sam9s HTPC Project! powered by XBMC!!

[sam9s]

Yes FreeNAS is the obvious choice when it comes to NAS OS but I am looking for few more interesting options, would discuses all in detail in my new NAS thread ...

 

[arindamcc]

GeForce GTX 550Ti is far far better than any ATI display card.Better up-scaling better color reproduction etc..(Tested with HQV test disc both SD and HD)

 

[sam9s]

^^ 550 is a high end card, targeted towards people who also would like to game with their HTPC. For usual playback with bit streaming 4XXX series is more than enough ...

 

[idlebrain]

ONce the movie source/path is in XBMC will scan the content and for 90% of the movies will download the cover, fan art and information. And you can start browsing your collection from there on ....

Sam, Is there any procedure to get the cover art of remaining 10% movies for which S/w couldn't get?

 

[sam9s]

Sam, Is there any procedure to get the cover art of remaining 10% movies for which S/w couldn't get?

Yep Media Center Master mentioned on the first page as well is the solution. What it does is that it scans for all information, cover and fan art from IMDB, either automatically or if movie is not found for some reason then manually and create an XML and and info file of it. Once that is done rescan the path under XBMC for new content and rest of the 10% should be covered.
However even with this method there is possibility that 1% can still be left. This happens mostly with TV series. In that scenario the only option left is to do it manually.

 

[akhil7j]

Sam, Is there any procedure to get the cover art of remaining 10% movies for which S/w couldn't get?

Right click on the movie icon and click "get information" or "movie information" something like this is an option there. Refresh it then and you will get the cover art along with the info.

If out of 100 movies, 15 movies didnt get the cover art due to internet disconnect. Go to movies and run the scan again/set content to Movies, scrapper as IMDB, uncheck scan recursively and done. It will only scan the new movies you added or movies without information/cover art.

I am not in front of my HTPC right now otherwise i would have give you the exact options. But try this out.

 

[manniraj]

Sam, for playing blu-ray rips and BD disks which GPU is good and more than sufficient. Is it ATI Radeon 5450 or 5570 for getting dts-hd/dolby truehd passthru.

 

[sam9s]

Sam, for playing blu-ray rips and BD disks which GPU is good and more than sufficient. Is it ATI Radeon 5450 or 5570 for getting dts-hd/dolby truehd passthru.

Mine which is GT440, it even plays 3D with perfection. All BD ISOs and BD rips plays perfectly. Yes 5570 also plays rips with hd audio but as I mentioned NVIDIA is prefered for multimedia playback.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[manniraj]

But my motherboard(Gigabyte 880GM usb3.0) has onboard graphics which does not support hd bit streaming hence looking for a better GPU. Also from the reviews i can see that it supports ATI Radeon based GPU combined with the onboard graphics to give the full potentail. Hence please suggest in the Radeon series which is bang for the money..thanks..

 

[sam9s]

But my motherboard(Gigabyte 880GM usb3.0) has onboard graphics which does not support hd bit streaming hence looking for a better GPU. Also from the reviews i can see that it supports ATI Radeon based GPU combined with the onboard graphics to give the full potentail. Hence please suggest in the Radeon series which is bang for the money..thanks..

If that is the case, pick any from the 5XXX series. All are good 5570 is a decent card. Cannt go wrong with it.
BTW your mobo also supports nVidia cards that's not an issue.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[manniraj]

In that case which one do you suggest nVidia or Radeon based graphic cards for my mobo. My budget is around 4k and if it is very good then i can go till 5k. between i have assembled my htpc and installed win7 pro lite version on the ssd. its blazing fast booting better than my lappy with core i5. i have put in only the xbmc application and nothing else. i am trying to make the xbmc to load as shell but unfortunately unable to as i write it down now..
I have also ordered the LG super multi-slim Blu-ray CN21 model from 20north and expecting it to get delivered by first week of July.

 

[vaibhavyagnik]

go for 5570 has it will work with onboard gragphics in hybrid cross fire. you can also check out HD5670. It might just be above 5k. Performance wise, 5570<5670. with 5670 and on board hybrid crossfire you will be able to play games in moderate settings at 1080 resolutions.

 

[manniraj]

I presume the 6xxx series is the latest when compared to 5xxx series. But the 6450 is cheaper than 5570. So is there any difference performance wise if you consider only for the 1080p movies and not taking consideration gaming..
Also how is the MSI brand for 5570 gpu when compared to a asus/zotak/xfx/powercolor

 

[sam9s]

I presume the 6xxx series is the latest when compared to 5xxx series. But the 6450 is cheaper than 5570. So is there any difference performance wise if you consider only for the 1080p movies and not taking consideration gaming..
Also how is the MSI brand for 5570 gpu when compared to a asus/zotak/xfx/powercolor

6450 is pretty low profile card, but would still do bit streaming. If your budget is 5 l'd still strongly suggest GT440. It's a powerfull card both for a/v and gaming.

