User experience with AMD 780G and MediaPortal (3 Viewers)

[bluebear]

Just as a side point, has anyone tried MythTV using the 780G boards? I love MP, but windows is starting to frustrate me!

The problem with linux so far is the lack of proper amd driver support. I tried with mythtv and managed to hazzle my way to the point in which I actually had a viewable tv picture. Unfortunately it had tearing and generally a bad quality which made me go the mediaportal way. I didn´t try HD format or any other formats than standard SD. Perhaps the 8.10 have solved some issues, but I´m sceptical. Go with Nvidida if you take on mythtv.

I agree on the windows notion, but make no mistake about it Linux has it shares of frustration too.

 

[huckster2]

Freeview in NZ (DVB-T) is all h.264/AVC encoded even though some of it is 576i. So the one h.264 codec is used for 720p, 1080i and 576i channels. If I were starting again, I'd be tempted to go for a later revision of this motherboard, a 3 (or 4?)-core Phenom processor to get HT 3 (or whatever it's called) and use Vista 32-bit. I feel an OS re-install coming along.

 

[globaldonkey]

Well there you go.... learn something every day

I suppose it makes sense.... you fit more channels into your 6 / 7 mhz spectrum that way.

Have you tried the MPC-HC codec instead of CoreAVC? You might get DXTA going that way.

 

[jo16v]

Well there you go.... learn something every day

I suppose it makes sense.... you fit more channels into your 6 / 7 mhz spectrum that way.

Have you tried the MPC-HC codec instead of CoreAVC? You might get DXVA going that way.

Ah, you've neatly led me into what I was going to post.. Unfortunately the MPC Video decoder (the decoder in MPC-HC) doesn't currently work for h.264 TV. However... work has been going on with ffdshow (which is what the MPC decoder is based on) to get this working. I've tested the recent 2227 build of ffdshow on my 64x2 5000+ with DVBViewer and it is giving me about 56% usage on a 10Mbps 1080i channel (Luxe TV HD) and about 64% on a 16Mbps 1080i channel (BBC HD), with about 2-3% added if using resizing (see the dvbviewer thread for instructions).

Apparently the guy at DVBViewer is hoping to work with developers of MPC-HC to get the MPC decoder to work for h.264 TV so hopefully then we will all then be able to ditch Cyberlink and take advantage of MPC's brilliant DXVA abilities!

Unfortunately my installation of MP is currently broken. Would any of you good people mind testing the new build of ffdshow above (uninstalling any old version first) and see if it is working in MediaPortal, then report back on what CPU usage you are getting (for 576i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p) and any problems you have with it?

 

[ErikLarsson]

Does the build in graphics card output anything over HDMI when booting?

My 9600 PRO didn't, but my Geforce 6800 outputs 1080i over DVI -> HDMI automatically, which i find very handy...

 

[doornjoostje]

Does the build in graphics card output anything over HDMI when booting?

My 9600 PRO didn't, but my Geforce 6800 outputs 1080i over DVI -> HDMI automatically, which i find very handy...

Yes it does.

 

[huckster2]

Hallelujah.

Gigabyte GA-M78SM-S2H. XP Pro 32. Catalyst 8.9 from AMD/ATi. PowerDVD Ultra 8 (latest update). DXVA on all DVB-T Freeview NZ channels. Sometimes a channel change can take a while (this is RC2) but it gets there in the end. Finally, my 780g is "as advertised". CPU still around 10-20% but I've only got a BE-2350 in there.

 

[jo16v]

Hallelujah.

Gigabyte GA-M78SM-S2H. XP Pro 32. Catalyst 8.9 from AMD/ATi. PowerDVD Ultra 8 (latest update). DXVA on all DVB-T Freeview NZ channels. Sometimes a channel change can take a while (this is RC2) but it gets there in the end. Finally, my 780g is "as advertised". CPU still around 10-20% but I've only got a BE-2350 in there.

Can you check if you get DXVA on this VC-1 Dark Knight trailer? Also, what build of PDVD8 are you using?

 

[S.O.P]

What a confusing thread.

I come here looking for new information regarding a low-powered HTPC solution and get 14 pages of back and forth. Seems a contentious issue, for sure.

I currently have a GA-73PVM-S2H which is a Nforce board with onboard 7100 and a 2.4 E2220. It is having phantom stability issues (not ram or psu - assuming mobo or cpu - driving me up wall) so I'm after something new. Like others, I hear the 780G is the best option but that seems not to be the case in some situations. Also considering a 9300 IGP board so I can find out what the issue is and not waste my current hardware.

I'm Australian so I deal with MPEG-2 1080i but I'm only pushing it out to a 720p LCD via HDMI. What I'm trying to ascertain (and it's hard to find the info) is whether or not a discrete card, either AMD or Nvidia, would solve any of the interlacing issues by moving it onto the GPU or is waiting for a 45nm Phenom the only option (for future-proofing purposes)? I will probably manage with a 4850e but it's nice to be covered if things change.

I'm after a low watt HTPC this time, and hopefully one that remains stable. I hate throwing away money.

Slightly off-topic, thanks for the interesting discussion.

 

[htpcbox]

i'm new on this forum.. but I just have to say this thread defines pure stupidity. Okay I can accept the topic creator wanted to warn/show his so called "research" to other members. But his topic title scares people from buying the 780G chipset, which is totally wrong in my opinion.

I'm watching 720-1080p content without a sweat using 780G. Just because this user didnt have a nice experience doenst mean the product is bad or "cheap" for mp combo.

I'm amazed his thread is still not deleted.

BTW that flickering he's talking about is a known ATI issue, NOT the entire friggin motherboard.

Topic title is stupid and missleading

This thread will cause more confusiong then good in the end