Minimum Specs

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bertyboynz

30 posts

Geek

#25892 5-Sep-2008 08:42

Hi there,

I am looking to get freeview hd terrestial on my pc. I want to be able to watch and record it.

My Specs are: 2.8 Pentium dual core. 2GB of Ram Ati HD 4850 with 512mb of ram.
I plan to buy http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=5183 or http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=3318 if my pc is good enough.

Any feed back would be great.
Thanks!

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30 posts

Geek

#162364 5-Sep-2008 09:01

Oh and if i'. in the wrong section or if there is thread covering this please let me know too

charley

183 posts

Master Geek

#162484 5-Sep-2008 14:38

You probably meet the requirements for those cards. All you need is a free pci and pci-e 1x slot.

ASUS P5Q Mobo / Intel Core2Duo E8500 (3.8Ghz) CPU / CORSAIR DDR2-800 2GB RAM / Sapphire HD4850 (Dual Slot Cooler) Graphics Card / Hauppauge HVR-2200 / Hauppauge HVR-3000 / Corsair 520W HX PSU / Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB Hard Drive / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler / XP PRO w/SP3 / DVBViewer / GB-PVR

Quidam

291 posts

Ultimate Geek

#162490 5-Sep-2008 14:53

bertyboynz: Hi there,

I am looking to get freeview hd terrestial on my pc. I want to be able to watch and record it.

My Specs are: 2.8 Pentium dual core. 2GB of Ram Ati HD 4850 with 512mb of ram.
I plan to buy http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=5183 or http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=3318 if my pc is good enough.

Any feed back would be great.
Thanks!

Your system is powerful enough, but..

ATI cards are difficult to get hardware accelleration from, meaning you are likely to end up with a CPU that is shouldering a lot of the decoding work. You may have to experiment with finding the best codec for h.264 (try arcsoft; cyberlink; coreavc and see which gives the best results and lowest cpu usage)

"There is no way to Peace -Peace is the Way" (A. J. Muste)

eXDee

4033 posts

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#162509 5-Sep-2008 16:12

I can confirm hardware acceleration works with both Arcsoft and Powerdvd8 codecs on the 4850. Arcsoft works better.

bertyboynz

30 posts

Geek

#162534 5-Sep-2008 17:07

Thanks all for your replys.

I do have a free PCIEx1 Slot so can use that.

I will look into codecs. Am planning to buy this tomorrow and set it up. Will let you know how it goes. Not sure which PVR program i will use yet. Have used Media portal before but that was a while ago.

bertyboynz

30 posts

Geek

#162539 5-Sep-2008 17:36

So looking into the Arcsoft codec... I assume its included with Arcsoft Media Converter. I can download a trial version of it...Will this allow me to use the codec or do i need to buy it?

Thanks

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eXDee

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#162550 5-Sep-2008 19:14

You want Arcsoft Totalmedia Theatre. Cyberlink PowerDVD8 works too.
I think the trial works but i think it stops working after it expires? Not sure.

bertyboynz

30 posts

Geek

#162604 6-Sep-2008 08:45

Ok so i've downloaded total media centre in preperation for later on today. Which PVR program should I use. Currently using MCE.

Also how do i set the program to use the correct codecs?

Thanks

eXDee

4033 posts

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#162623 6-Sep-2008 11:42

Mediaportal or GBPVR pretty much are the best two choices pretty much. Codec selection is in the configuration options for whichever you choose.

Quidam

291 posts

Ultimate Geek

#162636 6-Sep-2008 14:03

bertyboynz: Ok so i've downloaded total media centre in preperation for later on today. Which PVR program should I use. Currently using MCE.
Also how do i set the program to use the correct codecs?

Thanks

Although I love MediaPortal, I have to say that I have not been able to get Arcsofts codec + Mediaportal to work together with hardware accelleration.

It seems to me that MediaPortal is designed to support PowerDVD's H.264 codec better -as it has a dedicated settings tab that will be available when you select power dvd's codec. There is no such tab for Arcsoft.

I have to say hardware accelleration works fine when I'm playing blu-rays (1080p) using Arcsofts totalMedia Theatre -but when using MediaPortal the CPU usage goes way up.

So if hardware accelleration is important to you, yo might want to go with GB-PVR first -though I have not used it myself so can't comment on it specifically.

"There is no way to Peace -Peace is the Way" (A. J. Muste)

eXDee

4033 posts

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#162639 6-Sep-2008 14:47

Mine did the same till i used MPC filter settings to disable DXVA, restarted MPC, enabled DXVA, and then hardware acceleration worked in MP too.

Dyson

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bertyboynz

30 posts

Geek

#162657 6-Sep-2008 16:40

Well have got the card working and installed Media portal. Set every thing up and it seems to work...CPU usage is at 75% though, using the CyberLinkH.264/avc Decoder (PCM45) codec. thats quite high and creates a bit of lag on some channels.

have installed the trial version of Total Media Theatre and tried to use the ArcSoft Video Decoder but that doesn't work at all...Just a blank screen.

eXDee

4033 posts

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#162659 6-Sep-2008 16:49

Must be the trial then. Powercinema codecs that you are currently using are a pain to get going with hardware acceleration. PowerDVD8 is probably easiest, so you could try that, i think the trial works? Powerdvd works pretty good with the 4850 i think, but arcsoft is slightly lower usage.

bertyboynz

30 posts

Geek

#162660 6-Sep-2008 16:58

Thanks willl download that now and give it a go. REally appreciate your help.

bertyboynz

30 posts

Geek

#162667 6-Sep-2008 18:03

Well that worked a Treat! Cpu is at about 10-15%. Will the codec carry on working once the trial expires?

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