[LINUX]Intel Core i3 - Looking for a bit of advice

Hi All,

I built an HTPC/Home Server about the time Dharma Live was released using the following hardware.

Fractal Design Array MiniITX Case
Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3
Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB
2x 2TB Samsung SpinPoint F4
Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz
4GB DDR3

My goal was (is) to have a nice looking HTPC that wouldn't look out of place in my entertainment center and also have enough power and space to act as a home server.

Initially I used 10.04 and followed this excellent guide (thanks davemex) changing a few things to my liking like using PS3 Media Server instead of Twonky Media Server and Subsonic instead of ampache. I had problems though which I think stemmed from 10.04 not supporting my hardware fully so some videos were very choppy. So I rebuilt the server using ubuntu 10.10 instead which cured the choppyness and everthing runs beautifully except it is still not using the GPU for decoding so the CPU fan goes like the clappers on HD video. I could live with this but I also cannot standby/hibernate/shutdown the PC except by SSH from another PC. I did manage to get it to shutdown for a short while after reading some other websites but I broke that when I tried to get Standby and Hibernate working also.

I have tried following these guides with various levels of success, Again thanks to the guide authors.

[LINUX] HOW-TO use VAAPI HW Acceleration in Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 integrated GPU

Intel Core i3 H264 GPU Acceleration using Ubuntu and XBMC

But still cannot get both smooth video and hibernate/standby and the way I see it, unless someone has a better solution, I have 2 choices now:

1. I can wait for the next version of XBMC live to be released but have seen very little news about when this might be and which version of ubuntu it will be based on etc.
   
   or
2. I could buy a discrete GPU from nVidia or AMD but this would need to be a single slot solution and also passivly cooled as I don't want more noise from the PC. If I can get it working well enough then I will find a way to passivly cool the CPU but dont want to waste the time and effort otherwise.
   

Thoughts/Suggestions please.

I doubted the general consensus when I first heard it but after a straight decade of putting linux though various configurations and on various hardware I have to agree with poofyhairguy. He wrote a very nice "state of video in linux" that explained a great deal. For instance I did not know until his post that intel really does suck that much at making a good video pipe. In fact they contracted powervr for the "i" series so intel will never have a decent driver for the i platform nor will the community.

The general consensus that I refer to is "stick with Nvidia". I own a Zacate amd fusion. Original thinking was that this would be better than my i3 then i5 sandy bridge. Once I did get something working (windows only) I would look at black screens for up to five seconds while the gpu driver refigured how to display the xbmc gui. Unacceptable, but standard for a contracted crappy intel driver.

Just for the sake of mentioning credit where it is due. Nvidia had vdpau before anyone knew what it was. Not only that but poofyhairguys post reminded me that Nvidia also worked with xorg to straighten out all their drivers problems and AND they released patched versions of mplayer for us to use vdpau upon. If you look towards ATI, who refuses to support their linux driver, well just read the forums. Ati owners often feel no love, myself included. Intel, wont even make a driver for linux probably because they only licensed a widows version through powervr. It should be enough to state that despite billions a quarter in income intel cant produce a "good" gpu to save their lives. "Thats how Nvidia rolls" quoting poofyhairguys post. That is why I have to figure no one else steps up to the linux video acceleration plate.

I am sorry that you have bought a modern intel product with hopes of gaining good linux performance on it however you may find a less frustrating path by "following popular consensus". My evening project is to take my AMD-Fusion based board out of my OrigenAE case and retro in my Zotac first gen ion board. I know it will work and it will work well with minimal setup. Guaranteed.

quotaholic

PS I love your case. Almost used it for a recent server project. Can you comment on value versus quality?

I would drop the ssd, they are well overpriced and don't really live up to their speed over time, a good old hdd still rocks your socks off.

Are you going for the intel GPU? I recommend some nvidia (choose wisely) aTI not so much best stick to the intel, NV cards easier to configure in Linux... vdpau acceleration etc...

what your looking is vaapi I think on this guide http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=99154 though its for ATI vaapi is general hw accelerator, Im sure youl be able to get some tips from there... I have no expereince to partake. Hope this takes you part of the way.

quotaholic Wrote:I doubted the general consensus when I first heard it but after a straight decade of putting linux though various configurations and on various hardware I have to agree with poofyhairguy. He wrote a very nice "state of video in linux" that explained a great deal. For instance I did not know until his post that intel really does suck that much at making a good video pipe. In fact they contracted powervr for the "i" series so intel will never have a decent driver for the i platform nor will the community.

