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Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 242

post #7231 of 18891
4/6/09 at 8:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Please post a couple of screenshots of the Sound dialog box. (Use Snipping Tool in Accessories.)


sorry i don't have access to my computer right now but i can tell you from the example you gave with the 4 items in the sound dialogue box, mine only has the last one (Realtek Digital Output). It looks exactly like the one there in the screenshot. But i don't have any of the 3 above it.
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post #7232 of 18891
4/6/09 at 8:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andross77 View Post

sorry i don't have access to my computer right now but i can tell you from the example you gave with the 4 items in the sound dialogue box, mine only has the last one (Realtek Digital Output). It looks exactly like the one there in the screenshot. But i don't have any of the 3 above it.

OK, just post screenshots when you have acess to your PC.

I still don't get why you see Realtek Digital Output. This is the Realtek onboard audio codec (ALC889A in my motherboard). As your mb does not have any Realtek audio codec, you should not see it (yours is C-Media). On the other hand, I don't get why you don't see Realtek HDMI Output. This is the HDMI audio from the Radeon graphics card. If you installed the ATI HDMI driver correctly, you must see it. You may have confused them (that's one reason why I am asking screenshots). You can never use a sound playback device that does not show in this dialog box. For example, if you don't see C-Media audio codec, you will never be able to use it (analog or S/PDIF).

The picture below is the properties of "Realtek Digital Output"; the controller is Realtek High Definition Audio" (ALC889A) and the Realtek driver is installed (click the "Properites" button). Please post screenshots of them.


LL
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post #7233 of 18891
4/6/09 at 8:36am
Hi,

Anyone own this and can give feedback?



http://www.wdc.com/en/products/produ...72&language=en
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post #7234 of 18891
4/6/09 at 8:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by vanylapep View Post

Hi,

Anyone own this and can give feedback?



http://www.wdc.com/en/products/produ...72&language=en

You can see tons of posts on this product in the Digital Media Servers & Content Streamers Forum.
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post #7235 of 18891
4/6/09 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

You can see tons of posts on this product in the Digital Media Servers & Content Streamers Forum.

Thanks Renethx
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post #7236 of 18891
4/6/09 at 9:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

No, you never get 7.1 LPCM because if you add a GeForce card, then onboard video is automatically disabled by Vista.

So if you add a discrete graphics card it will take over sound? You can't even enable onboard HDMI sound via a motherboard's bios? I was thinking you could at least do it separately: connect one cable from mobo to receiver, and the other cable from graphics to display.

In this case any gaming HTPC (that uses LPCM over HDMI) should be using an ATI 4xxx card, yes?
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post #7237 of 18891
4/6/09 at 10:03am
I built an HTPC with a 640 GB HDD. After I assembled everything and fired it up, Vista reported the size of the drive as 596.2 GB. Does this make sense to anyone?

Is there a setting I need to adjust to maximize the size of this drive?

It's a minor issue but one that I have been curious about so I thought I would ask.
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post #7238 of 18891
4/6/09 at 10:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by aussiestilgar View Post

So if you add a discrete graphics card it will take over sound? You can't even enable onboard HDMI sound via a motherboard's bios? I was thinking you could at least do it separately: connect one cable from mobo to receiver, and the other cable from graphics to display.

In this case any gaming HTPC (that uses LPCM over HDMI) should be using an ATI 4xxx card, yes?

GeForce 9800 GT does not have any HDMI audio controller. It just disables GMA X4500HD (including HDMI audio).

Take a look at this picture. I installed a ATI Radeon HD 4670 card in a GeForce 9400 mb. NVIDIA HDMI audio is completely disabled ("Not plugged in"). A similar thing will happen in your system ("Intel HDMI Output: Not plugged in"). As the Radeon HD 4xxx has its own HDMI audio controller, I can use it. However in your case, there will be no available HDMI device.

If the mb chipset is NVIDIA's (e.g. GeForce 8200, 8300, 9300, 9400), then yes, you can use both dGPU and iGPU and you will get 7.1 LPCM from onboard video. Check this post. Further if both mb and dGPU support Hybrid Power, only one HDMI cable is enough. Check this page. (Not every 9800 GT supports Hybrid Power!)

