[mythtv-users] HD Woes (was: Upgrade Options for $150)

[Glenn Harris]

On 1/29/07, Nate Crosno <nate at crosno.net> wrote:
> Nate Crosno wrote:
> >
> > Well, I've placed my order.  After searching around for several hours on
> > various sites, I'm still going with the Jetway board because it was the
> > only 939 board I could find with DVI out, plus it has component out,
> > which I'd like to try. It also had the nvidia chipsets.  After reviewing
> > some processor performance charts (with a grain of salt), I opted for an
> > Athlon 64 3400 at 2.2Ghz and a cheap heatsink/fan combo.  According to a
> > cpu chart that tested transcoding a DVD, it looks like that will be
> > about a 10% bump in performance over the 3200 I listed before. The
> > damage came to $137 out the door.
> >
> > AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Venice 2.2GHz Socket 939
> >    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103023
> > JetWay J939GT3-PTD Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX
> >    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153047
> >
>
> So here's the status -- the Jetway board is fine so far, and everything
> is working great except 1080i.  XvMC never worked well for me, but with
> it turned on, I can just barely get 1080i to play in Myth, but it takes
> ALL the cpu. With XvMC off, 1080i pauses every 2-4 seconds.
>
> I'm using "1280x720_60" for my xorg.conf mode. 720p will play in Myth at
> about 50% cpu with XvMC on and up to 60% with libmpeg2.  As a
> comparison, Xine only uses about 8% with xvmc for 720p and 45% for 1080i
> (with xvmc) and 60% using "-V xv".
>
> I've also tried overclocking as high as the MB will go (2.9ghz), just to
> see if it made a difference, but it does not.
>
> I've tried every permutation of OpenGL Vsync in myth and nvidia
> settings, plus the various buffering, interlacing, etc options I can
> think of, but nothing seems to make much of a difference on way or
> another. I'm stuck!  The system is still usable, but no more so than
> before the upgrade.  I just have to use the same xine work-arounds for
> 1080i as I did before, but the whole point of the upgrade was to make
> those go away!
>
> Can anyone with a similar setup send me detailed info about their
> configuration?  At this point, I am doubtful that throwing more money at
> it in the form of a faster processor would even help much. I think I
> have something configured wrong, but cannot put my finger on it.
>
> Thanks!
> -Nate

I am using an ASUS board with the nvidia 6150 chipset.  Apparently
with that chipset, dual-channel memory only works if you have memory
only in the first bank.  I originally had both banks filled with 512mb
sticks for 2gb total.  After removing the memory from the second bank,
mythtv sped up considerably.  Between that and the 'UseEvents' driver
option, I eliminated all my studdering and now my everything is very
smooth and stable (*knock on wood*).

Good luck!

--Glenn