Hi,
Now I know a great deal about computer hardware and software, but I can't seem to figure out what I need for smooth 1080p video playback.
The thing is, currently I have a media PC running XBMC with the following specs: AMD Athlon 4200+ @ 2.4 Ghz, 2 GB of DDR400 RAM, Nvidia 440GT gfx card with HDMI output.
Now this system plays 1080p movies perfectly fine without a glitch or anything. The thing is, this PC is starting to act up and I expect it to die pretty soon. I want to replace it with something cheap.
I have gotten an offer for the following system for just 50 euros: Dell Optiplex GX620: Pentium D 820 @ 2.8 Ghz, 1 GB of DDR2 RAM (I have spare modules there so it will be 3 GB). It also has a PCI-E 16x slot, so I will move the 440GT in there. I will have to check about the PSU wattage, but I think and let's asume that it will be OK.
Obviously the question is, will this system will be fast enough to play 1080p/blu-ray movies smoothly?
Thanks for your reply in advance!
I'm not all too knowledgeable on Intel processors, so I'm not sure if that processor has the capacity to decode 1080p video, but last I checked, most media players allow for hardware-accelerated video decoding, so it would really come down to where the video is coming from. If you're using a disc drive with Blu-ray functionality, I'd suspect that you'd have no problem at all. If you're playing the files from a hard drive, things might get a little jittery depending on the speed and usage of the drive.
Blu-ray discs have a maximum bit rate of ~40Mbit/s according to Wikipedia. I'd assume that, as long as the drive you're playing off of is relatively new, you should manage fine.
I think datarate wouldn't be a problem. When I get a DVD or blu-ray, I always create images of them and store them on my server. I believe this Dell has a gigabit card, so the datarate has a potential of 124 megabytes per second (which my server can deliver).
The Pentium D is a horrible CPU, especially the 8xx series. They're power hungry furnaces, and they're much weaker than your current Athlon 64 x2 4200. I don't know why you expect your current machine to die, but it'd be better to figure out why it isn't working properly than to replace it with a shitty used Dell with a shit CPU that you're going to have tons more problems with.
Most all Dell desktops from that era suffered from the capacitor plague and you're going to be playing russian roulette if you buy that machine
I couldn't remember if the D line were the nasty ones. I always remember those nasty black/dk. grey Dell towers with P4s that schools bought seemingly in bulk. They were always slow, no matter what you did. Who thought they were a good idea? Maybe that's why I'm standoffish about Intel processors :v:
Yeah, would be best to steer clear of that Dell machine. If what you have does the job, keep it. If you're noticing some hickups, best look into what could be causing them rather than scrapping the whole rig.
The 4200+ gives blue screens from time to time.
- It runs pretty hot idle; 65C, altough it has a a hyper 212 with arctic silver and the case is properly cooled.
- The RAM is okay, I had it doing a memtest for about 48 hours without a single error.
- GFX card always works fine in other PC's, could test it again but Im sure its not it.
- I also tried another old 939 mobo (only AGP), same problem occurs. I used different RAM obviously.
- When I do an OCCT stress test, the CPU reaches 90c and shuts itself off.
- I am 100% certain the CPU is properly seated, and so is the cooler.
- Tested the PSU on my own PC and played skyrim for about 30 mins, worked fine.
Ruling everything out, the only thing I can conclude is that the CPU is nearing the end of his life.
The reason I am considering this Dell is because of the price and the slim case 50 euros for a fully working PC is very cheap. Especially when it comes with a 1 year warranty. Until recently I worked (helpdesk) a lot with Pentium D's, and I never had any problems with them except that their were getting too slow for the demanding applications a hospital has.
Even when and if this processor is causing problems, I have some connections that can get me a pretty cheap Core 2 Duo processor, which will work in this chipset aswel. It's nearly impossible to get a 4200+ nowdays.
Anyways, it brings me back to my original question: is this CPU powerful enough?
The CPU in that Dell is going to be the bottleneck, and by a considerable margin. That much I can tell you. Whether or not it's enough of a bottleneck to kill the chance of 1080p decoding, I'm not entirely sure of, if I'm honest.
As far as the processor you currently have, I'm almost tempted to believe that it's not getting enough airflow to the cooler, or rather the cooler isn't quite up to the task of cooling it effectively. Concerning the crashes, it's either a temperature issue or something software-related. If it is software, it's nothing you'd be able to fix short of reinstalling the OS, though that might be favorable as you'd be able to install a fairly small Linux distro that'd be able to handle media more efficiently. That gives you two options as far as I'm concerned:
-Keep the computer you have now and potentially invest in a new HSF for the processor. Will cost less than replacing the computer altogether, but there's a chance it won't solve the issue. A reinstall of the OS might offer the solution as well, but it's not guaranteed.
-Buy the Dell. There's a good chance that it won't be able to handle 1080p decoding, even with a newer video card, though you won't be dealing with the complications you're facing with your current computer.
You could consider the new line of AMD APU's, they're cheap and can manage 1080p playback extremely easy.
