Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 107

Hi Folks,

I've been running my HTPC for a few months now, with picture noise on many of the channels. This is typically macroblocking, and other digital-type glitches. After much experimenting, I've found that using a separate video card, instead of the built-in motherboard graphics resolves the problem.

This is my current setup:
Cable QAM and ATSC 8VSB input. Exact same noise on both sources.
Mythbuntu 8.04. Exact same noise on WinXP MCE 2005.
Mobo: ABIT AN-M2HD AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz ADH2400DOBOX
RAM: A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 ADQVE1A16K
Tuner: KWORLD PlusTV HD PCI-115 (Exact same noise with ATI HDTV Wonder)
PSU: Rosewill Stallion Series RD400-2-SB 400W ATX V2.2
HDD: SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA

The noise is much worse on two particular channels, when they're showing SD content at 720P. But most channels are noisy. As noted above, the source of the stream does not make any difference.

So the question is, why do I get this noise with the on-board video, but not with a separate card.

Apparently the 7050PV uses system RAM, and doesn't have its own. Is it the CPU? It's certainly not being taxed, but maybe the power-saving features are interfering.

Has anybody else seen anything like this?

Cheers
Bob

Better post-processing on the discrete graphics. The source is naturally noisy. The discrete graphics card just has the ability to reduce noise and give you an overall better picture.

This is what I am thinking about doing:


GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - 84.99


AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz Socket AM2 Dual-Core Processor Model ADH2400IAA5DO - 39.99


LG Black LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD?R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20LK - $139.99


Antec Aluminum Veris Fusion Black 430 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with IR receiver 199.99
($50.00 mail-in rebate)

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model $42.99


Without the hard drives, comes out to Grand Total: $541.64 (shipped and with taxes).

A friend of mine at work is doing the same set up, actually already got most of his parts.

What do you guys think?

From what I can see, you're missing a CPU cooler. Otherwise, looks good.

At a certain online retails store involving eggs, you can get 2x2GB of DDR2-800 ram for the same price as your 2x1GB... just FYI.

i just change my system from Intel to AMD?

previous pc:

ASus P5Q
e8400
DDR2-800 (2x2) 4 GB
ati 3450 video card

now:

Biostar 790gx mobo
Phenom 9850
4 GB (2x2) DDR2-800
onboard video (3300)

do i need to add a video card like 4650 or 4670 into my system?

3450 vs. 4650 or 4670 vs. onboard 3300 ( AMD 9850 + 790GX)

which video card has great picture quality for recorded tv shows and HD movies?

since the new video card is out, are you going to update your recommendation or not?

Yeah, I would have thought that too. But the noise also occurs when I play back the mpeg on a different PC, that also has a separate video card. This is a stream that's recorded by the backend, without the video being displayed at recording time.

So I don't see how the playback capabilities of the on-board video could affect the recording quality.

Here's an example of the noise:

Hi,
after a long and exhausting trial period I have to give up with my P5Q3 Deluxe @wifi n mobo.
Tried tons of settings, posted on half Internet boards, re-cabled all the rig three times, performed huge tests of any kind (from memtest86+ to any benchmark tool), finally brought the mainboard to a pc assistance center and the response has been its a faulty mobo. It has big problems with certain type of RAM (or better with some kind of RAM's chipsets).
Anyway, now it's time to look forward, as quite 2 months after having bought my new rig and could not use it it's quite enough.
I'm here guys to ask you a suggestion. What do I have to go for?
The retailer proposed me a Gigabyte P35 DQ6 (the one with dd3 support).
The rig will be used mainly as media center (HD content streaming), BD encoding, HD home video encoding. No particular need to OC it.
Does it worth to go for an X38/X48 chipset? Don't want to fall again in this nightmare...

Thanks everyone

Specs:

cpu: q9450
mobo: p5q3 deluxe wifi @n rev 1.02G (to be replaced---> epic failure, at least for me )
gpu: hd4870
psu: enermax modu 82+
Case: silverstone cw02
cpu cooler: thermalright hr01 plus
fan: noctua s12
ram: corsair TW3x4g1333c9dhx
hdu: seagate 500gb (sata)

I just purchased the Onkyo HT-6100. Which card would give me Multichannel LPCM audio? Would need to use two HDMI ports? One for the video and one for audio?

That looks more like a signal strength issue than a video card one... Are you sure using a discrete graphics card eliminates the problem? What type of CPU load are you seeing during playback?

If you were using Windows, I would suggest a change of codecs. I'm not familiar with Mythbuntu so I don't know how you can do the same. Perhaps ask in the Linux subforum?

i want to know what is the difference between passive and active PFC power supply? and which one is more quieter?

Any opinions on this rig coming from Tigerdirect and Crytek? $699

Seems to be a good all around gaming and HD rig...just needs a tuner card.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...CampaignID=716

Which is the least expensive one? From what I've been finding, most of those would need a DVI-HDMI adapter.

The problem occurs in the same fashion whether I use cable or OTA signals. It also occurs in Windows or Linux. I've eliminated both of those causes of the noise.

Adding the card definitely fixes the problem. CPU load is at about 30% with and without the card.

They will come packaged with the DVI-HDMI adapter which passes through your sound, no problem. The 4650 is the cheapest one, but is not out yet. The 4670 just got released yesterday and is available for about $80 MSRP.

is there any difference between ddr2-800 or ddr2-1066 with AMD Phenom 9850 cpu? is there any speed difference at all? is it recommend or not?

Would I need to get the verion with Dual HDMI connectors or Dual DVI's if I'm wanting to go with the Xonar card?

So, using that adapter, I would be able to use HDMI 1.3, with audio and sound in one?

Thanks. Do you think the price is appropriate for the hardware? (No monitor/keyboard/mouse...optical drive is read only)

What's the limiting factor for BD@24 playback in the recommended low/mid-range G45 systems? Any suggestions on how to alleviate the limitations (without upgrading the whole config)?