Hi, i'm getting 90% to 100% cpu usage when playing HD dvd's on my PC using my a Toshiba HD dvd drive, my computer specs are: CPU: AMD Athlon 64X2 Daul Core 5000+ processor Graphics Hardware Acceleration: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics System Memory: 2GB RAM Pperating System WindowsXP Service Pack 2 Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics Graphics Card Driver: 8.475.0.0 Software player: PowerDVD 7.3.4407.0 Video Connection Type: Digital(with HDCP) I've read in test reviews in magazines using a AMD 3600+ dual core and the same motherboard, that i should be able to play HD and Blu-Ray disc's smoothly at around 30% to 35% CPU usage, any ideas why mine is so high with a more powerful 5000+ dual core, is there anything in the catalyst control center that could help reduce this, thanks.
Did the test reviews say what graphics card they were using? I have a Athlon Dual Core Processor(fine for most things, but struggles for HD Video playback) and I was staying around 90%. Getting a good graphics card with seperate memory can help out a lot. I have a nVidia 9500 GT and it works great. I hardly notice a difference in my CPU usage. The graphics card can take a lot of the processing away from the CPU. And you don't need to go all out with the $200+ cards, the $50 range is perfectly fine.
Hi, i managed to solve the problem with help from other members, it was getting the hardware acceleration to work with powerdvd 7.3 ultra when playing hd dvd's, cpu usage went down to about 20% to 30% if not lower.. I have integrated ATI HD 3200 graphics, these are meant to give the same performance as the ATI Radeon HD3000 and 4000 series of graphics cards for video play back only, the ATI drivers and the catalyst control center were very buggy up until 8.5 came out. I'm sure that a dedicated graphics card would improve picture quality and reduce mu cpu usage even more. They must have reposted this old thread, here's the original link and replies: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/777802
Ah, well ok then, lol. My laptop has the mobile 3200 and has superb picture. I love it. The HDMI out integrated in makes connecting it to my TV very simple and although my dedicated HTPC has better picture quality, the laptop performs perfectly fine for most. Only in really fast sequences does it start to lag any.
Hi, thanks for the reply, out of curiosity what is your laptop model, i wish i had went the laptop route for my media sometimes.
Its a HP Pavilion Dv7-1245dx . There are higher models of it out there, but I really didn't need anything more. At the time I bought it it had: 320 GB HDD 4 GB Ram Vista 64 HDMI Out S-PDIF out via HP Dock 4 USB Ports VGA Port Media Remote 1 PCIExpress Slot 17.1" High Resolution Screen The things a beast. Performs very well even under high demand. It also has an extra HDD slot for upgrades. Very nice laptop. As it stands, since I've bought the laptop I have bought two desktops that it has outperformed on all levels.
