Best AGP video card for HD

[blade]

Originally Posted by stanger89

All true, but if you're getting higher CPU usage with nVidia than Sage, something is quite wrong, as the Sage decoder is pure software vs the nVidia decoder which is hardware accellerated. You should see lower (significantly in the case of HD) CPU usage with the nVidia decoders than Sage decoders.

I always thought the same thing, but unless both my 6200 and 6600gt are broken I don't see how.

6200 with xp1700 underclocked to 1100mhz:
Nvidia Film 22-35%
Nvidia Video 40-60%
Sage Decoder 50-60% (video and film are the same)

6600gt with xp3200:
Nvidia Film 20-30%
Nvidia Video 70-85%
Nvdia Post Processing 48-55% (video and film are the same)
Sage 40-50% (video and film are the same)

Both machines are using 91.47 drivers and the latest purevideo decoder. I have confirmed through the tray icon that both are supposedly using hardware acceleration.

The only HD I have is a short clip that is supposed to be 1080i film content and it plays back on the 6600gt without any problems with 20-30% cpu usage.

The only thing that seems to give me high usage is video content. When I use fraps I get 60 fps for video and 24 fps for film with the Nvidia and with Sage I get 30 fps for both.

If you think something is wrong I'd love to hear some ideas because mine has always been like that on both of my machines.

[simonen]

Thanks for the feedback everyone...this is the information I was concerned about, so I think I will invest in the 6600gt. I have noticed the problem with FSE in my 9550, so that will be great if I can do that now. I am not so worried about noise, since I am placing everything into a ventilated media cabinet about 25' from my TV.

This technology is getting incredible. Now all we need are HD media extenders for Sage.

[GTwannabe]

Originally Posted by blade

The only thing that seems to give me high usage is video content. When I use fraps I get 60 fps for video and 24 fps for film with the Nvidia and with Sage I get 30 fps for both.

If you think something is wrong I'd love to hear some ideas because mine has always been like that on both of my machines.

It's supposed to do that. MPEG's are captured at 30 fps. PureVideo doubles the frame rate on videos to 60 fps. For films, PureVideo does an inverse-telecine to show the original 24 fps instead of the 30 fps conversion.

[blade]

Originally Posted by GTwannabe

It's supposed to do that. MPEG's are captured at 30 fps. PureVideo doubles the frame rate on videos to 60 fps. For films, PureVideo does an inverse-telecine to show the original 24 fps instead of the 30 fps conversion.

I understand that. Everyone else claims to have extremely low cpu utilization such as 5-10%. Stanger said purevideo hardware acceleration should be much lower than the Sage software decoder which isn't the case for me, it never has been on either of my clients. I always assumed it was higher due to the increased workload of doing 60 fps instead of the 30 that Sage does.

If I turn on AA or tinker with my other 3d settings the fps falls and so does cpu usage. One of the reasons my cpu usage is lower on my 6200 is that it's only doing 47-52 fps instead of 60. It's "super locked" or whatever they call it and I'll have to edit the card's bios to overclock so I can get 60fps out of it.

I just don't see how everyone else is getting next to no cpu usage for video content. I believe my cpu usage with film is on par with what others are getting, but that doesn't seem to be the case with video.

[stanger89]

I used to see higher numbers too, but on my latest XP SP2 install, 91.47 drivers and 1.02-223 decoders, I see almost nothing. Only difference I've got a PCIe card...

[camTexas]

Just my 2c. I had a 6600GT and it worked really good with 720p and OK with 1080p but would stutter every now and then. I upgraded to a passive 7600GS and haven't had any stuttering at all since. I was on a prior decoder version with the GT with only a few days on v223 before jumping to the GS. I've had a few systems now that I've tried mobo/cpu & video. It was always the video card that really made the difference. My 1080p system is a lowly AMD 64 2600+. Works great for now though.

Now if I could only get H.264 working... hope that doesn't prove my cpu vs. video card theory wrong.

[blade]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I used to see higher numbers too, but on my latest XP SP2 install, 91.47 drivers and 1.02-223 decoders, I see almost nothing. Only difference I've got a PCIe card...

What cpu are you running? Also how much does the Sage decoder use? I assume your cpu is quite a bit more powerful than my ancient xp. If so that would probably account for most of the difference with film content.

I have a spare drive lying around so I guess I can try a fresh install on it without screwing up my current one. I have all of the latest windows updates, dx, drivers, purevideo, etc... I guess something left over from the older versions could be causing the increased cpu usage.

[korben_dallas]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

I disagree. on my ATI 9800pro, nvidia decoder works much better for HD playback

No stuttering on any kind of video (SageTV, DivX, WMV, WMV-HD, etc) on my 9800 Pro + Nvidia Purevideo.

