Where's the bottleneck?

[dmjerbear]

A few years ago, I setup a computer to play ripped DVDs:

Intel Core 2 @ 1.86gHz
2GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS

Running Vista with Windows Media Center. The computer is hooked up to my TV using a DVI to HDMI cable.
Recently, I've had problems while trying to play 1080p rips of some BluRays. When playing them, there's lag and catchup problems. What I'd like to know is if there's a way to test where my bottleneck is. I'd rather upgrade vs buy a whole new machine, since it doesn't have problems with any other rips. But as I buy more BluRays and rip them, I forsee more problems. I might be limited in what I can do by the motherboard, but I'd like to at least know where the problem lies. Thanks in advance!

[aedipuss]

try windows task manager first. right click on bottom task bar, start task manager, click on performance and then play a troublesome blu-ray rip. it should show cpu and ram usage.

[edDV]

The 7600GS has MPeg2 decode acceleration (PureVideo) but lacks acceleration support for h.264 (PureVideo HD).

As a result the CPU must take the full decode load. I've got an Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.86gHz machine that struggles with AVCHD playback so I'd expect you will have similar issues with Blu-ray.

Solution is to switch out the display card for one with PureVideo HD* support. The cheapest current card is the GT210. I'm not sure if the Vista Windows Media Center player supports DXVA HD playback. Try MPCHC as an alternate player. It detects DXVA during installation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX_Video_Acceleration

*or ATI/AMD display card with "AVIVO HD".

[dmjerbear]

Thanks all for the help! Ran task manager, and as expected the processor is maxing out. I've found some GT210 cards on eBay that should work. Would you recommend a 512MB or a 1GB card? Will it make a difference since I'm not gaming, just playing videos?

Also, from the research I've done it looks like WMC in Vista should allow the hardware acceleration. I would prefer to stay with WMC since the remote I have uses it, and I never had any luck getting it to work with any other program.

[jagabo]

Also, from the research I've done it looks like WMC in Vista should allow the hardware acceleration.

Of course it does. Why would MS create DXVA and not use it in their media player? The problem is DXVA doesn't support all h.264 features. So unless you're making your own files you may still run into videos that won't play properly.

[edDV]

Thanks all for the help! Ran task manager, and as expected the processor is maxing out. I've found some GT210 cards on eBay that should work. Would you recommend a 512MB or a 1GB card? Will it make a difference since I'm not gaming, just playing videos?

Display card RAM mostly supports storage of objects and textures for gaming. It shouldn't make much if any difference for video decode.

[dmjerbear]

Are there other specs of a video card that will increase decoding performance? I'm comparing the GT 210, 220, and 240 cards. From nvidia's website, here were the items I thought might make a difference.

CUDA Cores
Graphics Clock
Processor Clock
Memory Clock
Memory Interface Width
Memory Bandwidth

[edDV]

I'm not sure there is any difference in the GT2xx family for DXVA.

Other applications for Cuda cores perfom better in the GT5xx and Quadro cards.

[MOVIEGEEK]

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