If you could find a low-profile Radeon HD 46xx/48xx card, that would be the best choice for Dell. Unfortunately all the HD 46xx/48xx cards are full-height.
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post #7239 of 18891
4/6/09 at 10:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinogooner View Post

I built an HTPC with a 640 GB HDD. After I assembled everything and fired it up, Vista reported the size of the drive as 596.2 GB. Does this make sense to anyone?

Is there a setting I need to adjust to maximize the size of this drive?

It's a minor issue but one that I have been curious about so I thought I would ask.

This is normal. It's the difference between base 2 and base 10. See here:
http://compreviews.about.com/od/stor...ualHDSizes.htm
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post #7240 of 18891
4/6/09 at 10:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinogooner View Post

I built an HTPC with a 640 GB HDD. After I assembled everything and fired it up, Vista reported the size of the drive as 596.2 GB. Does this make sense to anyone?

Is there a setting I need to adjust to maximize the size of this drive?

It's a minor issue but one that I have been curious about so I thought I would ask.

It's normal. 596.2 GB means not 596.2 x 10^9 bytes, but 596.2 GiB = 640 x 10^9 bytes = 640 GB. Wiki. OS likes the dyadic system.
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post #7241 of 18891
4/6/09 at 10:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by andross77 View Post


One thing that the sound in my system tray says is (SPDIF OUT) or something like that. And i have a yellow separate SPDIF OUT connector on the motherboard right next to the optical out. I tried using a cord that had yellow, red and white connectors on BOTH ends and just connect the yellow from one end into the mobo SPDIF OUT and then the red and white from the other end into the receiver. Still nothing.


You need to hook the other end of that yellow cable up to your receiver (if it has coax audio in). Those are three separate cables (red to red, white to white, yellow to yellow) so using yellow on one end and red and white on the other means none of them are hooked up to anything.
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post #7242 of 18891
4/6/09 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

OK, just post screenshots when you have acess to your PC.

I still don't get why you see Realtek Digital Output. This is the Realtek onboard audio codec (ALC889A in my motherboard). As your mb does not have any Realtek audio codec, you should not see it (yours is C-Media). On the other hand, I don't get why you don't see Realtek HDMI Output. This is the HDMI audio from the Radeon graphics card. If you installed the ATI HDMI driver correctly, you must see it. You may have confused them (that's one reason why I am asking screenshots). You can never use a sound playback device that does not show in this dialog box. For example, if you don't see C-Media audio codec, you will never be able to use it (analog or S/PDIF).

The picture below is the properties of "Realtek Digital Output"; the controller is Realtek High Definition Audio" (ALC889A) and the Realtek driver is installed (click the "Properites" button). Please post screenshots of them.


can you show me the easiest way to post screen shots on this website? i've never done it before. i will have to try tonight and then post tomorrow morning. i'm positive that i don't see the hdmi audio though and only the realtek digitout output.

i'll post back tomorrow. please just let me know how i can upload the screenshots. (i need help from A to Z meaning how do i take the screenshot, where do i save it to and how do i upload it to a post. sorry ) thanks.
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post #7243 of 18891
4/6/09 at 11:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

GeForce 9800 GT does not have any HDMI audio controller. It just disables GMA X4500HD (including HDMI audio).

Take a look at this picture. I installed a ATI Radeon HD 4670 card in a GeForce 9400 mb. NVIDIA HDMI audio is completely disabled ("Not plugged in"). A similar thing will happen in your system ("Intel HDMI Output: Not plugged in"). As the Radeon HD 4xxx has its own HDMI audio controller, I can use it. However in your case, there will be no available HDMI device.

If the mb chipset is NVIDIA's (e.g. GeForce 8200, 8300, 9300, 9400), then yes, you can use both dGPU and iGPU and you will get 7.1 LPCM from onboard video. Check this post. Further if both mb and dGPU support Hybrid Power, only one HDMI cable is enough. Check this page. (Not every 9800 GT supports Hybrid Power!)

If you could find a low-profile Radeon HD 46xx/48xx card, that would be the best choice for Dell. Unfortunately all the HD 46xx/48xx cards are full-height.

Thanks for the explanation. Something like this would work then, but I was hoping for a bit more oomph for gaming. Maybe I'll custom build using the GF9400/9800GT combo.
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post #7244 of 18891
4/6/09 at 11:46am
Hi...

