AMD Cool&Quiet causes stutter (Twinhan specific?) ! (2 Viewers)

[ziphnor]

I have been suffering some rather annoying problems with stuttering in recordings as well as playback on my system with an A64 3000+ CPU using my Twinhan Cab CI card(s), (this goes for all other TV apps, not only MP). In the end i decided to reinstall windows which solved the problem. I have now been very carefully adding things back in(only one card installed currently) to find out what caused the stutter.

Installing the AMD Cool&Quiet driver (http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html) and enabling Cool&Quiet by setting the power management profile to "Minimal powermanagement" immediatly brought the problem back. Changing to another pm profile, ie disabling Cool&Quiet resolves the problem. Looking at the CPU speed during playback it is constantly jumping up and down.

While its gratifying to have discovered the cause of the problem, its not much fun not being able Cool&Quiet on a machine that is usually on 24/7.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

 

[bigj]

I use a sempro64 3000 (core 1800Mhz) with cool n quiet.
It's working fine for me. I get freq 1000Mhz and voltage 1.1v. That's when viewing DVB-T timeshifted TV with nVidia codec. 33% CPU load.

One thing I noticed though when I checked this - I used AMD Power Monitor to view the current levels and I opened sysinternals process explorer to view CPU peformance graph. When MP runs I then *do* see the pulsing between hi/lo. It seems the performance profiling can actually introduce problems.

HTH,
BigJ.

 

[ziphnor]

I use a sempro64 3000 (core 1800Mhz) with cool n quiet.
It's working fine for me. I get freq 1000Mhz and voltage 1.1v. That's when viewing DVB-T timeshifted TV with nVidia codec. 33% CPU load.

One thing I noticed though when I checked this - I used AMD Power Monitor to view the current levels and I opened sysinternals process explorer to view CPU peformance graph. When MP runs I then *do* see the pulsing between hi/lo. It seems the performance profiling can actually introduce problems.

My CPU runs at 1000Mhz 1.1V when idle as well i think. You can see this easily in their "dashboard demo" program. When i run MediaPortal its switching back and forth between full speed and 1000Mhz, thats the same you are seeing, right ?

Could you give me the full details of your system?(ie card brand and type, ram, windows version and bda driver version).

The funny thing is that i previously did check cpu usage and it wasnt very high, probably around what you are seeing. But i think the CPU changes speed much faster than the interval in which the process information is updated. Im also thinking it might be a timing based problem, some (stupid) programs(like maybe the twinhan driver?) rely on constant CPU speed to provide timing information.

 

[bigj]

I pasted my system details below.

** note ** Sorry, I wasn't accurate about CPU it is AMD Sempron 3100 *NOT* A64 (!) - but perhaps this is still helpful.

MB : Abit NF8 (nforce3 250Gb)
CPU: AMD Sempron 3100 (1800MHz) (Drv: AmdK8.sys 1.2.2.0)
Mem: 1GB
OS : XP Home Edition Service Pack 2
GFX: Radeon 9700 Pro (Drv: 6.14.10.6561 for 1024x576 mode)
SFX: Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (Drv: KXDrivers 5.10.0.3534)
DVB: .1 Compro DVB-T300 (Drv: 1.3.3.0) (VideoMate TV SAA7134 Hybrid Capture Device)
DVB: .2 Leadtek DTV1000T (Drv: 4.0.112.3218)
HD1: WD400JB 40GB (OS)
HD2: WD800BB 80GB (Music)
HD3: SAMSUNG SP2514N 250GB (Movies/TV)
IDE: nVidia nForce3 250 Parallel ATA Controller V2.6
DVD: LG4163B (HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4163B)
LAN: Built in.
Firewire: All disabled.
---

MediaPortal:
mediaportal-RC3+mediaportal-cvs-03-22-2006--01-02.rar


CODECS:
MPEG2 - Nvidia Decoder + ffdshow audio 1.0.2.2605
XVID - ffdshow 1.0.2.2605
AC3 - AC3Filter

POWERSTRIP:
1024x576 25Hz Interlaced
PowerStrip timing parameters:
1024x576=1024,27,96,133,576,5,5,39,20000,312

Miscellaneous:
All sp2/dshow/DVB patches (to date 24/8/2005)
PCI Latency All = 32, except PCI Bridge AGP Host to PCI = 16

 

[ziphnor]

** note ** Sorry, I wasn't accurate about CPU it is AMD Sempron 3100 *NOT* A64 (!) - but perhaps this is still helpful.
...

DVB: .1 Compro DVB-T300 (Drv: 1.3.3.0) (VideoMate TV SAA7134 Hybrid Capture Device)
DVB: .2 Leadtek DTV1000T (Drv: 4.0.112.3218)

I guess it could either be a problem specific to my CPU model, even though i never witnessed anything like it even with 3 analogue tuners, or, what i think is more likely, its a problem with the Twinhan driver or cards themselves. I wish i could get feedback from someone with a Twinhan card
Still your feedback has been very useful.

 

[xenophobe]

Hi Ziphnor,

unfortunately no solution for your problem.
Just another one having the same issues:
I've got an A64-3000+ with a Twinhan drivers running with C'n'Q and problems with stuttering recordings, too.
Your Q'n'Q thing just gives me a hint how to workaround the problem.

I'll take a look at this in the evening.

Regards,
John

 

[ziphnor]

I've got an A64-3000+ with a Twinhan drivers running with C'n'Q and problems with stuttering recordings, too.
Your Q'n'Q thing just gives me a hint how to workaround the problem.

I'll take a look at this in the evening.

What motherboard (chipset) are you using?

If disabling CnQ solves the problem, i have made a small hacky plugin that enables CNQ when the TV is off and not recording and disables it when the TV is turned on or recording.

 

[Spragleknas]

What kind of PSU are you using?

Does the voltage readings fluctuate?

 

[xenophobe]

What motherboard (chipset) are you using?

My Board has got the NForce430 MCP chipset.
I'd really like to get this app if Cool'n'Quiet turns out to be the problem.

What kind of PSU are you using?

I'm using a Silverstone LC04 housing it has got a 240W PSU.

Does the voltage readings fluctuate?

I'll take a look at it, tis afternoon ?

Why do you ask ?

Thanks for your support,
John

 

[Spragleknas]

Can you give any more info. on PSU (brand, modell or Amps @ 12V).

I belive your PSU is WAY to weak for your rig - 3 HDDs, several tuners etc.


BTW: You should check out speedfan

After some fickling, you rig will be a lot quieter...