Video card to play HD PVR recordings

[davenlr]

Hope this is the right place... I got my hD-PVR and luckily, it runs cool. Captured several movies at 1280x720 with the non-constant bitrate... Files are about 2.2gb for ~1.5 hrs. Problem is, using sage (beta) or Arcsoft, I get 100% cpu, and jerky playback. I'm using a AMD64 2.2 ghz cpu, 1 gb memory, 128mb on motherboard Radeon 200 PCI-e video.

I was trying to find a video card for my PCI-e x16 slot, but seems ALL the HD versions of ATI and Nvidea require Directx10 and Vista. I have Directx9 and XP Home.

Does anyone know of a video card which will work for hd video in my system under XP? I don't care if it uses 50 or 60% cpu, just so the playback is smooth.

I ordered a HD media extender, but was hoping to get the PC working as well.

Current display is set to 1920x1080p using Analog VGA input on a Sharp Aquos 46".

FWIW, the Hauppage HD ATSC tuner USB stick plays perfect using Hauppauges' software, but the HD-PVR doesn't.

Thanks for any suggestions. Best Buy had NVidea cards, but the box said "XP driver support for HD under development, please check out website" but I was unable to find anything on their website as to whether the driver was finished yet.

Dave

[Jesse]

Hi Dave,

On the nVidia site they list drivers for all series 6, 7, 8 and 9 GPU's that are compatible with XP. Here are the notes:

* WHQL Certified for Windows XP
* Supports GeForce FX, 6, 7, 8, and 9 series GPUs including these newly released GPUs:
o GeForce 9800 GX2
o GeForce 9800 GTX
o GeForce 9600 GT
o GeForce 9600 GSO
o GeForce 8300
o GeForce 8200/ nForce 730a
o GeForce 8100/NVIDIA nForce 720a
* Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI™ technology* on DirectX 9 and OpenGL.
* Adds new PureVideo HD features for GeForce 9800 GX2, 9800 GTX, 9600 GT and 9600 GSO:
o Dynamic Contrast Enhancement
o Dynamic Blue, Green & Skin Tone Enhancements
o Dual-Stream Decode Acceleration**
* Improved performance on many DirectX 9 and OpenGL applications.
* Numerous game and application compatibility fixes. Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues.
* Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.
* GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring is available by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.

Note that it specifically mentions DX9 compatibility and PureVideo HD.

This card would be sweet: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150304

HTH

Jesse

[davenlr]

Thanks. That card was PCI-e 2.0 x16, whatever that is...Im sure mine is 1.0. Was looking at the 8500 model. Was hoping someone was using one and could tell me how it works. Gigabyte has a GV-NX85T256H model that uses the 8500 chip, and doesn't require a fan on it, so I'm going to call them tomorrow to see if it will work. Its like $60 mail order. I've always used ATI, so I'm not up on all this new stuff. Thanks for the info. Seems NVidea will at least have XP drivers. Just need to get a card with HDPureVideo that's supported I guess.

[bennyhill]

did you turn off 3d accelerated mode? Once I did this on with my Nvidia 7300 gs I got completely smooth playback with the arcsoft decoder (set via Brent Evans blog entry here)

[Jesse]

Dave,

The 2.0 cards will work in 1.0 slots, so no worries there.

I myself use an 8600GTS in one of my clients and there are DXVA issues with sage and vista. I do, however, get DXVA when using other players in vista. I have confirmation from at least one other sage user that he is getting DXVA with an 8600GT and XP. An 8500GT should work just fine.

Jesse

[davenlr]

Benny: Disabled all 3d fuctions listed on the ATI video, no difference.

Jesse: Picked up a GeForce 8500GT on sale for $69 at CCity, and am waiting on the drivers you referenced to finish downloading (2 hrs on dial-up). Will let you know how it works. I don't know what that X thing you referenced is...told ya'll I'm not up on this stuff anymore Please explain in a "for dummies" kind of way...
Dave

[Jesse]

Hi Dave,

DXVA = Direct X Video Acceleration, or the thing that allows low power machines to play back demanding HD video (hdpvr recordings, BD, HDDVD) by off-loading most of the work to the video card.

Once you get the 8500GT installed make to sure to re-enable 3D acceleration (ie DXVA) in the sage detailed settings.

Dial-up. I feel for you brother.

Jesse

[Conejo]

I've got an HP Media Center PC with a 3700+ AMD Athlon 64. The onboard graphics weren't up to displaying stutter-free HDTV so I purchased and installed an nVidia 8500GT and nVidia codec. After being acquitted for attempted murder*, I put the 8500GT back in its box, once again reinstalled my operating system from scratch and purchased the new ATi/AMD HD3650 and use it along with the nVidia codec. I am very happy with it and the neighbors have dropped their restraining order.


*updating to the latest version of the 8500GT drivers caused my PC to blue-screen unpredictably and the control panel driver couldn't display its graphic UI without tearing all the graphics.

**Your killing spree experience may vary.

[stanger89]

The AMD 4850's look very nice.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by davenlr

I was trying to find a video card for my PCI-e x16 slot, but seems ALL the HD versions of ATI and Nvidea require Directx10 and Vista. I have Directx9 and XP Home.

They don't require DX-10 and Vista, it's just that the DX10 (or 10.1 for ATI) features of the cards will only work under Vista. With XP only DX9 is available, but that's only important for video games usually. Any of the PCI-e cards should work. I have a 3870 in my gaming rig under XP Pro with no issues.

All of the 8xxx and HD series cards support hardware h.264 so with the right software you should be golden.