old pc playing hd/high end video (1 Viewer)

[tranquil]

Hi guys,

recently i've been having some problems playing videos. i've installed ffdshow and played with the settings:
i've seen 2 main problems on DivX4 codecs movies:
1. picture freeze while sounds doesnt and continues after a few secs
2. smearing of color on the bottom of the screen.

my configuration is listed below, my Q is if i will invest in a proper video card (ATI HD 3650 AGP),
and let's say OC my cpu a bit more, will it suffice for running mp4 and HD content?

here is the mediaINfo for the file:

Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 339 MiB
Duration : 54mn 24s
Overall bit rate : 870 Kbps
Writing library : VirtualDub build 13130/release

Video
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Codec ID : DIVX
Codec ID/Info : Project Mayo
Codec ID/Hint : DivX 4
Duration : 54mn 24s
Bit rate : 732 Kbps
Width : 512 pixels
Height : 408 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 5/4
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.140
Stream size : 285 MiB (84%)




MediaPortal Version: 1.0 RC4
MediaPortal Skin: blue3
Windows Version: Xp Sp3
CPU Type: AMD 1800 (OC to 1900)
HDD: WD 800GB
Memory: 2GB DDR
Motherboard: EPOX 8KDA3J
Video Card: ATI RADEON 9250
Video Card Driver: ATI CATALYST 6.11
Sound Card: Realek ALC 850
Sound Card AC3: AC97
Sound Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: ffdshow
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow
h.264 Video Codec: ffdshow
Cooling: Retail AMD Fan
Power Supply:
Remote: Harmony 880
TV: Toshiba Bomba Bright 34"
TV - HTPC Connection: S-Video (cable is RSA - with s-video adapter)

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

I would say one of the limitations you are going to find overall, is bus speed, this affects graphics\memory\cpu, personally would save up the pennies and just go for a total system build, rather than trying to patch up what you have, painful i know cost wise, but will save a lot of grief in the future.

So forget HD atm, save money and get what you really need, the way things are going there's some nice new gpu's onboard that should be appearing in markets near you shortly

 

[tranquil]

i've noticed that when i OC thought the bios, i actually notch up the bus speed (from 200->209 so far).
how much is the bus speed in nowadays boards?

and can you recommned on a board/cpu settings? there's so much different flavors in the market right now
it's hard to know what's best for HTPC HD use...


thanks!

 

[mr_poopyhead]

i managed to play 720p x264 and DivX files with a 1.8GHz sempron and a radeon 8500LE 128MB... try coreAVC codec.