+- XBMC Community Forum (http://forum.xbmc.org)
+-- Forum: Off-Topic (/forumdisplay.php?fid=34)
+--- Forum: Hardware for XBMC (/forumdisplay.php?fid=112)
+--- Thread: Macroblocking with new sandy bridge build, dxva2 enabled. (/showthread.php?tid=98037)
- Valkyrie743 - 2011-08-02 05:30
My 25GB rip of saving private ryan plays silky smooth on my i3 2100 with ht off (only 2 cores 2 threads)
With media info it says bitrate is 18.9 and overall bitrate is 20.9.
If you like I can rip one of my videos and do a 2 pass set to 26Mbps and post back how it plays ?
My system specs are in my sig.
- orion2001 - 2011-08-02 05:42
Valkyrie743 Wrote:My 25GB rip of saving private ryan plays silky smooth on my i3 2100 with ht off (only 2 cores 2 threads)
With media info it says bitrate is 18.9 and overall bitrate is 20.9.
If you like I can rip one of my videos and do a 2 pass set to 26Mbps and post back how it plays ?
My system specs are in my sig.
I'm curious about why you turned HT off. Is it so that XBMC could better use one of the cores as HT is making things worse by having it see 4 virtual cores and use only one of them? Perhaps that is why it is working better for you?
In anycase, I spent an hour today and I've managed to get MPC-HC working very well with XBMC. It is only called for 1080p videos (using the videoresolution flag in the rules) and I even managed to get my MCE remote to control MPC-HC with the same keypresses that perform similar functions in XBMC.
So far so good, and it all works really well. I might try turning off HT to see if it helps, but to be honest, hardware acceleration in Sandybridge using MPC-HC is just so much smoother and nicer than software rendering, even when playing scenes that don't have a very high bitrate. The other nice advantage ofcourse is that my CPU is only being utilized around 3-5%. This means my CPU fan continues to stay at the lowest RPM and is completely silent. That low-profile stock HSF that comes with the i3-2100T has one of the most annoying high pitched whines once it is at even half of the max RPMs.
- accountabc - 2011-08-04 14:01
Somehow I doubt disabeling HT will help much... At least not for the 2100t. But it's worth a shot ofcourse. Will try and report back.
@Orion, mind sharing your extendedplayer and MPC-HC settings? Did you manage to get MPC-HC to output 23.98hz? I don't seem to be able to get it working properly
.
- Senaxx - 2011-08-04 15:03
Why does nobody consider to buy a separate videocard for their blocking issue? It's clearly a problem with the sandy bridge processors, but with a separate card (don't has to be expensive for true 1080p content) it all solves the problem.
- twelvebore - 2011-08-04 16:00
Senaxx Wrote:Why does nobody consider to buy a separate videocard for their blocking issue? It's clearly a problem with the sandy bridge processors, but with a separate card (don't has to be expensive for true 1080p content) it all solves the problem.
Because we want to use small-form-factor cases that can't accommodate a discrete graphics card?
- accountabc - 2011-08-04 16:53
In my case: not really. My Htpc sits on a shelve in the cupboard
. I bought the 2100t mainly because it's very energy efficient; Idle it's even better than an atom, yet it's much more powerfull. Using a discrete graphics card would kill the energy efficiency. Since my htpc also acts as a server and is on 24/7 I don't want to have a much, much higher power usage because of a component that isn't really needed in the first place.About HT: I've managed to disable it, but haven't tested playback yet
.
- Valkyrie743 - 2011-08-04 18:12
Senaxx Wrote:Why does nobody consider to buy a separate videocard for their blocking issue? It's clearly a problem with the sandy bridge processors, but with a separate card (don't has to be expensive for true 1080p content) it all solves the problem.
We can but the point some are trying to get is a small footprint computer. Just a CPU with integrated gpu should be able to do dxva2 and some very light post processing with out having to add 70 bucks for an other part. Adding the video card will not only add 70 bucks or so to a build but more heat and more power draw. My case only has a 150watt psu. So I have to factor my 65tdp CPU (even though it won't ever hit that high) the ram hdd and fans. I was looking in getting a 430 gt for my HTPC but the tdp is around 45 I just don't want to push this small psu to hard. I don't expect it to last long. As well as I want the computer to be quiet and not throw out allot of heat
As for why I disabled ht. I Though it would help a tad with heat and power consumption. I have my CPU off set set to -.175 and is linX stable and runs cool. Plus when I have ht off I see the two real cores being used properly rather than once real core part of the ht core and part of a real core working. Ht only helps with multi threaded programs and all I do is watch videos so no point having it on wasting power and put out a slight more heat
I am running just stock xbmc. No external player but I may give the external mpc hc a shot. But to be honest, how it's running now is perfect. Yes I would like to have my CPU usage down and be able to have more post processing options but it's all good. I don't notice the 24p bug so I just leave my tv refresh rate ad default 60. I'm not that much of a video file to notice any issues .
- poofyhairguy - 2011-08-04 20:12
accountabc Wrote:I don't want to have a much, much higher power usage because of a component that isn't really needed in the first place.
A lower-end dedicated GPU really doesn't take up that much power. You are probably using more power if your box is playback content often, as the CPU has to be ramped up to full speed during playback.
The best reason to avoid a dedicated GPU is a difficult form factor. For this reason I am glad that AMD is producing decent boards with GPUs so we can all leave this Intel GPU garbage in the trash where it belongs.
- accountabc - 2011-08-05 02:58
Yes, during playback using CPU will be less efficient. But most of the time the PC will be (just about) idle. When idle the whole 2100t platform uses about 10 watts (from the power supply). Even a low end descrete card easily doubles that. (keep in mind that the HD1000 uses less power than the HD3000).
- zleepr - 2011-08-09 16:44
poofyhairguy Wrote:so we can all leave this Intel GPU garbage in the trash where it belongs.
Come on, you can't be serious. Especially the i3-2100T is an absolutely fantastic CPU. With the efficiency and power it delivers it is the absolute 1st choice for energy saving HTPCs right now. And it has a very capable GPU onboard. Well, not for gaming, but for HW acceleration for video playback it should be close to perfect in terms of performance.
I don't unerstand what the problems are here exactly, but DXVA works 95% fine for me with the latest MPC-HC nightly builds. So my workaround for playing movies via XBMC is to configure MPC-HC as an external Player. Works pretty good for me right now.
But I still hope that the XBMC and/or MPlayer devs find a way to get DXVA working with the Sandy Bridge processors as least as good as it works with MPC right now. Maybe Intel can give some support through better drivers or advice to the devs. I don't now. But it's really a pain, that this great CPU can't live up to its heights just due to some software issues (I just assume the HW is doing fine...).