pvr-350, Is it worth it or not

[dman]

My current set up consists of two pvr-250 and a Matrox Parhelia 128 for video out. The VO looks awesome from Parhelia however I do notice some slight stuttering problems, most noticeably sports. Have tried ReClock and PorweStrip (@ 59.94HZ) and they seem to help a bit. One of the 250’s is not mine, and I have to get it back. I have the option of getting a pvr-350 for a good deal but not as good as buying a new 250.

Does the 350 do a better job for video output?
Does it help with these slight stuttering problems?
I have an nforce chipset on my mobo. Do I have to worry about dealing with these lockup problems other seem to have?

I may just buy another 250 if the benefits don’t outweigh the problems.
Any assistance would be appreciated.

dman

[krutaw]

Originally posted by dman
My current set up consists of two pvr-250 and a Matrox Parhelia 128 for video out. The VO looks awesome from Parhelia however I do notice some slight stuttering problems, most noticeably sports. Have tried ReClock and PorweStrip (@ 59.94HZ) and they seem to help a bit. One of the 250’s is not mine, and I have to get it back. I have the option of getting a pvr-350 for a good deal but not as good as buying a new 250.

Does the 350 do a better job for video output?
Does it help with these slight stuttering problems?
I have an nforce chipset on my mobo. Do I have to worry about dealing with these lockup problems other seem to have?

I may just buy another 250 if the benefits don’t outweigh the problems.
Any assistance would be appreciated.

dman

dman,

The nforce chipsets seem to work well with the PVR-350. I love mine, and plan on getting a second one for the client. ;-)

I still can't believe the night and day difference between watching a video with and without it.

[dman]

Thanks, I appreciate your input.

Anyone else out there with opinions?

Does the hardware decoding make for a smoother picture?

[carlgar]

I am hesitate to recommend the 350 at this point. When it works it is quite smooth. However, I still see some soft lockups with the card. I believe at least 1 more version of the 350 drivers are still needed. I don't recall anyone saying that they have not encountered soft lockups with the 350. A lot of the problems seem to be related to the chipset you have in your computer.

[krutaw]

Originally posted by carlgar
I am hesitate to recommend the 350 at this point. When it works it is quite smooth. However, I still see some soft lockups with the card. I believe at least 1 more version of the 350 drivers are still needed. I don't recall anyone saying that they have not encountered soft lockups with the 350. A lot of the problems seem to be related to the chipset you have in your computer.

That's a fair assessment. I was so driven to get the video quality of the PVR-350 working with ui that I even replaced my motherboard/processor. I must say though that it's fairly bullet-proof with the correct configuration as long as you don't mess with it too much. I say that only because I have a few problems now and again when I try beta STV's etc.

[Deadbolt]

I am averaging about one soft lockup per week with daily usage. The lockups never mess up a recording, and don't happen unless I'm watching (I never come home to no UI/TV-OUT).

The picture qual and low CPU usage is well worth it....but Calgar is right...it is not bullet proof yet.

[mikejaner]

I too agree that it's not bullet proof. I got so fed up with soft lockups, before these latest beta drivers, that I switched to software decoding. I will switch back at some point when the drivers are stable enough to run for weeks at a time with no flaws. I have been running for about a month and a half on software decoders with no soft lockups, which is the amount of uptime I expect. Being a former Tivo owner, I got spoiled by the reliability of my tivo box. I agree that the picture of the 350 is amazing for standard def TV. I spent about two weeks off and on tweaking my software ouput, and got the quality looking as good as the 350 output. This is due to the quality IMHO of the NVDVD decoders and my ATI based Asus MB with onboard Video.