Lowest spec 1080p capable computer using PCI version of NVIDIA 8400GS or similar?

Hey,
I am a bit of a noob to linux and XBMC. I have a similar setup as _mage_:

- pentium III 800 Mhz (Coppermine)
- 512MB SDRAM 133Mhz
- Sparkle 8400 GS PCI
- 200GB seagate barracuda ATA 100
- HP d9820-60007 Motherboard from an HP Vectra
- Mint 9 LXDE

but 720p and 1080p is almost impossible to play. CPU is at 100%, VCPU is at 78% and VDPAU is activated in XBMC. _mage_, did you do something to get the cpu usage down, except adding the 8400 GS card?

I have noticed that file-transfer outside of XBMC brings the CPU to 100% as well. Is there any way to optimize file-transfer so that CPU usage decreases? I think that is why the CPU is at 100% when playing 1080p material in XBMC.

How much RAM is on the Video Card?

You really need 512MB for VDPAU to work properly.

You are using XBMC Live or Linux, right?

You could really use 1GB system RAM too, but it looks like 512 is as much as that board will hold.

That's where my expertise ends.

It sounds like the real problem is file transfers causing 100% processor usage, but I don't know how to tell you to fix it.

If you can figure this out, you may win the award for oldest 1080p computer.

I'm glad you posted this, I lost this thread and I've been looking for it

-Wes

benny27 Wrote:Hey,
I am a bit of a noob to linux and XBMC. I have a similar setup as _mage_:

- pentium III 800 Mhz (Coppermine)
- 512MB SDRAM 133Mhz
- Sparkle 8400 GS PCI
- 200GB seagate barracuda ATA 100
- HP d9820-60007 Motherboard from an HP Vectra
- Mint 9 LXDE

but 720p and 1080p is almost impossible to play. CPU is at 100%, VCPU is at 78% and VDPAU is activated in XBMC. _mage_, did you do something to get the cpu usage down, except adding the 8400 GS card?

I have noticed that file-transfer outside of XBMC brings the CPU to 100% as well. Is there any way to optimize file-transfer so that CPU usage decreases? I think that is why the CPU is at 100% when playing 1080p material in XBMC.

Have you just tried a XBMC Live disk? To get VDPAU the Xorg needs to be configured in a very certain manor that XBMC Live does.

The video card is 512 MB ram and i am using linux mint lxde with the "regular" xbmc (not the live one).

The xorg file is configured by the nvidia driver and works, because without it xbmc won't start even start
do you have to configure something in the xorg file for vdpau to work besides what the nvidia driver does automatically?

Thanx for the replies!

benny27 Wrote:I have noticed that file-transfer outside of XBMC brings the CPU to 100% as well.

Is it using PIO or *DMA?

Yes DMA is working fine.

I found the problem. My motherboard seems to be very old. A PCI IDE controller card did the trick. I am now playing full hd with 20 % CPU, 5% VCPU and 0 drops. Probably the motherboard uses the CPU as IDE, ethernet and audio controller.

What i did was to put the full hd file on a seperate disk which is connected to the IDE controller card. Trying to play files from a nas however still fails. May need a PCI ethernet card or something

That's pretty impressive!

If you have an old 3Com 3C90x based card around, that does most of the network stuff in hardware.

Sorry, didn't know what "mint LXDE" was.

-Wes

benny27 Wrote:do you have to configure something in the xorg file for vdpau to work besides what the nvidia driver does automatically?

Yes, disable composite.