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The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by ddp, Jul 16, 2008.

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  1. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    The X1000 series does not support DXVA. There may be a method to use GPU decoding in Linux, but the HD2000 series is the first series from ATI to support GPU decoding that works in windows to my knowledge.
     
    sammorris, Jan 12, 2010
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  2. Estuansis

    Estuansis Active member

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    I'm not entirely sure but I think there ARE Windows programs out there that can use the X1000 series. I was able to use the K-Lite codec pack to get my trusty old X850XT playing 1080p with acceleration, but it was buggy and only worked some of the time.
     
    Estuansis, Jan 12, 2010
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  3. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    I don't trust codec packs like those. I'll be swapping my HD4830 into my HTPC anyway shortly, so I will have DXVA anyway. The only sticking point I'm worried about is remembering that there are no windows server drivers for my Creative External sound card, which is required for stereo copy (since Realtek still can't be bothered to implement it)
     
    sammorris, Jan 12, 2010
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  4. creaky

    creaky Moderator Staff Member

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    The example 1080p rip i'm talking about is H.264, video bitrate of 4334kbps, 1920x1080 resolution, audio s 640kbps. I'm not very au fait with 1080 stuff as it's not my thing, as i say i only bother with a maximum of 720p file myself

    I've sworn by them for many years across many machines, i find that i don't need any other codecs at all due to using K-Lite. I can't vouch for other packs but there's nothing to fear with K-Lite.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    creaky, Jan 12, 2010
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  5. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Yeah, total bitrate of 4974kbps is quite low for 1080p. Generally, problems only start to occur when bitrate is in 5 figures.
     
    sammorris, Jan 12, 2010
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  6. creaky

    creaky Moderator Staff Member

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    I see, as i say it's just not my thing. All i know is that my eyes are find watching 720p and even 480p rips, i'll wager that even Avatar (for instance) will look more than good enough at 720p. My xbox 360 is only set to 720p, but then i'm no PC or console gamer so high resolutions are of no interest to this almost-oldie :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    creaky, Jan 12, 2010
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  7. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    Sam,
    For the most part, desktops were nothing more than a mid-tower laid on it's side, with the drives flipped 90 degrees. The only ones I ever saw that were thinner were the Dell and HP/Compaq ones that could be used a a desktop or a mini tower. The last one I had was about the same size as my Centurion case. The Dell required a plastic base be snapped onto it, for it to be used as a tower.
     
    theonejrs, Jan 12, 2010
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  8. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    To be fair, you need to be using a large screen, be sitting reasonably close and have good eyesight to need 1080p most of the time. However, it is also often the case that 1080p rips are better encoded than 720p rips which makes up for image quality problems that are not caused by the low resolution itself. I am quire easily able to distinguish the difference between 720 and 1080 rips on a display that is native 1920x1080. On a screen that has a native resolution higher or lower than that, it's no easy due to interpolation/extrapolation effect.

    Russ:
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    sammorris, Jan 12, 2010
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  9. creaky

    creaky Moderator Staff Member

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    I recognise the smallest Dell in that pic, i have two of those (Optiplex 745's), very nice size and very nice machines.
     
    creaky, Jan 12, 2010
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  10. Estuansis

    Estuansis Active member

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    Well I have a few 720p rips that are better quality than a low bitrate 1080p. But usually I can easily tell the difference between 2 high quality rips. My monitor is effectively native resolution, only taller.
     
    Estuansis, Jan 12, 2010
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  11. omegaman7

    omegaman7 Senior member

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    Creaky, do those tiny dell cases cool well? I'm seeing one on ebay for a super price :D

    Whoops. Didn't account for shipping. But it has sparked a desire to search ebay for cheaper HTPC cases ;)
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    omegaman7, Jan 12, 2010
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  12. omegaman7

    omegaman7 Senior member

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    omegaman7, Jan 12, 2010
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  13. creaky

    creaky Moderator Staff Member

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    Yeah they have good airflow (good job as one of them runs flat out with Seti@Home all day every day, it only gets turned off for a few hours overnight, i say a few as i rarely sleep much so it's on most of the time). Don't forget though, most (probablly all) Dell cases are non standard so you can't just put your own parts in them. I like them as they're very quiet and more than powerful enough. I use one as my HTPC for the same reasons.

    I also have Seti running on the Quad machine whenever it's switched on (ie very often), decided i might as well make the CPU's work hard on those two machines when they're switched on (normally the Quad would only be on when encoding something but these days i either have the Quad and the main C2D machines on together or the C2D and a laptop on together). I don't bother running Seti on the HTPC though as it's not often on for long.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    creaky, Jan 12, 2010
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  14. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    Sam,
    Yeah, Dell made a bunch like that. Some of the earlier ones were much thicker!

    One of the things I don't really like, even with 720p is it's sometimes too good. By that I mean sometimes CG looks very fake. A good example of that is The two Chronicles of Narnia movies. The sword fighting close-up scenes look fine when watching the regular DVD, but you can see things with the HD you don't notice with the regular DVD at all. Especially with Prince Caspian It looks a bit choppy in those scenes because the CG fills have an un-real look to them. In contrast, Transformers II, shows no signs of that at all. The flaws you do see with Narnia are relatively minor, but also very noticeable. You don't see it at all with the regular DVD. It takes very high detail to even notice it! Like you say, it's the interpolation/extrapolation effect!

    Russ
     
    theonejrs, Jan 12, 2010
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  15. creaky

    creaky Moderator Staff Member

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    Good point well made, unfortunately this is very common, (G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra springs to mind, when there was that scene on the way to the Eiffel Tower and the two suited up guys bouncing as high as buildings, i don't mind films with completely implausible plots but when CGI is mishandled it stands out way more than bad acting or silly plots); not always though, i didn't notice this much in Avatar, for instance, will be interesting to see how that one turns out in 720p i mean on DVD.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    creaky, Jan 12, 2010
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  16. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    I'm sure they did. All I'll say is that the middle one is the size I remember desktop cases being, and the right hand one is the size I see them just as (if not more often) in the last couple of years.
    Interpolation/Extrapolation is to blame for not seeing much improvement with definition and bitrate on non-native sources, but overall SD rips cover up shoddy special effects and so on due to the fact there's simply not enough detail there in the first place. The film Casino is a perfect example. Only when you watch the high def version is it immediately obvious Robert deNiro turns into a mannequin just before the car explodes. As far as I'm concerned, this is a good thing, as it also reveals hidden details in films, or clarifies things you wouldn't have spotted before, so you spot them the second time round.
     
    sammorris, Jan 12, 2010
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  17. omegaman7

    omegaman7 Senior member

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    What, does no one use wireless routers?
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    omegaman7, Jan 12, 2010
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  18. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Routers are generally evil things. If you've got one that works, you got very lucky, don't push your luck any further.
     
    sammorris, Jan 12, 2010
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  19. creaky

    creaky Moderator Staff Member

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    Pah! to both of you, wifi routers are fine if you pick the right ones, i have loads in my sig.
     
    creaky, Jan 12, 2010
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  20. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Routers on their own are often fine. Modem routers, however, are not.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    sammorris, Jan 12, 2010
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