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Atomic Ant
http://forums.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19476
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Author:  cecil [ Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:28 am ]
Post subject:  Atomic Ant

# CASE: In Win BM 639
# PSU: 120 Watt (see above)
# MOTHERBOARD: Intel D945GCLF2
# CPU: Atom 330 (see above).
# RAM: 2 Gigabytes.
# CPU HEATSINK: See Intel link.
# NORTHBRIDGE HEATSINK: See Intel link.
# CD/DVD-RW: Slimline TSST dual layer DVD burner.
# HDD: 500 Gigabyte WD
# GRAPHICS CARD: Sparkle nVidia GeForce 8400 GS w/ 512 MB (PCI).
# SOUNDCARD: See Intel link.
# TUNER CARD: Hauppauge HVR-850
# REMOTE CONTROL: TBD.
# WIRELESS KEYBOARD: Phillips SWK-8630

I'm really happy with the Atomic Ant. The loudest thing is the Northbridge heatsink fan combo. Please note, this system is Tier 1 with R6. While R5.5 did boot w/ AA, I didn't test it extensively.

Author:  graysky [ Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:28 pm ]
Post subject: 

Have you tried playing HD content encoded to x264 on this setup? 1280x720 or 1920x1080? As I understand it, x264 is more CPU intensive than xvid or mpeg-2.

Author:  christ [ Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:16 pm ]
Post subject: 

hah. you beat me to the punch. I was curious about essentially the same thing. I'm on the quest for HD playback and looking for a processor and video card combo to ensure a decent lifespan (what ever that really is).
And ideally not relying on VDPAU in the short term.

The parameters that seem to matter are CODEC H.264 vs VC-1 and bitrate. Much content is in H.264 (say from the cableco) and it is certainly more intensive for decoding than mpeg or divx/xvid. VC-1 may be even more onerous though. It is usually on Bluray (where you can get really high bit rates in theory; say 45Mbps) or with HDPVR (my desire) where it can get up to 15Mbps.

I think if I can find a combo that does say 15Mbps in VC-1 without VDPAU then I'm probably good.

Cecil, do you have any data on either the Atomic Ant or the Parcel to answer this?

Author:  Marc Allan Feldman [ Sun Feb 01, 2009 5:54 am ]
Post subject:  D945GCLF2 and s-video out

I have been reading about problems running s-video out under linux with the D945GCLF2 .

Have you found a solution for this?

Regards,

Marc

Author:  cecil [ Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:57 pm ]
Post subject: 

Due to work work, getting R6 ready for SCALE and other life issues, I'm not have time to play w/ VDPAU on AA or Parcel. Davilla did post some performance numbers on his Atom. That is the same model that is in AA. @Marc as I'm not using the videochip on the D945GCLF2, I'm not using it's video out.

Author:  christ [ Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:00 pm ]
Post subject: 

Thanks.

For others, I believe the thread is the following:
http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19169

useful information for AA.

C

Author:  graysky [ Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Atomic Ant

cecil wrote:
Please note, this system is Tier 1 with R6. While R5.5 did boot w/ AA, I didn't test it extensively.


Cesman - is it possible for me to get a copy of R6 prior to its official launch? I just ordered the parts to build an Atomic Ant and would be stoked to get LinHES up and running this weekend on it. Since you mentioned the build is Tier 1 w/ R6 :) Can you PM me w/ the d/l instructions if you're offer to try R6 is still valid?

Thanks!

Author:  graysky [ Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:10 am ]
Post subject: 

@Cesman - What are the idle/load temps of the GPU on the passively cooled 8400GS that you've used in the machine? I'm sure you know, but if case you didn't, you can get the temps either from nvidia-settings (GUI) or from nvclock -i (shell).

Thank you!

Author:  jzigmyth [ Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Atomic Ant

cecil wrote:
# GRAPHICS CARD: Sparkle nVidia GeForce 8400 GS w/ 512 MB (PCI).
(snip......)
I didn't test it extensively.
I see that the video card is PCI. This thread:
http://knoppmyth.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19107
implied that the PCI bus isn't up to the job of HDTV, but that AGP worked fine. I'm wondering it that only applied to the FX5200, or to PCI video cards in general. Does anyone have USA ATSC over-the-air HDTV running on a PCI video card of any flavor? Outputting to a 1080i or 1080p TV?
Thanks.

Author:  davilla [ Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:07 pm ]
Post subject: 

If you are pushing decoded 1080p, then PCI gets saturated, but you're not pushing decoded 1080p across the bus with vdpau. The encoded bit stream is pushed. This drops the bus transfer rate many orders of magnitude and makes 1080p over PCI possible.

Side note, this also means that a 1X pci-e nvidia card would also be fine :)

Author:  jzigmyth [ Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:14 pm ]
Post subject: 

davilla wrote:
If you are pushing decoded 1080p, then PCI gets saturated, but you're not pushing decoded 1080p across the bus with vdpau. The encoded bit stream is pushed. This drops the bus transfer rate many orders of magnitude and makes 1080p over PCI possible.

Side note, this also means that a 1X pci-e nvidia card would also be fine :)
Ok, so vdpau is required and it must be better than XvMC, because XvMC didn't cut 1080i or 1080p with a pci card.

Davilla, just to get at least one data point, have you personally done 1080p over a pci bus?

Author:  davilla [ Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:47 pm ]
Post subject: 

Quote:
have you personally done 1080p over a pci bus


Lets qualify that statment -> Yes, using vdpau. Using any software decode and pushing the decoded video frames at 60 fps, no. If you do the math, 1029 x 1080 x YUV at 60 fps and PCI bus bandwidth is 132MB/s theoretical but in practice more like 90-100MB/s. Not a chance.

I have no real content that is 1080p, only test clips. I actually don't care about 1080p. 720p is just fine.

And:

XvMC does not decode 1080p, only 1080i. XvMC is an mpeg2 hw decoder.


1080i using XvMC is trivial on pci. Again, XvMC pushes the encoded bit stream across the bus.

Author:  jzigmyth [ Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:23 am ]
Post subject: 

davilla wrote:
Quote:
have you personally done 1080p over a pci bus
Lets qualify that statment -> Yes, using vdpau.

I have no real content that is 1080p, only test clips.

Thanks for the info. I have not had the PCI problem personally, but this thread http://www.knoppmyth.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16765 ultimately came to the conclusion that 1080i didn't work with a PCI FX5200 and XvMC, but it did with an AGP FX5200 and XvMC, hence my question. I guess they must have left some stone unturned.

davilla wrote:
Quote:
XvMC does not decode 1080p, only 1080i. XvMC is an mpeg2 hw decoder.
Thats true but XvMC will decode ATSC 1080i (as well as 720p) and with the right modeline the nvidia card will display either one as 1080p.

Author:  cecil [ Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:40 pm ]
Post subject: 

graysky wrote:
@Cesman - What are the idle/load temps of the GPU on the passively cooled 8400GS that you've used in the machine?
62 degrees idle. I'll let you know what it is when I'm using VDPAU. I've compiled -fixes w/ VDPAU. Installing it now, but work work... So, I won't play with it until later.

Author:  davilla [ Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:47 pm ]
Post subject: 

hehe, I hear you cecil.

BTW. vdpau is running now under XBMC for Linux with working overlays using openGL.

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