002 of 18935
1/19/11 at 7:28pm
haha....sorry, i am a poor bastard
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post #16003 of 18935
1/20/11 at 3:56am
Happy January 20.... I'm hoping the new updated guide comes out today!!
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post #16004 of 18935
1/20/11 at 5:06am
Thread Starter 
Yup, it's almost done. I still have to fill in the feature tables. I will upload the new file tonight.

If I didn't reply to posts, I am sorry. I will read recent posts if I finish the file.
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post #16005 of 18935
1/20/11 at 10:27am
Thread Starter 
I just uploaded Buyer's Guide - January 2011. Those who got a download link (restricted to donators for now) can download it with the same link.
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post #16006 of 18935
1/20/11 at 11:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by smokarz View Post

hey guys, what do you use as tuner for over the air reception?

looking for something solid and affordable. thanks



I have a cheap Pinnacle USB stick tuner and a Vbox Cat's Eye 150 PCI tuner. Both do the job just fine when hooked up to a decent antenna. Either can be had for under $50 if you shop around. I got lucky and got the USB stick used on eBay for $11!
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post #16007 of 18935
1/20/11 at 8:19pm
Suggestion: add HDMI 1.4a as a feature on the chart for GPUs.
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post #16008 of 18935
1/20/11 at 8:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cu_shane View Post

Suggestion: add HDMI 1.4a as a feature on the chart for GPUs.

HDMI 1.4a primary 3D video formats consists of: Frame Packing, Side-by-Side (Half), Top-and-Bottom (with various timings). Frame Packing is the format that requires new hardware, so I separated it from the others...
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post #16009 of 18935
1/20/11 at 9:26pm
Anyone have trouble downloading guide? @ 0% for 15 mins.
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post #16010 of 18935
1/20/11 at 9:36pm
Thread Starter 
Hmm... I tried to download it with FireFox's own download manager and it took ~15 seconds to finish downloading. I sent you the file.
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post #16011 of 18935
1/20/11 at 9:36pm
Downloaded w/ no problem for me.

BTW -- Thanks, renethx!
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post #16012 of 18935
1/20/11 at 9:46pm
Got it, Thanks. Using IE 8. Received link almost immediately, download just froze. Weird
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post #16013 of 18935
1/20/11 at 9:48pm
@ renethx. Thanks again for the quick response, I have a lot of catching up to do.
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post #16014 of 18935
1/20/11 at 11:30pm
Hello All!

I recently built myself a rig as an exclusive HTPC for XBMC with the following configuration:

AMD Athlon X3 440
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H Rev. 1.4
2x2GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM @ 1600MHz (The BIOS POST however reports that the RAM is running at 1333MHz, unganged)
Western Digital 320GB SATA Blue Hard Drive
Corsair VX450 Power Supply
Cooler Master CM590 Chassis
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

I posted this on XBMC forums and am posting the same here. I did some reading on the forums here and on XBMC and realized that the onboard GPU, HD4250, was sufficient for 1080P content. All my media is stored on a NAS and the network is gigabit. When I copy files stored on the NAS to this system, I am getting speeds between 40 and 60MBps.

I got the latest XBMC 10.0 Dharma off the home page of the site.

I installed Windows and ran all the updates. Got the latest drivers for the HD4250 from ati/amd and installed the same. I then installed XBMC. The skin in use is the default Confluence. I enabled DXVA2 from the System Menu. However, when I tried playing any 1080p or even 720p encoded mkv file, I am encountering constant "buffering" issues and constant frame drops. I even copied the files locally to the system and tried but with the same result. However, the same files play flawlessly with MPHC, both with DXVA enabled and disabled. With DXVA enabled, the CPU is running at under 10% and with DXVA disabled, it runs just above 40%.

For reference, the values for the RAM for the GPU is set at defaults through the BIOS and Windows reports that it is using 512MB for the GPU and the rest is allotted to Windows, i. e. 3.5GB.

I also tried using a dedicated GPU, the MSI HD4670 with 512MB RAM but still got the same issues.

I do understand that it is advised that I get a dedicated GPU for bit-streaming and DTS Audio. I do intend to do that but for the time being, I want to use the onboard GPU. I will get the HD5xxx GPU in a couple of weeks.

I have another system running the following specs:
Intel Core Duo E4400
Asus P5GC-VM Mainboard
4GB RAM
80GB SATA Hard Drive
MSI HD4670 with 512MB RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Here, due to the limitation of the mainboard, the RAM is reported as 2.5GB. The onboard video is disabled.

On this system, XBMC runs well and the files play flawlessly, However, this system does not belong to me and I had this for testing soon after Dharma was released. However, I tried using Aeon MQ2 on this build and it was very sluggish. However, even with Aeon enabled, the media files played without issues.

