DBY
Who's Online
0 registered (), 15 Guests and 8 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Latest Photo Gallery
light pole in the water
Eastern State Penitentiary - Philadelphia
Top Posters (30 Days)
Doorslammer 12
Anartist 10
HarryB 7
Goofy 4
m2h 4
DirtDart 3
firebane 3
Dough 3
Nightowl 3
ProdigalSon 2
Topic Options
#173253 - 02/28/10 11:42 PM minimum system requirements for playing blueray sized videos
Archanex Offline
Dread Pirate

Registered: 06/12/01
Posts: 2555
Loc: ...I live in a giant bucket
hey guys, I've got my old pc hooked up to my TV so I can watch movies on the big screen. This works great for DVD resolution videos, but it seems to chug a bit when playing Blueray sized videos (4 gig 1080p videos) I am running the movies off a WD 1.5TB external USB 2.0 drive

My old pc specs are..
Athlon XP 2200+
1 gig of ram (I think)
ATI Radeon 8500 LE
7200 RPM HDD

my current desktop has no trouble playing the movies, even when streaming over the network, it's current specs are...

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4ghz
4 gigs of ram
Quadro FX 1500
SATA Raptor Drive

my laptop also has no trouble playing the movies, and it is similar in spec to my desktop

So my question is this... Is it worth upgrading my old PC so that I can play the movies with no chugging? If so, which component should I upgrade?
_________________________

Top
#173254 - 03/01/10 02:17 AM Re: minimum system requirements for playing blueray sized videos [Re: Archanex]
Frollard Offline
911, do you need police, fire, or ambulance?

Registered: 01/13/02
Posts: 4948
Loc: Canada
Ram is probably the biggest bottleneck if running anything bigger than XP. Another gig or two would be cheap (if the mobo supports it)

Next is the cpu if you can find faster in that socket. Might find something for super cheap since its old.

Edit: Could be software too, have you considered an OS reinstall to have nice fresh goodness?


Edited by Frollard (03/01/10 02:18 AM)
_________________________
In a world where the blind leads the blind, who do you follow?

Top
#173256 - 03/01/10 04:53 AM Re: minimum system requirements for playing blueray sized videos [Re: Archanex]
HarryB Offline
ghast hacker

Registered: 06/10/01
Posts: 18803
Loc: $$
could also be the external usb drive. try to play it from the harddrive
_________________________
I got your salvation b*tch I learned a valuable lesson that night. If you're going to try to fly a bicycle, you'd better make sure E.T is sittin' in your basket instead of a twelve pack of beer

Top
#173269 - 03/01/10 06:01 PM Re: minimum system requirements for playing blueray sized videos [Re: HarryB]
MacGyver Offline
Cyber zombie

Registered: 05/08/02
Posts: 4178
Loc: MA, US
Are you playing 4GB .MKVs? They shouldn't need much. Like HB said, the external USB is probably the problem.
_________________________
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

Top
#173279 - 03/01/10 07:17 PM Re: minimum system requirements for playing blueray sized videos [Re: MacGyver]
Archanex Offline
Dread Pirate

Registered: 06/12/01
Posts: 2555
Loc: ...I live in a giant bucket
yeah, they are MKVs, but the USB drive is definitely not the problem, because I am able to stream movies over the network with the drive connected to a remote computer, and they still play fine

Frollard- I did a clean install of the OS, and I'm playing with MPC, I may try upgrading the ram to see if that helps


Edited by Archanex (03/01/10 07:19 PM)
_________________________

Top
#173282 - 03/01/10 08:27 PM Re: minimum system requirements for playing blueray sized videos [Re: Archanex]
HarryB Offline
ghast hacker

Registered: 06/10/01
Posts: 18803
Loc: $$
1gb of ram is definately one problem, it couls also be the graphics cpu pushing some of the work on the cpu too. I read somewhere of this happening to make up for some graphic cpu's being under-powered.
_________________________
I got your salvation b*tch I learned a valuable lesson that night. If you're going to try to fly a bicycle, you'd better make sure E.T is sittin' in your basket instead of a twelve pack of beer

Top
#173283 - 03/01/10 08:44 PM Re: minimum system requirements for playing blueray sized videos [Re: Archanex]
bitstorm Offline
High Infidelity

Registered: 06/10/01
Posts: 4377

I would definitely start with more RAM. If the motherboard supports dual channel and it can be done inexpensively I might consider getting a matched pair. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_channel#Performance

Adding a XP 3200+ could be done cheaply but not sure that will make much difference here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon_XP#Athlon_XP.2FMP

Top



Shout Box

Today's Birthdays
No Birthdays
February
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29