[dbbd]

I read in the xbmc wiki that the GPU minimum requirements are
nvidia series 6.

My htpc is currently using a series 4 (mx440) GPU. So far everything works ok
as far as movie playback is concerned.

Why are the minimum requirements series 6? What would I gain by upgrading my GPU?

[Gamester17]

See:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_for_Win...quirements
and:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_for_Win...or_XBMC.3F

Currently, XBMC real minimum requirement is OpenGL 1.4 and not all GeForce 4 Series support OpenGL 1.4 as you can see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_...e_4_series

We used to list GeForce FX Series (a.k.a. GeForce 5 Series) as the minimum NVIDIA GPU that XBMC support as at least all GeForce FX Series does support OpenGL 1.4 but since NVIDIA recently stopped supporting and updating their device drivers for any of the GPUs older than the GeForce 6 Series we decided that it is easier just to list the GeForce 6 Series as the minimum requirement for NVIDIA GPUs. Also, all GeForce 6 Series also support OpenGL 2.0 which makes them more future proof, again see:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_for_Win...or_XBMC.3F

[dbbd]

Thank you for the informative reply!

I found out my mx440x8 supports only up to openGL 1.2, still, for now xbmc works.
Some of us are building HTPC from older equipment. e.g. mine is supporting only AGP
GPUs, so that limits the type of GPUs such older MB can use.

[Geeba]

dbbd, out of interest if your using AGP, what CPU are you using? I've tried to use an old P4 3Ghz HT machine with 2Gb RAM and ATI 9600 256Mb as an entry level HTPC (I'm an Xbox fan and this was going in the bin) I fully re-built it with a new Vista install and overclocked the CPU to 3.5Ghz.... It still wont even play a 1.4Gb MKV DVD rip and 720p MKV rips are a complete no no.... it counts dropped frames like seconds on a clock!

[dbbd]

I have a 3 GHz P4, no HT. 2GB RAM, and nvidia mx440x8 GPU.
I usually use gbpvr. xbmc video quality is still no as good as ffdshow which is used by gbpvr, although xbmc has a lot more features. But eventually it boils down to video quality.

[dbbd]

See:
Also, all GeForce 6 Series also support OpenGL 2.0 which makes them more future proof, again see:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_for_Win...or_XBMC.3F

Gamester, in the link you provided I read "in reality XBMC will today run with only OpenGL 1.4 + GLSL support ".

What this page does not say, nor do I see it anywhere else, is exactly what does XBMC use openGL for?

I use my HTPC mostly for video playback (95%), picture library view (4%) and music library (1%).

Dan