HTPC bottleneck?

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Deleted member 108676

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I just made an HTPC from an old computer, and I'm trying to stream DVD and BluRay MKV's to view on my 46'' TV.

It plays DVDs fine, but BluRay is unwatchable. I know it isn't the video card, but I'm wondering if my computer is just too old or if more RAM would help it out. Here are my specs:

bottleneck.jpg


So what say you? Too old of a computer or do I just need more RAM?
 
Several variables in play:
GPU?
LAN Connection? If wifi, what speed?

More RAM will help but CPU/GPU/network speed will dictate your Bluray experience. That processor should be able to handle it but it sounds like the GPU and network are the bottlenecks.
 
ryang said:
Several variables in play:
GPU?
LAN Connection? If wifi, what speed?

More RAM will help but CPU/GPU/network speed will dictate your Bluray experience. That processor should be able to handle it but it sounds like the GPU and network are the bottlenecks.
Click to expand...

Here is the video card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

People in the other thread were saying this would be overkill.

I'll try moving the harddrive that has the movies on it to the local computer to see if that helps, but I have two laptops that can stream Bluray over CAT5 just fine...which, BTW is how this PC is streaming, VIA cat5.
 
I moved it to the local machine and it is watchable now, but it isn't perfect like it should be.

I don't remember the computer being this slow, though. Could the lack of RAM really be this bad?
 
2GB? Really? What blu-ray software are you using? Is it set up for hardware decoding, or software decoding? Does it support Cuda? What other software is running in the background? Do you have all your Windows updates installed? EDIT: That sounds a bit harsh, sorry. :D
 
Just put 4gb in there and it's the same.

I'm using VLC for play back. There is hardly anything running in the background because this Windows install is about 2 hours old. Not all the Windows updates are installed yet, but would that really make a difference?
 
Depends on the updates. It is certainly possible. VLC also may have wildly different requirements. Can you check to see if hardware decoding is on?
 
How would I do that?

I'm new at all this.
 
That helped some, but now it's jumpy in a different way. It's like every second it rewinds itself a milisecond...but the audio doesn't jump...it's just the video.

It does appear to be better, though.
 
Is the PC running all the hardware at stock settings? Have you tried other software? Like a demo of
PowerDVD 12 Ultra?
 
The computer is all stock, and no, I haven't tried other software. I'm about to see if I can find something free that will play MKV's, though.

And about your comment above, I do legally own all the movies I have on MKV
 
Sounds like the refresh-rate is mismatched to the source. Try changing your refresh rate to 23hz (movies) or 59hz (TV shows).
 
Any idea how to do that?

What are other programs that will read MKV? I'm guessing they won't make much of a difference because I just tried another program and it was the same thing. I wonder if it's a setting on the computer.

This is really fucking aggravating, I just wanted this fucking thing to work.
 
Yup, I found that and it won't let me change the refresh rate. Whenever I change it and click apply, the screen goes black as it should and when it comes back it's back at 60hz
 
Downloaded and installed MPC and it is smooth as melted butter...thanks!
 
I need to try MPC; otherwise, I haven't gotten Blu-rays to play well in anything other than PowerDVD, and it's still one of the crappiest players I've seen.

Did they really have to make Blu-rays that hard to play on anything?
 
OEM said:
Downloaded and installed MPC and it is smooth as melted butter...thanks!
Click to expand...

MPC-HC has been my defacto standard for a long time. The biggest advantage is that it is pretty much a complete CODEC package. However, one thing to try on that machine (if you still want to use VLC) is to purge all previous CODEC's and slowly add in. I know VLC has some streaming advantages. The K-Lite CODEC package (cringe) has a fairly good "cleanup utility" on it.

One note about MPC-HC. It does have a shit ton of settings and sometimes the defaults aren't our best choice.
 
Good call on MPC-HC. Good program. I have run into a few things that only play in VLC, but that is likely a configuration issue, as was mentioned.
 
Well all my files are MKV, so as long as it keeps playing those I'll be happy.

Thanks again for all the help guys!
 
I can't guarantee you will experience the same results as me but my skt939 x2, paired with my old gaming hd6850, was having similar issues and couldnt stream or play stutter free hd with win7. Upgraded to win8 when I heard about the improved gpu utilization and other improvements and its been manhandling everything iv thrown at it so far media wise.

Its a 90nm x2 2.2ghz chip running at stock currently, had it oc to 2.5ghz under win7 with the same gpu and worse perfprmance. Could be an anomoly, but its worth a shot considering your syhstem has similar specs to mine.
 
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