Hi - Just built a HTPC using a new Gigabyte mobo combined with some old bits'n'pieces I had lying around. Final build looks like this:
Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H
Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (2 x 65nm Brisbane cores @ 2600MHz)
Integrated GPU - ATI HD4200
2GB DDR2 800Mhz
2 x 500GB HD
beQuiet 350W mATX PSU
Win7 Home Prem 32-bit
The system generally runs very well. Problem is that playing blu-ray movies at full 1080p (1920x1080) from the HD can be a bit choppy. Watchable but annoying enough to want to do something about it - like it's missing frames and stuttering a little.
I'm guessing that it's down to lack of GPU power? Or could a CPU upgrade help? Windows task manager reckons CPU utilisation is only around 20-25% whilst running a movie. But then these older Athlon 64s have HyperTransport running at just 1GHz so wonder if that could be a bottleneck? What's generally the minimum GPU for watching HD stuff? Obviously I don't want anything noisy or too power hungry.
Cheers!
Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H
Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (2 x 65nm Brisbane cores @ 2600MHz)
Integrated GPU - ATI HD4200
2GB DDR2 800Mhz
2 x 500GB HD
beQuiet 350W mATX PSU
Win7 Home Prem 32-bit
The system generally runs very well. Problem is that playing blu-ray movies at full 1080p (1920x1080) from the HD can be a bit choppy. Watchable but annoying enough to want to do something about it - like it's missing frames and stuttering a little.
I'm guessing that it's down to lack of GPU power? Or could a CPU upgrade help? Windows task manager reckons CPU utilisation is only around 20-25% whilst running a movie. But then these older Athlon 64s have HyperTransport running at just 1GHz so wonder if that could be a bottleneck? What's generally the minimum GPU for watching HD stuff? Obviously I don't want anything noisy or too power hungry.
Cheers!