First, thanks to all of you (especially you, Renethx) for all the great inforamtion you've provide on building HTPC's and Media Servers. I don't know where I could have found all of this informaiton otherwise.

I'm about to (finally) launch into building both a HTPC and a Home Media Server. I'm starting first with the server, as I can use it for other applications in my home and then add the HTPC.

After going through your list of items for a media server, I've come up with the following parts list:

• LITE-ON Slim 8X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DS-8A2S-A01
• Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (4 of these)
• CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
• CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5
• SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE LGA 775 Intel 3210 ATX Server Motherboard
• Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7500
• SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 64-bit PCI-X133MHz SATA Controller Card
• NORCO RPC-4020 4U Rackmount Server Case

My question has to do with setting this server up as a RAID 5 server. I’m wondering if the RAID setup is supported by the HBA you suggested or is it done via the Bios on the MB or am I completely using the wrong setup to create a RAID 5 server? I’ve setup HP servers before, but they are an entirely different animal. I just want to be sure that I’m specing the right items for this server. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

I’m sure I’ll be back on the board when I start on my HTPC.
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post #7245 of 18891
4/6/09 at 11:49am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by andross77 View Post

can you show me the easiest way to post screen shots on this website? i've never done it before. i will have to try tonight and then post tomorrow morning. i'm positive that i don't see the hdmi audio though and only the realtek digitout output.

i'll post back tomorrow. please just let me know how i can upload the screenshots. (i need help from A to Z meaning how do i take the screenshot, where do i save it to and how do i upload it to a post. sorry ) thanks.

Taking a screenshot is easy.

- Lauch Snipping Tool from Accessories in the program group. Your screen will fade.
- Make a rectangular box on the screen. Click the Save button.

To take another screenshot, click the New button and repeat the second.

To attach images to a post, click the "Manage Attachments" button, and upload the images from your computer (up to five images per post, up to 1024x768, 500KB per image). That's it.

Please attach a screenshot of the Device Manager too (in Control Panel > Hardware and Sound), like this. I'd like to see what sound controllers are there.


LL
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post #7246 of 18891
4/6/09 at 12:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rshanti View Post

My question has to do with setting this server up as a RAID 5 server. I'm wondering if the RAID setup is supported by the HBA you suggested or is it done via the Bios on the MB or am I completely using the wrong setup to create a RAID 5 server? I've setup HP servers before, but they are an entirely different animal. I just want to be sure that I'm specing the right items for this server. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Hardware RAID 5 is not supported by the above system. You will have to add a RAID controller card as I mentioned in Workstation. (RAID 5 array of six HDDs using ICH9R is still possible, though.) Software RAID 5 is possible with Windows Server or Linux (or more).
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post #7247 of 18891
4/6/09 at 12:22pm
ADVICE ON NEW SERVER!

I am putting together my first server using the Athena Power CA-SWH02BH202 Black Steel Pedestal Server Case . Got a great "open box" price on it and couldn't resist.
I am going to use Windows Home Server 32 bit and was considering the SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE MB but after talking to their tech support they don't know if it will work with WHS. Has anyone tried it?

I am considering scaling back to something more like what renethx has listed as a MB on the 20TB (21 HDD) System but I've already purchase a Q6600 to use with it so I want to find an ATX MB that will work well. This will incorporate two SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 cards.

I was wondering if more like the ASRock P45R2000-WiFi and using two of the SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 in the standard PCI slots would work? Or maybe something from Gigabyte?

This will be media server and for backing up a couple of in-home computers. Streamming DVD's, Blu-ray's, music, etc. Any ideas or suggestions? Will this work all right?
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post #7248 of 18891
4/6/09 at 12:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hogweed75 View Post

ADVICE ON NEW SERVER!

I am putting together my first server using the Athena Power CA-SWH02BH202 Black Steel Pedestal Server Case . Got a great "open box" price on it and couldn't resist.
I am going to use Windows Home Server 32 bit and was considering the SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE MB but after talking to their tech support they don't know if it will work with WHS. Has anyone tried it?

I am considering scaling back to something more like what renethx has listed as a MB on the 20TB (21 HDD) System but I've already purchase a Q6600 to use with it so I want to find an ATX MB that will work well. This will incorporate two SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 cards.

I was wondering if more like the ASRock P45R2000-WiFi and using two of the SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 in the standard PCI slots would work? Or maybe something from Gigabyte?