I'm eyeballing the ATI X800 XT All in Wonder.. best price/performance ratio for AGP cards right now.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by blade

What cpu are you running?

Athlon 64 X2 4200.

Also how much does the Sage decoder use?

~40%, or about 2/3 of one core. Film/Video doesn't make much difference.

I assume your cpu is quite a bit more powerful than my ancient xp. If so that would probably account for most of the difference with film content.

True, but it's more the fact that there's really no difference between DXVA (nVidia) and not (Sage), that really makes me wonder. Actually it's really weird that DXVA is higher.

That's true on the 6600GT right, not just the 6200?

[blade]

Originally Posted by stanger89

True, but it's more the fact that there's really no difference between DXVA (nVidia) and not (Sage), that really makes me wonder. Actually it's really weird that DXVA is higher.

That's true on the 6600GT right, not just the 6200?

Yes, on the 6600GT as well. All of the following is on the 6600GT machine as well.

I'm about ready to take a bat to my HTPC, but I'm getting closer. I did a completely fresh install on a spare disk and was getting 19-25% cpu usage for both film and video with the Nvidia decoder. If I check the inverse telecine box video content makes the cpu usage jump to 60-70% while film stays the same. I thought it was smart enough that I could leave it checked and it would work properly, but apparently not in my case at least.

So I thought I had it all figured out, but when I disable inverse telecine on my old install the cpu usage drops a little though it still hovers around 50-70% with video.

I would just use the new fresh install, but the fancy new driver control panel hangs up when trying to make changes and some features aren't available in the classic panel. Of course my old install works perfectly with the control panel.

I guess I know what I'll be doing all weekend.

[simonen]

I installed my new 6600gt last night along with a trial version of purevideo and my machine is now experiencing some problems. When using FSE, the Sage gui will crash on load up. When not using FSE, the purevideo decoders cause the recordings to play at a 2X speed with no sound.

Another thing I noticed is that no icon appears in the task bar and have found no way to get into the purevideo properties. Something tells me that the installation did not work right, whether is has conflicted with something that is already there. I have not had a chance to look into this yet though.

[polen]

Make sure you have the Java 1.4.xx version installed. you can access it in Control Panel. In SageTV Under Detailed Setup set Video Decoder to Default, then you will see the PureVid properties in the systray.

-Polen

[simonen]

I am assuming that purvideo decoder is different from the nvidia decoder. After using Radlight, I did not see PurVid in the list, but I did find the NVidia in the control panel and able to change some settings. There was no mention of Purevideo on it, so I am not completely sure if it was just the regular nvidia control panel though.

My FusionHDTV program will not uninstall either, so I think there is a problem with my system. Maybe a fresh install of the OS is required.

[polen]

you got it. PureVideo is just a marketing name. NVidia Decoder is the name listed in Windows. Sorry about that.

-Polen

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by simonen

I am assuming that purvideo decoder is different from the nvidia decoder.

Not really "PureVideo" is the name for the 4.x series of decoders, aka, the 1.x download many here are running. They're named nVidia Video Decoder and nVidia Audio Decoder (or something similar).

[polen]

Originally Posted by simonen

II did find the NVidia in the control panel and able to change some settings.

You need to run SageTV and then open the NVidia Decodes icon in the systray, the icons right next to your clock in the bottom right coner of you desktop. Everytime you change channels, you will need to reopen NVidia Decoders to make ajustments.

-Polen

[Polypro]

I've never gotten confirmation on this, but... Even when you set the FSE option in Sage to yes, there is a property that says something like:

"disable_dx9fullscreenexclusive=true"

I changed that to false. It was so long ago that I don't remember if that made FSE work, or if it was a new build. Something to try.

P

[autoboy]

Originally Posted by Thomas Wischgol

Just to add some more variables to this discussion: the resolution you are using for your monitor/display seems to be a factor as well. It seems to me from what I read here in this forum that a 6600GT works fine with 720p displays. But does it still work fine with something higher? I use a 7600GS OC (BfgTech) and still get a few stutter here and there at 1080p (which is the native resolution of my display). The 7600 has a lower clock rate than a 6600GT, though.

What happens when you overclock the 7600GS a bit? I'm trying to put together something that explains purevideo and I don't have any experience with 1080p displays.

[simonen]

I ended up wiping out the hardrive and reinstalling the OS and SageTV with the Purevideo drivers and Forceware 84.21. Everything is running incredibly well now. I have a lot to learn about AA and AF settings and how they affect efficiency and the picture, but that will come with time.

Hopefully I will get my FusionHDTV card set up tonight to try some HD, but hopefully with the new 6600gt, I won't have any studdering problems or pictures with horizontal lines like I had with my ATI 9550.

Thanks for the help.