[mythtv-users] Good card for HD playback

[Todd Ignasiak]

On 3/28/06, Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 3/28/06, Marco Nelissen <marcone at xs4all.nl> wrote:
> > >3. XvMC (at least on a 5200FX) is not really worth
> > >using at this point.  The video gets out of sync with
> > >the audio eventually, and also the video clip itself
> > >starts slowing down.
> >
> > For what it's worth: I have no A/V sync problems with
> > XvMC, and using XvMC reduces CPU usage from about 70%
> > to about 40%. This is with an FX5200 on an Athlon64
> > 3200+ (socket 939)
>
> arggh, I just don't get it, XvMC did nothing for me. I have the same
> setup as you, and FX5200 w/ a socket 939 Athlon64 3200+. I'm begging
> to wonder if XvMC just doesn't help with a 64bit kernel? Are you
> running a 64bit kernel?

I am somewhere in between..  Sometimes XvMC is rock solid with mv FX
5200, and other times I get problems, causing me to turn it off & use
software decoding.   But, I upgrade SVN versions frequently, so
inconsistent behavior is expected.       My cpu is an A64 3200+, with
64 bit linux kernel,  so it definitely does work in 64 bit mode.

Back to the original topic..    I have been considering an upgrade for
a while.  What I'm looking for is a socket 939 motherboard, with
integrated Unichrome graphics, and an AGP or PCIe slot.  That way, I
can try 'XvMC Pro' MPEG decoder offload with the Unichrome, and if
that's not reliable enough, I can pop an NVidia card in it.  If that's
not reliable enough, I can do it in software on the dual core Athlon
64 X2 CPU, while still having horsepower available for commercial
detection, transcoding, etc.