Best picture quality in Vista with Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (1 Viewer)

[kszabo]

Yes I use the Sideport memory but this has no effect on 1080i playback because 128MB is simply not enough (every recommendation for 1080i states this: min 256 MB VRAM), the system RAM will be used always. I had a X2 before and could not get proper deinterlacing for 1080i, because of this i made a Phenom upgrade.

I could deactivate the sideport memory in Bios but this is not the configuration you want to test.

An added GFX would solve the problem because of the dedicated vRAM of it (DDR-RAM is the bottleneck of the 1080i deinterlacing!!! controlled by HyperTransport, 2.0 is capable only of "bob", 3.0 is enough for adaptive)

 

[iancalderban]

Also if anyone has added a separate card i.e. 3450/3650, 4350/4550 (without a Phenom) it would be interesting to see if you can get vector adaptive for 1080i +DXVA (i.e. not ffdshow or CoreAVC).

I have an HTPC with this threads gigabye mobo and a 4550 discrete graphics. I get VA on the flag (I can see the jaggies appear when I move the slider to motion adaptive), this is 1080p@50hz screen res, and I have definite benefit with watching 1080i content on a TV, its looks very very nice.

I also have a quad-screen (3 monitors and a TV) server with a 3470 and a 4650, which serves as an alternative MP front end as well (using the HDMI output of the 4650). This has a differnet mobo, but the gfx cards are whats important.

3470 - doesn't do VA on 1080i. Just about manages MA on the flag test (1920x1200@60hz into a monitor) but I don't watch anything on it so I am not sure how good it is on real content.

4650 - does do VA on flag test @1080p/50hz 1080i content looks very nice via a TV. The reason for the 4650 in this box is that from my reading, the 4550 doesn't work well for this function if you use it dual-head. The 4650 is a bigger full-height card though (esp with passive heatsink, this overflows the next slot so you can only use half-height card there) so for single-head htpc box, 4550 is better (and can be had half-height passive).

this is all with cyberlink PDVD h.264 codec, its the only one on my systems

ta
Ian

 

[jo16v]

Yes I use the Sideport memory but this has no effect on 1080i playback because 128MB is simply not enough (every recommendation for 1080i states this: min 256 MB VRAM), the system RAM will be used always. I had a X2 before and could not get proper deinterlacing for 1080i, because of this i made a Phenom upgrade.

I could deactivate the sideport memory in Bios but this is not the configuration you want to test.

An added GFX would solve the problem because of the dedicated vRAM of it (DDR-RAM is the bottleneck of the 1080i deinterlacing!!! controlled by HyperTransport, 2.0 is capable only of "bob", 3.0 is enough for adaptive)

OK, so you are saying anything that uses more than 128MB cannnot use the sideport memory at all or just that it will be slowed down to the speed of system RAM? When you say DDR RAM is the bottleneck- is most system RAM DDR and on graphics cards it is DDR2-4?

Also if anyone has added a separate card i.e. 3450/3650, 4350/4550 (without a Phenom) it would be interesting to see if you can get vector adaptive for 1080i +DXVA (i.e. not ffdshow or CoreAVC).

I have an HTPC with this threads gigabye mobo and a 4550 discrete graphics. I get VA on the flag (I can see the jaggies appear when I move the slider to motion adaptive), this is 1080p@50hz screen res, and I have definite benefit with watching 1080i content on a TV, its looks very very nice.

I also have a quad-screen (3 monitors and a TV) server with a 3470 and a 4650, which serves as an alternative MP front end as well (using the HDMI output of the 4650). This has a differnet mobo, but the gfx cards are whats important.

3470 - doesn't do VA on 1080i. Just about manages MA on the flag test (1920x1200@60hz into a monitor) but I don't watch anything on it so I am not sure how good it is on real content.

