DS Forums

 
 

Blu-ray playback on a PC - a few hardware questions


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 11-11-2008, 19:49
Iggyman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,060

Okay, so my current PC is a bit decrepit by modern standards - ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard, AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (1.8 GHz) CPU and an nVidia GeForce 7600 GS video card.

Besides buying a Blu-ray drive, what would be the bare MINIMUM upgrade requirements for my PC to enable Blu-ray playback?

Could I simply get away with upgrading the video card, and if so which card would I need to buy?

Thanks
Iggyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 11-11-2008, 20:48
banbury_oddball
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Banbury
Posts: 1,299
Don't scrimp on the video card, this is wher your pc could fail. For HD content it relies on a good graphics card and likely to put strain on the CPU also, so a good CPU is needed, but the video card is your primary concern.

For minimum spec, I'd recommend dual core 2.4ghz and 2gb RAM. If you run vista it tends to be sluggish on 1gb RAM, so double up if you can. The GeForce 8600GTS HD graphics card is very popular and more than capable of running HD content via your Blu-ray drive.

There are plenty of HD cards out there to choose from and sure other people will add their personal preferences...

I have a custom built media centre pc. It has quad core processor (10.4ghz) 4gb RAM, 1tb hard drive and a 256mb integrated graphics card with HDMI out. It's got a tv card in there for both Freeview and Satellite broadcasts and supports HD pictures also (such as BBC HD), but if I'm honest does struggle with some HD content, particularly the tv card. The picture isn't 100% smooth and this is down to the graphics card. I get by, but it's on my "to do list" So this proves it's all in the video card as the pc is really speedy but let down by the crappy integrated graphics card even though it boasts HD and an HDMI socket.
banbury_oddball is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 20:54
RobAnt
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: South West
Posts: 10,218
Don't scrimp on the video card, this is wher your pc could fail. For HD content it relies on a good graphics card and likely to put strain on the CPU also, so a good CPU is needed, but the video card is your primary concern.
Contrary to popular belief you DON'T need an expensive video card. A Radeon 2400 is more than adequate - about £20 if you shop around [click].

Still, not great for the very latest games, but conversley there is a no-fan version which is perfect for use in an HTPC. In this respect, I believe ATI Radeons are superior to nVidea cards, as they also have onboard digital sound for true HDMI over DVI.
RobAnt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 21:02
banbury_oddball
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Banbury
Posts: 1,299
Contrary to popular belief you DON'T need an expensive video card. A Radeon 2400 is more than adequate - about £20 if you shop around [click].

Still, not great for the very latest games, but conversley there is a no-fan version which is perfect for use in an HTPC.
Seconded, the 2400 was ok in my old pc and was more than adequate. As you say, if you are not going to be gaming on the pc, then you certainly won't need an all singing all dancing card. I think the 8600 is about £40-50 and the 2400 is ideal if you are not looking to spend a large amound. Check out EBuyer for some bargains !

Also, I didn't mention cards without a fan. Yes, HTPC's really need to be quiet and obviously the less fans in the case, the better. Fortunately mine is whisper quiet. Not sure where I will put my other graphics card having taken the back off but that's another problem for me to solve.
banbury_oddball is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 21:35
Jarrak
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Ilkeston
Posts: 18,075
I've toyed with getting a new graphics card with HD acceleration and HDCP compliant output but right now my 2.4 duo provides smooth playback as long as I don't do anything else
AnyDVD/HD takes care of the HDCP issue but given the price point of some very powerful graphics cards (8600 is spoken of very highly) which are far from state of the art I'm tempted to treat myself for xmas.
Jarrak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 22:10
RobAnt
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: South West
Posts: 10,218
Because I do want some gaming ability, I actually have a Radeo 3650 fitted with a rather large heatsink which extends out into the open air by removing the backplate next to it. Never had any problems with overheating.

The Heatsink is a Thermaltake Schooner. It was a bit fiddly to fit, though, as it requires copious amounts of thermal paste.
RobAnt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 22:11
Iggyman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,060
So, am I better off upgrading my motherboard and CPU?
Iggyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 22:39
RobAnt
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: South West
Posts: 10,218
Buy the drive first, and see how you go. Unless you want to improve the PC at the same time, of course.

The software that comes with the LG drives, by the way, may not be up to date. They come with a version that works for most titles, but the latest titles may require an upgrade (not just an update).

But if you have some old HD-DVDs (the LGs can play both) you'll need the OLDER, supplied, software installed AS WELL.
RobAnt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 22:43
beintot
 
Posts: n/a
I'd reckon the minimum is what i've got,i can run high definition on a pentium 4 3.2ghz processor,i only use 1gb memory.

Personally i'd just put a faster processor on your current board, cost second hand wouldn't be much at all,rather than spend huge amounts upgrading.

I would even try it without upgrading at all and see how you get on.

It would surprise you how slow the processors are in high definition boxes,i know it isn't an exact comparison as a pc is different to a set top box,the last hd box i had was only using a 600mhz processor,which is equal to a pentium 3.

You could try youtube to see how blu ray runs using under 3ghz processor,no doubt someone will have tried it.

Cyberlink power dvd agree with me that a 3.2ghz pentium 4 is fine as a minimum for playback
here is the specifications.

http://docs.cyberlink.com/multi/supp...d=-1&nCateId=5
here is another review where they are running blu ray on a 3.2ghz athlon
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/AMD-78...iew-30420.html
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 22:46
Iggyman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,060
Thanks.
Iggyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2008, 22:49
stvn758
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,338
You don't need much of anything to play Hi Def on a PC. I played plenty of HD clips on my old Athlon 32bit 3000+ and Radeon Pro 128mb graphics card.

