How much power to decode 1080p h264 mkv. help

[nightrhyme]

Just dug my old machine out of the closet.
3ghz p4e (with HT), 1gb dual channel pc3200, ATI 9800pro 128mb and 300gb WD 8mb cache disk.
It used to be able to decode my h264 encoded bluerays fine. Now it stutters.

Hmm what kind of hardware speed is reconized as enough to decode 1080p?

Using FFdshow to decode..

[setarip_old]

Hi!

Your question is illogical.

If the same system previously performed smoothly with the same source video, but now stutters, something must have failed/changed in your hardware.

Is it possible that the current BluRay material you're testing is VC-1 encoded, rather than H.264?

[Sagekilla]

It sounds like he ran into some Blu-ray content that his system has trouble with. I've seen several videos that my machine can decode easily with low CPU usage, but others use up 20 - 30% more.

[nightrhyme]

thanx for reply.
No hardware changed
Files are x264 encoded

I might try a re-format if you guys deem my hardware able to decode 1080p ?

My cpu utilization is about 89%, never hits 100 thoug. I think it used to be much less :confused:

[Sagekilla]

If it's transcoded to x264, you can try either using CoreAVC Pro, the DivX H.264 decoder, or the ffdshow-mt decoder. I'd try ffdshow-mt first, then DivX, and CoreAVC last.

[nightrhyme]

Tried them all.
Doing somewhat better. Still get some slowdowns thoug.

Tried: ffdshow_rev2792_20090320_clsid.exe but forcing it to use 2 threads didn't help. It runs the best using 1 thread. FFDshow performed the best of the 3

Coreavc: used both logical cores but performed second best

DivX 7: Used both logical cores but performed worst.

I guess it can be concluded that I'm hardware limmited.. Damn

[DJ Bobo]

You can follow the discussion I opened about this HERE (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1255299#post1255299).
Short version: a dual core is a must for 1080p (and an HT processor doesn't even come close to the performance of any dual core). Don't get blinded by the hardware requirements published on the CoreAVC website, they're not realistic.

[nightrhyme]

Have one last question:
Would a system like: asus p5b, C2D e6600 (2.4ghz), 2 x 1gb DDR2-800, ati x1950 be enough ?

[Chengbin]

No P4 can decode 1080p smoothly. A E6600 will be fine for most 1080p videos (I have a Q6600 (which is basically 2 E6600 in one die) and played many 1080p videos on it without problems)

[Blue_MiSfit]

CoreAVC and DivX H.264 are extremely fast when you have a Core2 series processor.

I'd guess an E6600 with either of these should be enough to handle a 25mbps BluRay stream just fine. I'm not 100% sure though ;)

Renderer is important too.. I'd suggest Haali renderer, as it seems to be a lot faster than EVR Custom Presenter.

~MiSfit

[Chengbin]

CoreAVC and DivX H.264 are extremely fast when you have a Core2 series processor.

I'd guess an E6600 with either of these should be enough to handle a 25mbps BluRay stream just fine. I'm not 100% sure though ;)

Renderer is important too.. I'd suggest Haali renderer, as it seems to be a lot faster than EVR Custom Presenter.

~MiSfit

It will be fine. I've played Blu-rays on my Q6600 without problems.

[nightrhyme]

It will be fine. I've played Blu-rays on my Q6600 without problems.

Hmm thanx for reply guys. But you have a quad core, E6600 is just 2 cores.. Hmm I'm getting a little worried. Perhaps bigger cpu is needed. My main machine with e6850 kills any 1080p encode. It will even do 2 (nearly 3) at the same time with ffdshow 2 threads

[Chengbin]

Hmm thanx for reply guys. But you have a quad core, E6600 is just 2 cores.. Hmm I'm getting a little worried. Perhaps bigger cpu is needed. My main machine with e6850 kills any 1080p encode. It will even do 2 (nearly 3) at the same time with ffdshow 2 threads

I don't think the decoders can use/need 4 cores. 2 is enough.

[Blue_MiSfit]

On the contrary, some decoders can and will happily use up to 8 cores.

Take a peek:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=145735

[nm]

Hmm I'm getting a little worried. Perhaps bigger cpu is needed. My main machine with e6850 kills any 1080p encode. It will even do 2 (nearly 3) at the same time with ffdshow 2 threads
Then it should be clear that E6600 is more than enough for your videos.

[nightrhyme]

Then it should be clear that E6600 is more than enough for your videos.

That was what I was thinking (e6600, 2 cores, 2.4ghz, 1066fsb, 4mb cache) vs. (e6850, 2 cores, 3ghz, 1333fsb, 4mb cache)

[dwrbudr]

I have Prescott P4 2.4Ghz CPU (1MB cache, SSE3) and it hardly manages to decode 720p MKVs. I've overclocked it to 3.0Ghz and its almost fine with 720p. From my tests the fastest solution is KMPlayer + DivX 7 decoder. Be sure to run KMPlayer wizard and choose "performance" mode for slower CPU's. With DivX 7 decoder I have 80-100% CPU usage while with CoreAVC it is always 100% and the playback is not smooth. Forget about 1080p and P4.

[nightrhyme]

I have Prescott P4 2.4Ghz CPU (1MB cache, SSE3) and it hardly manages to decode 720p MKVs. I've overclocked it to 3.0Ghz and its almost fine with 720p. From my tests the fastest solution is KMPlayer + DivX 7 decoder. Be sure to run KMPlayer wizard and choose "performance" mode for slower CPU's. With DivX 7 decoder I have 80-100% CPU usage while with CoreAVC it is always 100% and the playback is not smooth. Forget about 1080p and P4.


Hmm strange my old p4e 3ghz nearly handles 1080p and has no problems what so ever with 720p. Using mpc, haali mediasplliter and ffdshow

[DJ Bobo]

Not strange buddy, perfectly normal. You were probably trying some stuff encoded with very basic options. I also mentionned in the CoreAVC thread that a 3GHz P4 has problems with high bitrate action scenes in 720p.

[Chengbin]

Hmm strange my old p4e 3ghz nearly handles 1080p and has no problems what so ever with 720p. Using mpc, haali mediasplliter and ffdshow

I have a P4 2.8Ghz and it dies decoding 720p.

[Blue_MiSfit]

And my 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo laptop handles 720p60 10mbps H.264, and 25mbps 1080i VC-1 just fine :)

~MiSfit

[zionstar]

My PC:
Celeron 2.0 GHz OC to 2.8 GHz
512k RAM OC 352 MHz
Sapphire RideOn 9600 256M graphic card
ATA Harddrives

Quite an old lady, but it does the job. :cool:

Using MPC + Haali Matroska Splitter + CoreAVC and 720p h264 runs pretty smoothly here.
But 1080p is a lost cause...