4650 - does do VA on flag test @1080p/50hz 1080i content looks very nice via a TV. The reason for the 4650 in this box is that from my reading, the 4550 doesn't work well for this function if you use it dual-head. The 4650 is a bigger full-height card though (esp with passive heatsink, this overflows the next slot so you can only use half-height card there) so for single-head htpc box, 4550 is better (and can be had half-height passive).

this is all with cyberlink PDVD h.264 codec, its the only one on my systems

ta
Ian

Wow, thanks I think you just about covered every base there! So it looks like the lowest cards 3450/70, 4350 will probably not be good enough for 1080i vector adaptive, and 3650/4550 is the minimum to go for (or better for dual monitor setup).

 

[kszabo]

OK, so you are saying anything that uses more than 128MB cannnot use the sideport memory at all or just that it will be slowed down to the speed of system RAM? When you say DDR RAM is the bottleneck- is most system RAM DDR and on graphics cards it is DDR2-4?

yes, something like that happens. I had AMD X2 BE-2400 first with this MoBo (128mb sideport videoRAM) which could not deliver nice 1080i picture (1080i was watchable though). After Upgrade to Phenom X3 the 1080i pic quality increased a lot. And the pic quality remaind the same (nice) if I deactivated the sideport vRAM in BIOS completely. This means 1080i playback needs more than 128MB RAM and the sideport solution does not increase 1080i deinterlacing quality.

The bottelneck of onboard solutions with shared memory is the memory controller which is in the AMD CPUs. X2s have a slower one (less bandwith, called HT2) and Phenom I and II a quicker one (more bandwidth, called HT3). Dedicated GFX Crads have own, very fast memory controller and vRAM, they should be capable of nice deinterlacing of 1080i.

As I read the post of Ianalderban I guess my setup can only motion adaptive 1080i. It cannot be better as a HD34xx !!!

 

[mdsflyer]

REQUEST: Can anyone with a 7750/Phenom + 3200 HD do this 'flag' test this to see if you really are getting vector adaptive on HD- the ATi flag in CCC must stay smooth in moving from interlaced SD to interlaced HD. If it does not stay smooth with aero turned on, can you turn aero off following the instructions above and retest

I've just replaced my dual core CPU (HT2) with an 7750 (supports HT3) and now am able to access the more advanced deinterlacing settings. That is before i had just bob and weave, now i get vector adaptive etc.

I notice a change with my 1080i material, it looks sharper during movement, also number of dropped frames is now nearly zero, used to get a couple every now and then, only with 1080i material.

I tried the "flag test" and can confirm that it is using the vector adaptive when playing intelaced HD in MP, there was a momentary flicker in the flag as i pressed play which i took to be the system "setting" the deinterlace mode.

I preferred this upgrade to getting a graphics card as i wanted to keep the motherboard using it's internal graphics.

 

[Spragleknas]

According to Fudzilla D), AMD will soon be releasing X2's w/45nm and 65W TDP, and tri-cores w/45W TDP. This should make using the IGP even more attractive (I'm confident that they are all HT3 capable)

 

[dbassin]

I currently have a 5050e and I cant decide whether to get the 7750 now, or wait for the 45nm athlons coming soon. What do you guys reckon?

 

[kszabo]

I currently have a 5050e and I cant decide whether to get the 7750 now, or wait for the 45nm athlons coming soon. What do you guys reckon?

Now I would not buy a X2 with Phenom I archtecture with 65 nmn. Phenom IIs with 45 nm are musch better in idle energy consumption, and slightly better under load.

If you were going to buy a Phenom II now then the question would be 1. how urgent is better pic quality of 1080i is 2. how important is cost factor for you is

if you can then wait for a cheap mainstream 45nm AMD CPU. X2 will need less energy then a X4 for sure.

If 1080i deinterlacing is not important for you or have dedicated DFX-Card then you can keep your 5050e forever.

 

[mdsflyer]

For me i couldn't wait, the price of 7750 was very cheap, did i mention i'm impatient!

 

[jo16v]

If 1080i deinterlacing is not important for you or have dedicated GFX-Card then you can keep your 5050e forever.

What are the pros and con of upgrading to an HT3 processor vs a better GFX card? From what I gather, as long as you stay under 48** ATi cards there isn't much increase in idle power consumption vs the 3200HD and you then have a better GPU to better offload HD decoding + deinterlacing and play games in better quality. What are the advantages for a Phenom?