newb building client for some HD serving - thinking 6150 board....

[elitevsx]

Ill try to make this short and sweet - I have demoed sage and I think I like it so before my trial is over I want to get a few hardware issues out of the way.

I have a primary PC (ATH64, 1gig mem, 6600, etc) thats plenty fast to do what I need - but its my primary so Im going to use it as my storage - as well as my "sage server" as its my daily user. Also I do watch TV on it with my haup150 tv tuner card.

So anyway onto my NEW setup I need help with - my bedroom with my new 26LCD tv. I am going to get a HD fusion card I think and install that into my server as well - so Ill have 2 tuner cards. Ill record and store on the server and use the client to serve up to tv.

I wanted to use my older PC - xp2000 with 512 mem but from what I understand its not enough horsepower so I think im going to get a new MB/Processor. I was thinking/HOPING I can get away with 6150 MSI board and use the onboard video to handle output to my HDTV.

Will this work the way I want - client PC being a ath64 on a 6150 based board? I am trying to do this budget if at all possible. If anyone has a better/cheaper idea let me know.

Hope that makes sense....

now onto software to post another question

THX

[jchiso]

An XP2000 and 512MB of RAM should be sufficient for HD decoding on the client so long as you use a capable DXVA, AGP-based video card. I can decode HD transport streams on systems with processors as limited as a 1GHz Duron. I generally use Radeon 9000-series (AGP 8x) cards.

[elitevsx]

Wow - down that low eh?

Im kinda glad to hear that - perhaps Ill give this xp2000 a try and get a nice agp card then - will a 6200 nvidia do it, or do I need a 6600 min?

I like nvidia personally - few issues in the past with ATI so - ill stick with what works for me.

What do you recommend - you SUREEE im cool to view good quality HD?

I woulda though myself this PC is plenty but people in computers LOVE overkill and I did read the recommendations so thats why I went all silly talking about buying new PCs and such.

If I could get away with dropping this old PC into a new case with a nice video card and be done with it - Id be super happy!

[jchiso]

I don't know alot about the NVIDIA lineup. I do have a system with a GeForce 5500MX 128MB card that works fine. You don't need to spend more than $50 (online) for an adequate card for HD decoding. The features of the higher-end cards are typically tailored to gaming and 3D graphics.

[blade]

From what I've read around here, you need a minimum of a 6600GT if you plan to do HD.

Nvidia has PureVideo so there's more to some of the higher lines than simply more gaming power. The 5500MX has none of the newer deinterlacing features.

[jchiso]

The 5500MX board works fine using NVdia's software decoder. I have not tried other decoders with that board. I use v5.0 PowerDVD decoders on my other (Radeon-based) clients.

[lovingHDTV]

I successfully decode HD with a 6200.

[heffe2001]

Originally Posted by jchiso

The 5500MX board works fine using NVdia's software decoder. I have not tried other decoders with that board. I use v5.0 PowerDVD decoders on my other (Radeon-based) clients.

What resolution output are you using? A 5200 doesn't have enough horsepower to put out a 1080i screen without major skipping, a 5900XT coudln't handle it either. I put a ATI x700 via Component in the machine (a HIS board, the one with the monster cooler on it), and it works great (it's a 2.53 P4, I think I've got 768m in it, could be 1g tho, can't remember off the top of my head, and my Sig isn't quite up to date).

Alternately, I took the 5900xt and dropped it into a 1.6ghz P4, outputting to a SD TV via svid, and it'll play any of my HD content on that TV without any problems at all.

Outputting HD content at HD resolutions higher than 720 is most likely going to require alot more HP on the video card. Basically we'd need to know what your display device is, and what resolution you want to run at.

[elitevsx]

using an olevia 26 lcd - native 1366x768...

thanks for helpin me on this one... im so excited to get it working correctly.

also let me know if i need powerstrip or whatever else to get this workin well

maybe for now i just use standard def and add when i buy my hd card - ill get a better video card.....maybe to keep this on a budget I just the xp2000 with some 40 dollar jobby for now.

not that i want to- but it may be easier at the moment.

i am still thinking sd will look awesome if setup correctly!

[heffe2001]

Does your panel have VGA input? If so you could most likely get by with one of the 6200 cards (the component output isn't official on this card I don't think, but I think you can use it for that). I think there are 2 different types of 6200's tho, one is a shared memory type card, the other has memory on-board. I'd definitely go with the on-board memory one.

The x700-based ATI cards would most likley work well too, and I believe you're panel's native resolution is supported as one of the 'tweaked' modes on the ATI drivers (can't say 100%, but seem to recall that from my setup). Only problem I have with my HIS card is it's HUGE, and absolutely requires 2 slots. It's dead silent compared to any other fan-cooled video card I've had though.

[jchiso]

Originally Posted by heffe2001

What resolution output are you using? A 5200 doesn't have enough horsepower to put out a 1080i screen without major skipping, a 5900XT coudln't handle it either.

I generally run 720p desktops on my clients, as I don't have any 1080i-native displays. I run 1680x1050 on one other system and the system with the 5500FX is in the encoding server which runs 1200x800.

[elitevsx]

heffe -

i have vga as well as dvi - i could use either/or. i dont know why people say a 6200 wont cut it.....seems like it will. never been at ati fan but i could look at the x700s or 9550s or something like that....

thanks i appreciate all the help its getting me closer to my decesion.

[blade]

A chart showing the features for each card can be found here.

Some of the 6200 cards have none of the HDTV PureVideo features, others have some of the features. None of them have all of the SDTV and HDTV features that the 6600's do.

There's more to a good PQ than simply getting smooth playback and everyone has different standards as to what is good and what isn't. In the end it's all a matter of personal taste.

[elitevsx]

blade -

perfect chart - its obvious some have hd capabilities and some dont....looks like the 6150 board or 6600 is the way go to .....ill check on the price of the 6200 capable of hd but........leaning away from anything 6200 series.

the other issue is going agp on my delta MB being it doesnt have PCIe slots.

the only thing I dont see the 6150 doing is "Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing" which I dont even know what that means lol.....

[jchiso]

Originally Posted by jchiso

The 5500MX board works fine using NVdia's software decoder. I have not tried other decoders with that board. I use v5.0 PowerDVD decoders on my other (Radeon-based) clients.

I just checked the packaging. This is actually an FX 5200 board. I don't even know if a "5500MX" exists!