Also be aware just because the series is 6 for ATI does not mean the card is better. There are lots of varients so you gotta be carefully when you choose. The best example is 5850 which still beats even the highroad end 6 series card.
Anyway if you have to choose from ATI I suggest 5570 over 6450 anyday.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[akhil7j]

I presume the 6xxx series is the latest when compared to 5xxx series. But the 6450 is cheaper than 5570. So is there any difference performance wise if you consider only for the 1080p movies and not taking consideration gaming..
Also how is the MSI brand for 5570 gpu when compared to a asus/zotak/xfx/powercolor

Go for GT430 "GDDR5". Thats more than enuff for HTPC purpose. I dont know which onboard GPU you have but if it is H67 with Sandy Bridge Intel processor, then you dont need anything GPU. It will do bitstreaming and can play 3D content also.

Do not go for ATi card if purpose is HTPC. For gaming yes they are good. But there are well knows bugs in ATi cards, Sams knows well. nVidia is really good for video playback and in addition you will get the 3D support too. 5xxx ATi cards doesnt support HDMI1.4a.

 

[manniraj]

6450 is pretty low profile card, but would still do bit streaming. If your budget is 5 l'd still strongly suggest GT440. It's a powerfull card both for a/v and gaming.

Also be aware just because the series is 6 for ATI does not mean the card is better. There are lots of varients so you gotta be carefully when you choose. The best example is 5850 which still beats even the highroad end 6 series card.
Anyway if you have to choose from ATI I suggest 5570 over 6450 anyday.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

Thanks Sam.. i have shortlisted 5570 and would like to go for this "Sapphire Radeon HD5570 1GB DDR3 ATI PCI E Graphic Cards" its going for Rs.4210 without shipping. But its listed as "PCI Express 2.1 x 16 Interface" but my motherboard spec says "PCI Express 2.0 x 16" 1 slot, PCI Express x1 , PCI Express x16 does this pose a problem in fitting on to the PCI slot.

 

[alexanish]

Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. Not sure if I should start a fresh thread.

My brother just bought an Asus laptop with the following config,

K43SV
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Notebooks- ASUS K43SV

it has the NVIDIA graphics card,

NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M with 1GB/2GB DDR3 VRAM

Do you think it can do the HD Video Audio? I mean can it play Dolby True HD or DTS-HD through HDMI? and 3D? I got this assumption from Sam's comment in the original post in this thread.
"GT4XX series is the best known for A/V playback with full support for HD Bitstreaming and 3D playback."

While going though this thread some where there is a discussion about TMT. What is TMT? Please excuse my ignorance in technical details. My idea on HTPC is close to nothing.

My questions are because I was wondering if he can buy a full HD LCD TV and a latest AVR with HD audion capabilities, will he able to play high def video and audio? Or he has to buy a sound card capable of decoding the sound?

Thanks
Anish

 

[sam9s]

Thanks Sam.. i have shortlisted 5570 and would like to go for this "Sapphire Radeon HD5570 1GB DDR3 ATI PCI E Graphic Cards" its going for Rs.4210 without shipping. But its listed as "PCI Express 2.1 x 16 Interface" but my motherboard spec says "PCI Express 2.0 x 16" 1 slot, PCI Express x1 , PCI Express x16 does this pose a problem in fitting on to the PCI slot.

Nope this would not create any problem. 5570 is a good buy, but before you make the actual purchase, let me tell you that HD 5xxx card does not support 3D and does not support HDMI 1.4a. You you cannot go 3D way in future. Hope you know this. Rest would do bitstreaming and pretty decent gaming as well.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[manniraj]

Nope this would not create any problem. 5570 is a good buy, but before you make the actual purchase, let me tell you that HD 5xxx card does not support 3D and does not support HDMI 1.4a. You you cannot go 3D way in future. Hope you know this. Rest would do bitstreaming and pretty decent gaming as well.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

Oh is it then the investment should be for the future. Based on my mobo which gpu would you suggest if i need the 3D as well

 

[manniraj]

Go for GT430 "GDDR5". Thats more than enuff for HTPC purpose. I dont know which onboard GPU you have but if it is H67 with Sandy Bridge Intel processor, then you dont need anything GPU. It will do bitstreaming and can play 3D content also.

Do not go for ATi card if purpose is HTPC. For gaming yes they are good. But there are well knows bugs in ATi cards, Sams knows well. nVidia is really good for video playback and in addition you will get the 3D support too. 5xxx ATi cards doesnt support HDMI1.4a.

Thanks akhil...
I have the gigabyte 880GM Usb3 mobo and do you think the GT430 "GDDR5" is compatibility. Also this mobo has onboard gpu which is not good enough for bit streaming. If i put in this GT4xx gpu will it disable the onboard gpu and effect the performance of the mobo..