Probably even easier if you have a Blu Ray drive streaming it off a disc, a good media player helps - VLC or Media Player Classic.

Download some HD clips and see how they work.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...tshowcase.aspx
stvn758 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2008, 12:27
PsychoTherapist
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Liverpool, UK
Posts: 2,194
You don't need much of anything to play Hi Def on a PC. I played plenty of HD clips on my old Athlon 32bit 3000+ and Radeon Pro 128mb graphics card.

Probably even easier if you have a Blu Ray drive streaming it off a disc, a good media player helps - VLC or Media Player Classic.
Not good advice for Blu-Ray or HD DVD. I have a better spec than that - Athlon 64 3200+ & Radeon HD 2600 with HD decoding. It still struggles, with jerky motion and some titles unable to playback properly on some software, due to low frame rate.

As far as CPU goes, there's very little point choosing anything less than an Intel Core 2 Duo or similar specced AMD X2. With at least 1-2Gb of RAM & a Graphics card capable of HDCP and hardware decoding of the HD formats, then you're at least guaranteed of Blu-Ray playback. A lower spec system may indeed play Blu-Ray, but how smooth!
PsychoTherapist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2008, 23:03
RobAnt
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: South West
Posts: 10,218
As far as CPU goes, there's very little point choosing anything less than an Intel Core 2 Duo or similar specced AMD X2. With at least 1-2Gb of RAM & a Graphics card capable of HDCP and hardware decoding of the HD formats, then you're at least guaranteed of Blu-Ray playback. A lower spec system may indeed play Blu-Ray, but how smooth!
I use a P4 2.6Ghz, 1Gb RAM, and an AGP Radeon 1650 on my other PC. No problems with that playing HD. I can't use a PCI-E card, because the motherboard doesn't support it. But it does support SATA.

However, even my most powerful PC stutters playing sound alone if it's engaged it other tasks, such as AV scans and downloads. So it is important to be able to manage what is going on. I avoid doing anything else if I'm watching TV on the PC.
RobAnt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-01-2009, 21:11
bobskins
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Nottingham, Uk
Posts: 13
I use a P4 2.6Ghz, 1Gb RAM, and an AGP Radeon 1650 on my other PC. No problems with that playing HD. I can't use a PCI-E card, because the motherboard doesn't support it. But it does support SATA.

However, even my most powerful PC stutters playing sound alone if it's engaged it other tasks, such as AV scans and downloads. So it is important to be able to manage what is going on. I avoid doing anything else if I'm watching TV on the PC.
Some of the newer AGP cards claim to handle *all* the graphic processing, reading into this does that mean that my P4 2.8ghz will play back bluray with one of these cards ? I don't see what the main CPU will be doing if the graphics card is handling the graphical processing
bobskins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-01-2009, 21:15
Iggyman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,060
I second that question, but regarding my 1.8GHz CPU.

BTW, which specific AGP cards claim to handle all the hard work?
Iggyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-01-2009, 01:37
emptybox
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Scottish Borders
Posts: 11,997
I second that question, but regarding my 1.8GHz CPU.

BTW, which specific AGP cards claim to handle all the hard work?
I wouldn't think a 1.8 GHz CPU would handle HD no matter what graphics card you put in?

These HD clips that you can download recommend a Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, and they play seamlessly on that.

I tried to play them on my old Dell with a P4 1.8 GHz, and they just played as a series of stills.
emptybox is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2009, 19:38
bobskins
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Nottingham, Uk
Posts: 13
I wouldn't think a 1.8 GHz CPU would handle HD no matter what graphics card you put in?

These HD clips that you can download recommend a Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, and they play seamlessly on that.

I tried to play them on my old Dell with a P4 1.8 GHz, and they just played as a series of stills.

What graphics card did the dell have in mate ? I don't understand what work the main cpu would be doing if the graphics card is billed as '1080p' etc
bobskins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2009, 20:55
ntlhellworld
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,649
Some of the newer AGP cards claim to handle *all* the graphic processing, reading into this does that mean that my P4 2.8ghz will play back bluray with one of these cards ? I don't see what the main CPU will be doing if the graphics card is handling the graphical processing
Yep. My old PC only had a 2.5Ghz P4 and 512MB RAM. I put in a HD 2600 agp card which offloads the video decoding from the system and then it was able to play all of the HD DVDs that I threw at it.

The nvidia graphics cards can only offload h.264 video decoding wheras the ATI ones can do both VC-1 and h.264 discs.

-Chris
ntlhellworld is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2009, 21:22
emptybox
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Scottish Borders
Posts: 11,997
What graphics card did the dell have in mate ? I don't understand what work the main cpu would be doing if the graphics card is billed as '1080p' etc
The graphics card was only an nVidia Geforce MX400 with 64MB RAM.
emptybox is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2009, 19:17
TonyARC
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1

I have a media centre with P4 3600 1Gig of ram using XP Media Centre. Nvidia 8600GT 512 Meg.
HVR4000 HD Free veiw, Sat HD card etc etc.

It will not play smooth bluray. BBC HD forget it.
I purchased intervideo Platinum 8. waste of money.

BBC was very choppy and the 8600GT is not used at all. CPU goes to 90%. Play mpg and VC1 cpu is 4 to 10% and purevideo is used.


My desktop pc has a 6750 duo, now has sli 9800GT, but ran fine with 8800 GTS. 2 gig ram and XP pro.
No problem playing any HD format, but its tooooo loud for the front room.

I now have Humax foxsat HD. BBC HD, no problem and records too. I am sure this runs on linux. How can such a small box, that is really quiet do this.

The answer may be an add on card to decode HD content, Like in the days of the PII, I had a DXR3 from creative labs as the cpu was not fast enough.

Regards
Tony
TonyARC is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 17:14.