I just managed to play a full HD (1080p) movies on my HTPC system...

Playing the .mkv HD movies seems to be "not smooth" with short paused every 6-7 seconds... I suspect the IGP is not fast enough to decode the video files....

Sound output is 5.1 (DTS/DolbyDigital) coming out from my AV receiver..

Software is Media Player classic/homecinema with K-lite codec running ffdshow.

When I am monitoring the CPU usages ( AMD Phenom II X3 ), when the sudden paused occur, the CPU drop to zero..

My HTPC system is a M4A785TD-V EVO with an AMD 785G chipset with built-in HD 4200 Radeon IGP.
CPU util is only around 30-40% ( all 3 CPU )..running on Win XP Pro 2002 SP2 / 2Gbps ram.


I tried to play the same 1080p movies on my other system (Phenom II X2 / M4A770TD Pro with a HD 5770 1GB DDR5 ), the movies seems to play very smoothly without my paused. My guess the GC, HD 5770 is doing some codec decoding as I see some GPU utilisation ( 7-12% ) using GPU-Z to monitor the sensors...

Anyone successfully play HD movies on a 785G with IGP HD 4200 system smoothly ??

The HTPC is hook up to the AV receiver and tv via HDMI at the living room, PC in another room...

Read this:
Tutorial (from TP)

This post has been edited by azbro: Jan 15 2010, 11:04 AM

hi stan, i hav the same configuration (more or less) and it plays smoothly..

i tried both with dxva and without (cpu utilization) and it works like a charm. no lag or wutsoever.

i think it's more likely ur conf for the codecs part.

Dear all,

Thanks for the quick response... the DXVA options was not checked... problem solved.

Also found this very good article taking about using the GPU to offload the video decoding.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/accelerate-x...the-gpu-guide/1

This post has been edited by stan001: Jan 15 2010, 11:35 AM

it should not be any problems even without DXVA. try check with other codec and renderer and update or use different driver for your ATI driver.

yup, modern proc can handle all the demanding H264 stuff now..

of coz, if can use GPU even better, they are like 10x better that tis job that CPU..

guys, for playing movies file do you recommended nvidia or ati?
or does the average card like nvidia 9600 series is good enough?

are you on 9600? if yes, it's already good enough. unless you need audio LPCM through HDMI.

9400 can decode smoothly even 20GB mkv file..

This one using nvidia VDPAU..

wow, AMD 's integrated graphics so powerful

actually im planning to setup new htpc so im considering what parts to get for my new system.
as i see the market now selling 9600 at reasonable price thus im thinking if this card is good enough or perhaps ATI could provide value for money?
also do I need good soundcard?

Hi sifus,

1 thing to ask before i decide to buy speakers with digital input and maybe better sound card,
If i were using digital output, any different using realtek on board sound card and creative sound card? From what i understand, the motherboard will just pass out pure digital signal and decoding is done in the AVR or speakers part, so no different right?

If u already hv a mobo/cpu, then read the article from guru3d to chk which GC can support the HD movie playback via GPU offload.

If u r buying a new system , then consider the AM 785G chipset... it is a IGP ( something from the HD 36XX range with 40 shaders ) with ATI HD sound

MOST mobo already hv built-in soundcard BUT ATI solution also include another HD Audio with the GC b'cos if u output via HDMI, just select the correct sound output device and it will send BOTH visual & sound to the HDMI in a single cable...

For nvidia cards, you will need to connect a cable from the mobo soundcard to the nvidia gc... ( no additional soundcard on the nvidia card )


For my case, if I need sound to output to my AV receiver via digital ( 5.1 channels DTS/DD), then I select built-in realtek HD soundcard, it will use the TOSlink optical/digital out to my AV digital in...

If I just want to have sound from the plasma/lcd tv via HDMI, then I select ATI HD Audio either from the software ( windvd9 or mediaplayer or O/S Sound config ) and no need to turn on the AV receiver ( I think sound is only stereo as plasma/LCD only have like 2 speakers inside the tv )..

A little confusing at first ( with like 2 soundcard to choose from ) and different s/w have different settings... but after a while, you will finally figure it out... I always play movies , some with sound, some without....

stan, what's the difference between the 785G and 790GX chipset?
which one would you recommend.

ffdshow uses more resources.

Try CoreAVC in companion to your MPC
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?act=ST&f=101&t=1267701

Thanks.. I am also totally confused with all these ffdshow and others.. I only know that I install the K-lite codec and everything just works!!!



790GX have CrossFire... + HD 3300 IGP

785G does not have CrossFire + HD 4200 IGP

But some mobo makers also include 2nd PCIe ( x4 only ) and put marketing terms that it support CrossFire. So confusing!!!!

790 series more expensive and support CF or even multiple PCIe slots

785 is mainstream mobo but ppl also use it for HTPC, no CrossFire support.

HD 4200 vs HD 3300 almost same same with some enchancements, clock speed lowered and up the model number... marketing lah...

Also Hybrid CrossFire also marketing la, can only be used with 36XX GC, no shop is selling it already...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_700_chipset_series

790GX
Codenamed RS780D [6], final name seen on internal AMD presentation [16]
Single AMD processor configuration
Integrated graphics: Radeon HD 3300 [17]
ATI Hybrid Graphics
Side-port memory as local frame buffer [18], supporting DDR2 and GDDR3 modules.[19]
ATI PowerPlay technology
Two physical PCI-E x16 slots (one 16x and one 8x electrically. In Crossfire mode, both will revert to 8x electrically)
HyperTransport 3.0 and PCI Express 2.0
ATI CrossFire
Hybrid CrossFire X
AMD OverDrive
Energy efficient Northbridge design
55 nm CMOS fabrication process manufactured by TSMC
528-pin Flip Chip Ball Grid Array (FCBGA) package
Performance hybrid multi-graphics segment

785G
Codenamed RS880
Single AMD processor configuration
Integrated graphics: Radeon HD 4200
ATI Hybrid Graphics and PowerXpress
Side-port memory as local frame buffer, supporting DDR2 and GDDR3 modules
UVD 2
ATI Stream capabilities
No 7.1-channel LPCM support[20]
HyperTransport 3.0 and PCI Express 2.0
AMD OverDrive
Energy efficient Northbridge design
55 nm CMOS fabrication process by TSMC
Mainstream hybrid graphics (DirectX 10.1 IGP) segment

This post has been edited by stan001: Jan 16 2010, 11:54 AM

thanks stan,

I will be getting my htpc somewhere end of next week so still have time to consider but 80% will be on amd system since found that it's move value for money so if you have any good suggestion then feel free to let me know which mobo to get

CoreAVC is one of the best software encoders and is useful when you have fast cpu but slow GC. But if you have good GC, then just have the GC do the work instead of using coreavc.

Mobo choice is sometimes personal preference and yr own requirements like ATX or microATX board, price, quality, ports flexibility and others...

I choose Asus bcos :

1. it hv stocks in the shop when I decide to purchase it Sept 2009, it just kinda just launch in MY
2. I think it have sideport memory for IGP ( extra RAM used for video ram on the mobo )
3. asus support was pretty good, I e-mail them some questions on where is the location of the mobo sensors.. it sent back a mobo diagram with the location...

My final two choice was either Asus or Gigabyte...

Good luck in building yr HTPC...