HTPC upgrade

[Wicked Klown]

Was thinking of upgrading my HTPC but want to see what you all think. Was looking at OCZ 2gig PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 an Abit AW9D-Max, Intel e4300 and a eVga 8800GTS. Was wondering if this would be good for using FFDshow. If I set it with my current x2 3800 it stutters really bad. Later on I will be going with Vista Ultimate as well. Was also looking at the Abit AB9 QuadGT.

Edit: Just read a review over at Anandtech aboutt he e4300. Seems it can hit 3.3GHz with no problems and can run with the x6800. It also beats the x2 3800 even at stock speeds.

 

[Evilsizer]

well i wouldnt waste the money on a mobo like that when you consider using the E4300. i would go with something a tad different, like the one of P965's with ICH8R. seems like this will be a gaming rig as well? since your going with vista i would highly suggest getting 4gig of ram.

one mobo that is getting over looked is this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136168
if dfi got the new revision out in retail like i was reading some time back. they have improved the ocing of the mobo. for the price it cant really be beat for a 975x base mobo.

 

[Wicked Klown]

Not a big fan of DFI, had a few and didn't like them. Reason I picked the Abit was I read it was one of the best mobos out.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

ur x2 3800 doesnt handle FFDSHOW? i know its cpu intensive but its not that bad... u just gotta have ur settings right... i gotta get on my ffdshow + purevideo tutorial... A E4300 would be a great HTPC cpu plenty or horsepower... a 8800 is overkill but ehh if you have the money why not.

with the settings in ffdshow that i use and my E6600 @ 3ghz i can run a dvd and upscale it 5 times and only ues 65% of my cpu.. it takes the original picture... removes the noise, then scales up to 3600x2400 and sharpens it and only uses 65%... the highest resolution you will see on a hdtv is 1920x1080... and on a single monitor is 2560x1600... a e4300 will handle it fine.

 

[Jon]

I have to agree. Something has to be wrong in your configuration somewhere. I run a single core Banias Pentium-M [email protected] and can run ffdshow without any issues at all. Now that I think about it, my old Dell P4 2.53GHz (bedroom HTPC) uses ffdshow as well without problem.

 

[Wicked Klown]

Does seem odd, I did have it upscalingto 1600 x 1200 and set everything according to what the guide said. On some movies it was fine on others it stutters bad. I wonder if this is an AMD thing, as all you guys are running Intels and have no problems.

 

[fabulouscoops]

High end video card, 2 GB high end RAM, best mobo you can find and you want to run it with an E4300?

Why the budget processor? The whole point of getting an E4300 is that you don't need to have the best mobo and RAM and you want to save some money. It appears that money is not something that you are worried about.

If you are also gaming, then get an E6600, if you are just using it as an HTPC then why the killer $400 video card?

Evilsizer: Are we recommending 4 GB for Vista already?

 

[Wicked Klown]

High end video card, 2 GB high end RAM, best mobo you can find and you want to run it with an E4300?

Why the budget processor? The whole point of getting an E4300 is that you don't need to have the best mobo and RAM and you want to save some money. It appears that money is not something that you are worried about.

If you are also gaming, then get an E6600, if you are just using it as an HTPC then why the killer $400 video card?

Evilsizer: Are we recommending 4 GB for Vista already?

Reason I picked the e4300 is they say it performs well and OC very well. I'm not looking right now to drop a load of cash so I cut a corner on the CPU. Later on I mgiht upgrade it to something better. Also yea Vista is a memory hog, so 4gigs would be about right. RHM reinstalled it yesterday and noticed his gaming was running a tad slower. I told him to bring up task manager and see how much ram was being used. Out of 1gig of ram 900+mb were being used, 700mb just for the OS. I'd like to have a nice stepping stone so to speak to build on. Later get a better CPU maybe more ram.

 

[LandShark]

for HTPC, unless you are going to game on it at 1920x1080 high detail (is your TV 1080p too?), I would go against the 8800GTS! it's draw a lotta power and is hot and not quiet for HTPC usage.

also, your X2 3800 should be able to handle ffdshows fine IF you are not setting it to ultra high! what's your setting in ffdshow and more important, in what order?? like if you resize FIRST, then remove noise and sharpen, of course it will use a lot more cpu power as it's dealing w/ a much bigger picture! also, it's best to set it resize to certain multipler (e.g. x2, x3) and keep the aspect ratio instead of just force everything to a prefixed size.

btw, which guide were you following??? htpcnews?? or avsforums?? or else where??

 

[Wicked Klown]

I was going by the guide you linked in another post. We plan on getting a 1080P TV and I will be gaming on it from time to time. Also LandShark if you had to pick between an Abit AW9D-max and a Abit AB9 QuadGT, which would you pick. The nice thing about the AB9 QuadGT is it has digital PWM, which they say run cooler. I guess I could use my 7900GT KO for a few and see what new cards come out.



Just checked FFDshow and the first thing is deinterlacing then resize fourth down is Avisynth. Then way down at the bottom is sharpening.

 

[Jon]

There is also a driver for the X2 that is out that is supposed to fix some MCE-related issues. May want to give that a try and see if it helps any. It may already be installed, but worth the linkage.

 

[LandShark]

first to check, try to turn down the resizing to something like x2 (that's higher than 720p already), keep everything else the same and see if your machine could run (I bet it's ok). I have a feeling it's the 1600x1200 res. that's too much to ask for from your x2 3800 plus most likely, you don't really need to upscale to that res imho. or try the basic setting from avsforum too. your cpu should be able to handle intermediate setting imho.

as of the mobo, in my eye (for htpc's point of view), there's not a lot of difference between two. but certainly have a couple that will mainly depends on what you going use on your htpc! imho, a good htpc mobo needs, at least eSATA (you'll never know when you'll need more space, and eSATA is fast!), good audio codec if not planning add on audio card (which I don't think is nessasary with nowaday's cpu power), DDLive, DTSConnect support?

the main difference in my eye of the two mobo is the audio function! the AW9DMax support DDLive already (no need for add on audio card) and is Dolby Master Studio certified!! can't go wrong w/ that.

on the other hand, the AB9QuadGT doesn't seem to have any DTSConnect/DDLive enabled codec. so if you plan on using DDLive/DTSConnect, you'll need to go for an add on card. however, it's nice it has HDMI audio header that can connect to you HDMI'ed video card and simplified the cabling to your HDTV/Stereo system. but that will only give your straight pass through audio too (which is fine for HD TV or DVDs, etc.) but you still won't get DDlive, etc., if that's what you'll needed (e.g. gaming!). also, when thinking to use HDMI connection to your HDTV, your HDTV needs to have optical out to pass the audio signal to your receiver too. otherwise, you'll still need to use two cable from your HTPC (1 HDMI for video to TV, 1 optical for audio to receiver).

so, the main difference is the audio part, and since you'll be using it for gaming too, and I assume you dont' have the audio card yet, then for go the AW9Max. but if you already got the audio card (remember you were looking at it), then you can go for the AB9QuadGT to save some $.

 

[Wicked Klown]

Running both the Amd DC.exe and the AMD DC Optimizer.exe Also LandShark I'm running an AuzenTech XPlosion sound card, so DTS and DD on board is not needed. Also the AB9 QuadGT cost more then the AW9D-Max.