This will be media server and for backing up a couple of in-home computers. Streamming DVD's, Blu-ray's, music, etc. Any ideas or suggestions? Will this work all right?

MBD-X7SBE works fine with WHS (for example, this post). Basically any mb with two PCI slots also should work fine. Performance is good enough for streaming media.
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post #7249 of 18891
4/6/09 at 12:47pm
Renethx - you listed out several TV Tuner cards in your guide. I have the hdhomerun but it does not pick up my analog channels (espn, disney, etc...) so I was thinking about picking up an internal tv tuner card. Out of the ones you listed any in particular you recommend? Thanks.
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post #7250 of 18891
4/6/09 at 1:07pm
Renethx,

I was wondering if you would consider coming up with a list of smaller media servers setup ideas on page 85. 16 HDDs could seem a bit overwhelming to those thinking about building their first server. I know it is to me! I went over to the thread about servers and it made my head spin. I like how you have everything laid out on pg 85 and has really helped me figure out what I wanted in a HTPC.

Maybe you could do a 4HDD and 8HDD setups for those of us just starting out? I think a lot of us noobs would appreciate your time and effort on something like that.

Also, what do you think about using a SSD for the O/S on either the HTPC or server?
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post #7251 of 18891
4/6/09 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbone1026 View Post

Renethx - you listed out several TV Tuner cards in your guide. I have the hdhomerun but it does not pick up my analog channels (espn, disney, etc...) so I was thinking about picking up an internal tv tuner card. Out of the ones you listed any in particular you recommend? Thanks.

You can use WinTV-HVR-2250 as a dual analog tuner.
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post #7252 of 18891
4/6/09 at 1:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Mitten View Post

Renethx,

I was wondering if you would consider coming up with a list of smaller media servers setup ideas on page 85. 16 HDDs could seem a bit overwhelming to those thinking about building their first server. I know it is to me! I went over to the thread about servers and it made my head spin. I like how you have everything laid out on pg 85 and has really helped me figure out what I wanted in a HTPC.

Maybe you could do a 4HDD and 8HDD setups for those of us just starting out? I think a lot of us noobs would appreciate your time and effort on something like that.

Also, what do you think about using a SSD for the O/S on either the HTPC or server?

Well, building a server for achiving files and streaming media should not be difficult. Just use spare parts sitting around your house to build a 4-8 HDD machine and install any OS you have. I still recommend a mb with Gb LAN for streaming HD contents.

SSD is promising for performance users, but price is still a bottleneck. (A normal HTPC does not need SSD performance, even WD 5400 rpm is enough.)
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post #7253 of 18891
4/6/09 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

MBD-X7SBE works fine with WHS (for example, this post). Basically any mb with two PCI slots also should work fine. Performance is good enough for streaming media.

Thanks very much renethx! Funny that the Supermicro tech support didn't know if WHS would work. They just said to use the server standard version. Way too expensive for what I need.

I would think that the SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE with a Q6600, 8GB of RAM and two SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 would be very fast and ready for about anything I decided to do in the future? But these MB's are expensive! If I just went with the ASRock P45R2000-WiFi MB (or something) and put the SATA cards in the PCI slot would there be any real disadvantages for my usage?
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post #7254 of 18891
4/6/09 at 1:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hogweed75 View Post

Thanks very much renethx! Funny that the Supermicro tech support didn't know if WHS would work. They just said to use the server standard version. Way too expensive for what I need.

I would think that the SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE with a Q6600, 8GB of RAM and two SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 would be very fast and ready for about anything I decided to do in the future? But these MB's are expensive! If I just went with the ASRock P45R2000-WiFi MB (or something) and put the SATA cards in the PCI slot would there be any real disadvantages for my usage?

Yeah, PCI is enough for WHS.
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post #7255 of 18891
4/6/09 at 1:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hgeblome View Post

This is normal. It's the difference between base 2 and base 10. See here:
http://compreviews.about.com/od/stor...ualHDSizes.htm

Good enough. I read the article and I understand the reasoning now. Thanks hgeblome!
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post #7256 of 18891
4/6/09 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Yeah, PCI is enough for WHS.

Thanks very much! Maybe I will just go ahead with a standard PCI board then.