On the advice of a member on XBMC, I downloaded the latest drivers off gigabyte's site and installed the same. After this, the buffering issue has not come back but a new issue has cropped up. Now, after a few minutes ranging from 5-20 minutes, the video simply stops playing and XBMC returns me to the last screen. I thought this is a issue specific to XBMC and so I wanted to give Media Browser a shot. I did a clean install of Windows 7 and installed the required FFDShow and other files which are required to play mkv files on Media Player. However, there were still issues with mkv playback on Windows Media Center with Media Browser. The BIOS shows that the CPU and System temperatures are below 40 degrees and I don't experience any lag or slow downs with normal Windows operation.

Now, I need help to eliminate the issues with the AMD build which I intend to keep as the HTPC and I hope that your help will make me get rid of these issues. My last option will be to sell off the AMD Processor and Mainboard and get a i3 based rig but I really want to avoid it.

Your help will be really appreciated.
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post #16015 of 18935
1/21/11 at 6:21am
rene, did you say you were going to release the older versions for free or has that changed?
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post #16016 of 18935
1/21/11 at 6:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ludedudeh22a1 View Post

rene, did you say you were going to release the older versions for free or has that changed?

Yes, I am planning on releasing the 3 months old guide every month for free.
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post #16017 of 18935
1/21/11 at 6:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SumitB View Post

Hello All!

I recently built myself a rig as an exclusive HTPC for XBMC with the following configuration:

AMD Athlon X3 440
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H Rev. 1.4
2x2GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM @ 1600MHz (The BIOS POST however reports that the RAM is running at 1333MHz, unganged)
Western Digital 320GB SATA Blue Hard Drive
Corsair VX450 Power Supply
Cooler Master CM590 Chassis
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

I posted this on XBMC forums and am posting the same here. I did some reading on the forums here and on XBMC and realized that the onboard GPU, HD4250, was sufficient for 1080P content. All my media is stored on a NAS and the network is gigabit. When I copy files stored on the NAS to this system, I am getting speeds between 40 and 60MBps.

I got the latest XBMC 10.0 Dharma off the home page of the site.

I installed Windows and ran all the updates. Got the latest drivers for the HD4250 from ati/amd and installed the same. I then installed XBMC. The skin in use is the default Confluence. I enabled DXVA2 from the System Menu. However, when I tried playing any 1080p or even 720p encoded mkv file, I am encountering constant "buffering" issues and constant frame drops. I even copied the files locally to the system and tried but with the same result. However, the same files play flawlessly with MPHC, both with DXVA enabled and disabled. With DXVA enabled, the CPU is running at under 10% and with DXVA disabled, it runs just above 40%.

For reference, the values for the RAM for the GPU is set at defaults through the BIOS and Windows reports that it is using 512MB for the GPU and the rest is allotted to Windows, i. e. 3.5GB.

I also tried using a dedicated GPU, the MSI HD4670 with 512MB RAM but still got the same issues.

I do understand that it is advised that I get a dedicated GPU for bit-streaming and DTS Audio. I do intend to do that but for the time being, I want to use the onboard GPU. I will get the HD5xxx GPU in a couple of weeks.

I have another system running the following specs:
Intel Core Duo E4400
Asus P5GC-VM Mainboard
4GB RAM
80GB SATA Hard Drive
MSI HD4670 with 512MB RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Here, due to the limitation of the mainboard, the RAM is reported as 2.5GB. The onboard video is disabled.

On this system, XBMC runs well and the files play flawlessly, However, this system does not belong to me and I had this for testing soon after Dharma was released. However, I tried using Aeon MQ2 on this build and it was very sluggish. However, even with Aeon enabled, the media files played without issues.

On the advice of a member on XBMC, I downloaded the latest drivers off gigabyte's site and installed the same. After this, the buffering issue has not come back but a new issue has cropped up. Now, after a few minutes ranging from 5-20 minutes, the video simply stops playing and XBMC returns me to the last screen. I thought this is a issue specific to XBMC and so I wanted to give Media Browser a shot. I did a clean install of Windows 7 and installed the required FFDShow and other files which are required to play mkv files on Media Player. However, there were still issues with mkv playback on Windows Media Center with Media Browser. The BIOS shows that the CPU and System temperatures are below 40 degrees and I don't experience any lag or slow downs with normal Windows operation.

Now, I need help to eliminate the issues with the AMD build which I intend to keep as the HTPC and I hope that your help will make me get rid of these issues. My last option will be to sell off the AMD Processor and Mainboard and get a i3 based rig but I really want to avoid it.

Your help will be really appreciated.

It sounds like you are only having problems w/ in XBMC. The best place to get help is within their forums. Having the right hardware is the easy part...getting all of the software to take advantage of it is a PITA
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post #16018 of 18935
1/21/11 at 8:13am
Looking for suggestions for software, frontend, decoders, players, etc.
Have a new build w/ win. 7 prem. 32bit. also a 8 hdd media server with the same os.
Need help with software.
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post #16019 of 18935
1/21/11 at 8:56am
This aint a guide, its EMPTY! Why is this renethx doing this !?!?!
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post #16020 of 18935
1/21/11 at 9:07am
You should really do some reading/research b4 posting a negative question.
Maybe start w/ the # of posts and views of this thread.
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