The general consensus that I refer to is "stick with Nvidia". I own a Zacate amd fusion. Original thinking was that this would be better than my i3 then i5 sandy bridge. Once I did get something working (windows only) I would look at black screens for up to five seconds while the gpu driver refigured how to display the xbmc gui. Unacceptable, but standard for a contracted crappy intel driver.

Just for the sake of mentioning credit where it is due. Nvidia had vdpau before anyone knew what it was. Not only that but poofyhairguys post reminded me that Nvidia also worked with xorg to straighten out all their drivers problems and AND they released patched versions of mplayer for us to use vdpau upon. If you look towards ATI, who refuses to support their linux driver, well just read the forums. Ati owners often feel no love, myself included. Intel, wont even make a driver for linux probably because they only licensed a widows version through powervr. It should be enough to state that despite billions a quarter in income intel cant produce a "good" gpu to save their lives. "Thats how Nvidia rolls" quoting poofyhairguys post. That is why I have to figure no one else steps up to the linux video acceleration plate.

I am sorry that you have bought a modern intel product with hopes of gaining good linux performance on it however you may find a less frustrating path by "following popular consensus". My evening project is to take my AMD-Fusion based board out of my OrigenAE case and retro in my Zotac first gen ion board. I know it will work and it will work well with minimal setup. Guaranteed.

quotaholic

PS I love your case. Almost used it for a recent server project. Can you comment on value versus quality?

I think what you say is true but up until now I have never had a problem with Linux and Intel GPU though I was never trying to use hardware acceleration either. I knew I was taking a chance using the onboard GPU but then it comes with it so I wasn't spending any extra money and I always had the option to buy a discrete graphics card. Saying all that, since the original post I have actually managed to get this all working by using ubuntu 11.04 and compiling XBMC from source. I have full vaapi support working now and everything runs much quieter with the CPUs only ticking over at 10%. I may write a guide on what I did to get it all working. I have no doubt this would have been a lot easier with nvidia graphics, though it's hard finding a single slot passive nvidia card now that will fit this case..

I cannot complain about the quality of the case, it is well built and has no sharp edges anywhere. As far as value goes I think that it's a little expensive for what it is, it's not toolless and there is no way to add extra cooling but it was the only case of its size which offered room for 7 hard drives (6 x 3.5 and 1 x 2.5). I also like the clean look with no cd drive slots or front ports to ruin the looks so it fits well with an entertainment center. So for me it was value for money because it was exactly what I wanted but If the look is not your thing or you want a cd rom bay then there are better options out there.

X3lectric Wrote:I would drop the ssd, they are well overpriced and don't really live up to their speed over time, a good old hdd still rocks your socks off.

Are you going for the intel GPU? I recommend some nvidia (choose wisely) aTI not so much best stick to the intel, NV cards easier to configure in Linux... vdpau acceleration etc...

what your looking is vaapi I think on this guide http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=99154 though its for ATI vaapi is general hw accelerator, Im sure youl be able to get some tips from there... I have no expereince to partake. Hope this takes you part of the way.

I already built this last year so was not looking for recommendations in general just on my option to get Both hardware acceleration working and standby/hibernate which I have now succeeded in doing using ubuntu 11.04 and compiling XBMC.

I have to disagree with you on the SSD front. I built this originally using only the 2 Samsung SpinPoint F4 Drives in raid for speed but the PC took much longer to boot and so made it feel like a PC rather than an appliance. The addition of the SSD has greatly reduced the boot times and makes it feel much more like a piece of AV equipment.

well I agree it does boot faster, if you can afford the price. Overall I dont see any worthy gains but my setup is not server + xbmc in one. my boot time on a 5400 rpm hdd from power up is less then 20 seconds.

not all is lost, at least you have some views on hw acceleration.

The Case is fantastic running as a server now with zotac board as it has 6 sata ports.

My other htpc is an origin ae s10, with asus nvidia 430 = perfect quality playback and is a must for vdpau (HW Acceleration)

The 430 is the fan model and it is not too loud to be noticeable, which is always good.

Greets John

well if you want the best look for yourself, here's a good list with all features for HW acceleration decoding and files supported etc for nvidia cards

edit

Noise is relative each person, but there's good offerings for decent nvidia stuff with passive cooling just depends which "brand" and mounting hight available... I'm sure google does a great job on that front.