[QUOTE=Drumdevil;38147529]The 4200+ gives blue screens from time to time.
- It runs pretty hot idle; 65C, altough it has a a hyper 212 with arctic silver and the case is properly cooled.
- The RAM is okay, I had it doing a memtest for about 48 hours without a single error.
- GFX card always works fine in other PC's, could test it again but Im sure its not it.
- I also tried another old 939 mobo (only AGP), same problem occurs. I used different RAM obviously.
- When I do an OCCT stress test, the CPU reaches 90c and shuts itself off.
- I am 100% certain the CPU is properly seated, and so is the cooler.
- Tested the PSU on my own PC and played skyrim for about 30 mins, worked fine.[/QUOTE]
If you really have a Hyper212+ and you're hitting 65C, you aren't doing something right. The Hyper212+ has a cooling capacity of over 150W, while the Athlon 64 x2 4200 is only a 89W part. It also shouldn't be pulling 89W idle due to CnQ, which lowers the core voltage and clock while idle. You should run CPU-Z and check to see if the clock speed is dropping while idle.
And of course you're going to get errors when the CPU is that hot. You probably killed it from letting it overheat for such a prolonged period of time. The Thermal Junction (the temp at which damage starts occurring) is 62.5C on the 4200+.
Running a PSU on another machine and the other machine working is not a valid test. You need to test the voltages with a multimeter and ensure they're within 5% of the specified voltage. If the PSU is out of warranty, you should also open it (after powered off and unplugged for at least a minute) and check for leaking or bulging capacitors, which is a sign that it has failed.
[QUOTE=Drumdevil;38147529]Ruling everything out, the only thing I can conclude is that the CPU is nearing the end of his life.[/QUOTE]
The only reason it would be near the EOL is due to abuse from letting it overheat for such a prolonged period of time.
[QUOTE=Drumdevil;38147529]The reason I am considering this Dell is because of the price and the slim case 50 euros for a fully working PC is very cheap. Especially when it comes with a 1 year warranty. Until recently I worked (helpdesk) a lot with Pentium D's, and I never had any problems with them except that their were getting too slow for the demanding applications a hospital has.[/QUOTE]
Oh god, a slim dell with a Pentium D in it.
If you think whatever hospital applications were too demanding for it (probably HR imaging) then 1080P video is going to be much worse.
[QUOTE=Drumdevil;38147529]It's nearly impossible to get a 4200+ nowdays.[/QUOTE]
You aren't looking in the right places.
[url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Athlon-64-X2-4200-2-2-GHz-Socket-939-ADA4200DAA5CD-/220896182579?pt=CPUs&hash=item336e704133[/url]
First of all, there is no way I would ever let any processor overheat. I always triple check if the cooler is properly socketed, Which it is. In my defense; I worked in a PC shop for quite sometime at assembly and afterwards tech support for years, and I know how to install practically any cooler on any CPU.
Sadly I have no multimeter available to me. I might borrow one to do as you say. But that won't solve the problem. I neglected to mention that I also tried the PSU in my own PC on it, same problem.
[QUOTE=bohb;38155241]If you think whatever hospital applications were too demanding for it (probably HR imaging) then 1080P video is going to be much worse.[/quote]
No, the HR imaging is for radiology and they got Xeon workstations with proper GFX cards. The software i'm talking about is an way too old Windows XP image with tons of badly programmed software along with work-arounds and couplings to keep everything compatible with each other. Instead of improving the image and invest in time to sort everything out, they have chosen to buy new more powerful PC's and replace the old ones. Despite of what you may think, manufacturers of medical equipment deliver the worst drivers and operating software.
[QUOTE=bohb;38155241]You aren't looking in the right places.
[url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Athlon-6...item336e704133[/url][/quote]
With shipping and import taxes this second hand CPU will cost almost as much as that Dell. Also the Dell comes with a year of warranty.
I have the possibility to replace that Pentium D with a Core 2 duo E6700 for cheap or even free.
Well as stubborn as I am, I ordered the Dell anyway. Seeing the comments above this would make a wonderful project to challenge myself.
I made some changes to the insides of it, because with an extra GFX card inside it and the poor fan controller it was causing the whole system to overheat.
So I got a 3 pin fan instead of 4 pin, which causes the fan to spin at full speed. This particular fan has a small knob on it on which you can regulate the fan speed, so I put it quite silent, and still blowing out all of the heat.
I replaced the GT440 with a very cheap passive Nvidia 2100 with HDMI output. Apparently specifically designed for home theater systems. The GT440 small fans were too loud, the card ran way too hot and is too powerful for what it had to do. So in the end I invested another €35 for both the fan and GFX card.
I also had to get rid of the hard disk bay, which was mounted directly in front of the heat exhaust. Instead, I disassembled the floppy drive and put an SSD in it.
Finally I got my hands on a Pentium D 925 @ 3.0 Ghz and installed some extra RAM, now 3GB.
I installed XBMCbuntu on it and until there is proper Blu-ray support for xbmc, it will play the 3D 1080p blu ray rip of Avatar flawlessly without stuttering or whatsoever.
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