Hi,

I am new to HTPC too. Just have my HTPC done.

Mobo: MA4785TD-V-EVO
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE
RAM: 2GB Kingston
Hdd: Western D Green 1TB
Software to playback: XBMC

Recently when I play back the rmvb movie, very laggy.

Any advise?

Hi all, just want to ask... media classic HC and KMPlayer, by looking into the VIDEO and Audio, which one better?

I vote for mpchc

This post has been edited by tolorati: Jun 25 2010, 05:35 PM

See this article below...

How to enable DXVA on MPC-HC..

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

A lot of HTPC users also using the AMD 785G mobo and hv no issues watching 1080p with DXVA enabled..

or request the mediaportal developers to support DXVA ( DirectX Video Acceleration ) on their s/w...

---

Added on June 25, 2010, 5:58 pmPost some pics of yr HTPC here....






This post has been edited by stan001: Jun 25 2010, 05:58 PM

another question. Which combination is better? I got 2 procs now and thinking to sell it one. But want to know which one is better for htpc.

1) AMD x2 6000+ with ecs a780gm-a and ATI HD 4830
2) AMD x3 8650 with ecs a780gm-a and ATI HD 4830

Yoh ... i think remote is a big issue man ... does anyone know where to get a compatable xmbc remote control?

Try this:

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=896317&hl=

bump up this... hope someone can provide me the better answers...
Which combo is better performance for decode Full HD movie??

1) AMD x2 6000+ with ecs a780gm-a and ATI HD 4830
2) AMD x3 8650 with ecs a780gm-a and ATI HD 4830

P4 3.0, 2GB, AGP 3850
What do you all think with these hardware can play 1080P smoothly ?? Cos, I plan going to buy HIS HD 3850 512MB (256bit) GDDR3 AGP for my old P4. It's worth for me to do like this ?? thz

No.2 since u r asking which one is better rather than which one is capable..
IMHO, buying HTPC is different than buying a gaming rig, jus buy those spec which is capable rather than going very highend ones.

yeap, it can play 1080p smoothly by adding the GC..
but how reliable is it? i mean the P4 and its MOBO.. it is very hard (expensive) to find replacement in the future if somehting goes wrong..
rather than spending a lot on this GC (i assume AGP is more expensive), y not u get sum c2d 2nd hand proc and mobo which is sumhow prove to be more viable in a long run?

Ya, you are right .. I also think if something goes wrong .. it's really waste my money to buy that display card .. if I just upgrade just cost me around RM400 But, I going to buy a used c2d CPU need around RM1k lolx ...For sure c2d have last longer than old p4.... Dunno what to do now ...

get h55 mobo+core i3 problem solve

Depend on how much you budget and how much u use the HTPC, of coz a new graphic card + P4 is cheaper but not viable in the long run cause P4 parts are quite rare and those 2nd hand shop gonna samurai you unless you buy from lyn members .

C2D is gonna phase out soon also. So if your planning to spend 1k might as well go for i3 + H55 MB which already proven to be able to support all format playback. Exact how much i don't really know but i think you can check how much is it easily. But i think if your buying i3 + H55 MB i think you have to get the RAM also so budget might go overboard .

i sugguest u to go for socket am2+ CPU.. value for money...
scout around for 2nd hand.. cpu + mobo i think can get below 400.. 780chipset is ok d.. better still get 785...
and sell ur old p4 and mobo.. if u r lucky enuf.. u can upgrade by topping up a bit

h55 mobo isn't without its' weaknesses.
for one, max on the market only has 7 SATA ports (gigabyte h55m-usb3)

some of the older c2d mobo have 10 SATA ports. lots of ports are necessary important for HTPC cum media server.

Depend on personal preferences. I think, HTPC only need 1-2 only HDD and the rest connected with NAS or another pc for storage.

I only have one 320GB HDD (on my newly purchased Mac Mini!).. the rest are Externals connected via USB, Firewire and NAS.
Think I wanna look into one of those Routers with USB ports at the back for storage devices then get one of those casing that can store up to 5 HDDs...

hi azxel,
Would you mind to share ur Mac Mini setup? I've few questions as belows and appreciate if you can enlighten:

- The HDMI can't carry lossless, but can it carry the lossy Dolby & DTS? What about LPCM?
- What front end you runs? XBMC, Mediaportal? Does the hardware acceleration works properly?
- Would it be ok if it's leave running 24/7 as a torrent server as far as the heat concerns?

Cheers

then the cost will rapidly rise taking into consideration the price for another pc for storage or another set of NAS for storage.
NAS/storage server ain't cheap. i'd rather go with one solution that caters for both media and storage. cheaper in the long run.

i'm using a silverstone htpc case that fits 6 hdd (8 hdd after a simple mod) and another 3 on the dual 5.25" bay. so a total of 11 hdd could be stacked in there. currently using an extra mini itx board with 4 sata port and a 2 port sata pci card.

now in the process of upgrading the mainboard to another model with 10 sata port for a cost of RM250.
2 port pci sata card is only RM25.
4 port pci sata card is only RM85.

whereas a 4 hdd external case is RM355.
4 port NAS i think is close to RM1k more than RM500
2 HDD could only fit in about 150 1080p movies. not enough for someone with a large collection

So far I found cheapest 2 bay nas is less than rm400. What are the cheapest 4 bay nas u guys can find? IMHO, nas is the way to go if u have more than 1 pc.