[mythtv] x86_64 support, Semprons, and HD playback

[Brian Warren]

Jesse Keating wrote:
> So I've heard that lately there was some work to make x86_64 up to speed
> (mmx stuff?).  I'm trying to get a system that will play back HD
> recorded content and my 2ghz P4 400mhz FSB system isn't cutting it.  I
> have an Athlon64 board coming up available and I'm trying to decide if I
> should put a Sempron or an Athlon64, as well as whether or not to go to
> x86_64 OS or not.  


I started with FC3 and Jarod's guide(thanks) on my Athlon64 2800+.  The 
best I could do for 1080i was ~90% cpu with interlaced playback.  I 
added an fx5500 and XvMC dropped that to ~60% with bob-deint.  The video 
was pretty smooth, but OSD was not.  The weekend prior to .18 I built 
gentoo x86_64 from stage 1. I haven't been able to get XvMC to work 
since then, but I really haven't tried anything other than ./configure 
--enable-xvmc and checking the box in myth.  The reason I haven't 
bothered with it is that cpu is ~65% with bob and w/o XvMC.  Play back 
is pretty smooth and PQ is great.  I use subversion to manage local 
changes, here are a couple of logs:


------------------------------------------------------------------------
r12 | brian | 2005-04-27 11:08:59 -0400 (Wed, 27 Apr 2005) | 6 lines

Mythtv:  cvs up -D 2005-04-15
./configure --enable-xvmc ( which still doesn't work)
Stable with slightly choppy playback.
CPU @ ~63% w/Deint-Bob  (content 1080i)


------------------------------------------------------------------------
r11 | brian | 2005-04-27 09:44:49 -0400 (Wed, 27 Apr 2005) | 5 lines

Mythtv: cvs Head - ./configure  --disable-mmx ( make dies @ 
osdsurfacetypes.cpp otherwise)
Tested @ 75% cpu w/Deint
Video still a bit choppy
Frontend crashes/dies when escaping from playback.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The x86_64 build was worth the time for me.  The cvs version -D 
2005-04-15 is where I have found the best performance.  I checked out 
Tuesday morning and had only slightly higher usage during playback, but 
the performance dropped dramatically when recording on all inputs during 
playback.  Live tv was also lacking in relation to the fore mentioned 
date.  BTW, I use 2 PVR150s and firewire capture for input.  The 
advantage to current, for me, is that commercial detection was 
flawless(at least for the 3.5 hrs I recorded that night).

Sorry for rambling on your thread, hope that helps.

-
Brian