I appreciate all your help!
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post #7257 of 18891
4/6/09 at 2:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Hardware RAID 5 is not supported by the above system. You will have to add a RAID controller card as I mentioned in Workstation. (RAID 5 array of six HDDs using ICH9R is still possible, though.) Software RAID 5 is possible with Windows Server or Linux (or more).

Thanks Renethx... Now I'm thinking I'll go with a non-RAID setup. The cost differential seems pretty high and I don't really see too much advantage. On a related but seperate note, do you have any recommendations for backing up TB's of data (Bluray's, DVD's, Music files, etc.)? Seems like I'll end up with quite a bit of content when I'm done with all my rips, etc. and I'd sure hate to have to start over again. Any suggestions would be great...
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post #7258 of 18891
4/6/09 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rshanti View Post

Thanks Renethx... Now I'm thinking I'll go with a non-RAID setup. The cost differential seems pretty high and I don't really see too much advantage. On a related but seperate note, do you have any recommendations for backing up TB's of data (Bluray's, DVD's, Music files, etc.)? Seems like I'll end up with quite a bit of content when I'm done with all my rips, etc. and I'd sure hate to have to start over again. Any suggestions would be great...


You can go with WHS. Set up your shared folders for duplication to ensure that your data is protected. Plus, WHS operates under JBOD so you can mix and match HDD sizes. I have an HP MediaSmart Server and 8 x1TB Western Digital GP HDDs with my media shared and duplicated
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post #7259 of 18891
4/7/09 at 4:38am
Problem solved!

The issue turned out to be a VNC mirror driver. I use RealVNC so that I can manage my HTPC from my desktop pc in another room, which is much easier on the back than being hunched over the coffee table. Funny thing is, uninstalling the mirror driver had no effect on the performance of the VNC program. After a month of trials and tribulations everything is good.



Quote:
Originally Posted by htman#1 View Post

About 8 weeks ago I built a system with the below listed components. Almost the exact high end ATX system suggested by renethx.

I'm expreriencing video tearing to the point that the picture is borderline unwatchable.

I'm using PowerDVD 8.0 Ultra for the player, but have experimented with Directshow and VLC. Both exibited similar tearing. Even tried PowerDVD 9.0

I initially installed XP, but have since installed Vista Ultimate 64. I read somewhere that Vista would solve the tearing problem. Unfortunately it did not.

I'm running J. River Media Center for the frontend. I've used both VMR9 and EVR renderers and neither seem to have an effect on the tearing.

Is there any chance that I have a defective video card?

I've got way to many hours in trying solve this problem and could really use a hand in troubleshooting this.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


Hardware:
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.50GHz LGA775
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9500A LED
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA775 Intel P45 chipset ATX
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB Kit
Graphics Card: HIS H485QT512P Radeon HD 4850 GDDR3 512MB
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620 PWR SPPLY

Other info:
Bios settings are all default
Running Catalyst 9.2 for Vista 64
AnyDVD and CloneDVD for ripping
Wait for Vertical Sync in Catalyst does not seem to have an effect.
Enabling hardware acceleration in PowerDVD does not seem to have an effect.

Problem solved. The issue turned out to be a VNC mirror driver. I use RealVNC so that I can manage my HTPC from my desktop pc in another room, which is much easier on the back than being hunched over the coffee table. Funny thing is, uninstalling the mirror driver had no effect on the performance of the VNC program. After a month of trials and tribulations everything is good.
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post #7260 of 18891
4/7/09 at 6:15am
Thanks for all the input guys, especially renethx. I don't have screenshots and i never got it to work. But the guy at Geek Squad worked on my comp for 2 hours and moved some stuff around and popped my soundblaster card back in I LOVE Geek Squad. That's the second time i have gotten their help for over an hour with zero charge.

He also downloaded the latest soundblaster drivers that hadn't been updated in 3 years That was 40mb. And the latest ATI 4830 drivers which i find funny since i bought and installed the card like 3 days ago. It was sad though because the 1gb of Kingston ram i got from Newegg was corrupt. So i have to send it back today and get a new one.

My issue came down to Vista did not support the audio drivers for my onboard sound. When the Geek Squad guy tried ot download the drivers for XP, they didn't work. So i think if i would have had a fresh install of XP, we could have got it working. But i was not interested in doing that

Thanks again guys.
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