To lame for HD?

[rhythminmind]

So ive had a kubuntu media center setup for some time now for dvd & music. I have now stepped up in to the HD file playback world...
My system chokes on playback of HD files.
It can handle 720p but @ 1080 its choppy.
My media center is a couple of years old. Athlon 64 3400, gig of ram, 256 meg video. It is just a playback system. I would of thought it could cut it.. The files i want to play are 1080p x.264 video with ac3 passed audio.
Time for a new system? what are your thoughts?

[Baldrick]

1080p wont work that well on a ahtlon 3200 so yes it's time for a new system. Or maybe just a new video card with h264 hardware decoding support but it may not be supported in kubuntu.

What media player is the kubuntu media center based on? Mplayer?

[rhythminmind]

I have tried VLC, Kaffeine (xine engine) & mplayer.

[Soopafresh]

You might be able to do it in XP with CoreAVC video decoder codec. Perhaps there is an equivalent in the Linux world, but I think Mplayer and VLC are going to be the fastest decoders. In that case, you're stuck with a hardware upgrade, as the esteemed Baldrick said.

[rhythminmind]

You think the CoreAVC decoder is that much more efficient?

[mrgrk2k]

Yes! CoreAVC does a hell of a job decoding h264 content... and if u have a 939 board with pci-x I'd try upgrading to an Nvidia 8xxx or ATI 2xxx series card... much better than previous generation cards at decoding HD content like vc1 and h264... I have an x2 Athlon system running at 2.5 ghz with a BFG 7950 gt oc and I still get 60 to 70% + CPU usage when playing HD DVD content.... I'm planning on upgrading to an ATI 2900 series card myself.