View Full Version : Advise for budget HTPC that can play blu-ray
rimmi2002
2009-02-06, 05:38
Hi I want to build a HTPC that can play blu-ray DVD from a blu-ray drive and also can play 1080p content from dled movie files.
I need advise for an economical motherboard that than can carry audio over HDMI and preferably has integrated video graphics is possible.
I was looking at the following mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500004
can the intergrated video here play blu-ray?
Also what is the minimum processing power that I need to power a system with the above mentioned setup.
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
the minimum CPU is an e8400. Less may play some but thats the only one generally agreed to play all.
Or another Wolfdale core chip overclocked to 3Ghz. The e5200/e7300 are decent choices if you are comfortable with a mild overclock. I'm using an e5200 personally. Saved me a good bit of cash and overclocked easily.
The e5200 vs. e8400 saves enough cash to pretty much cover the Bluray drive.
I thought XBMC could not play Blu Ray drives ? If it can great, but if not, will Windows Media Center play Blur Ray ?
XBMC can't yet play Bluray directly but the external player patch allows the use of the player of your choice for Bluray.
Or another Wolfdale core chip overclocked to 3Ghz. The e5200/e7300 are decent choices if you are comfortable with a mild overclock. I'm using an e5200 personally. Saved me a good bit of cash and overclocked easily.
The e5200 vs. e8400 saves enough cash to pretty much cover the Bluray drive.
The magic mark is indeed 3GHz however there have been several posts on this forum by users who couldnt get overclocked video playback stable. I am not saying it doesnt work just that there are cases where it hasnt work so spend your money wisely.
The magic mark is indeed 3GHz however there have been several posts on this forum by users who couldnt get overclocked video playback stable. I am not saying it doesnt work just that there are cases where it hasnt work so spend your money wisely.
Most of the time over clocking and audio/video just don't go together, not saying that it never works, its just that as the over clocking goes up, funny things start happening. :shocked:
TC
I suppose I should have added YMMV to my post. I personally have had great success with overclocking my e5200, but the others do have a point that it will vary from chip to chip. I took my chances and it paid off.
In this case it seems more likely that a 5200 or 7300 will work well overclocked because the core used is identical to the e8400. The only differences are the cache and the preset clock from the factory.
rimmi2002
2009-02-06, 23:07
So then is it the processor only that is important for playing Blu-ray meaning I put a e8400 in my Zotac mobo listed above and all shoud work fine?
Also I have heard how geforce 8/9 series video cards have builtin blu-ray decoding so then should cpu speed be important?
Also what program do most recc'd for running blu-ray since XBMC won't do it directly.
So then is it the processor only that is important for playing Blu-ray meaning I put a e8400 in my Zotac mobo listed above and all shoud work fine?
Also I have heard how geforce 8/9 series video cards have builtin blu-ray decoding so then should cpu speed be important?
Also what program do most recc'd for running blu-ray since XBMC won't do it directly.
Blu-Ray software will generally use GPU assisted decoding provided you have a relatively new graphics card. nVidia showed a single core Atom decoding Blu-Ray with the help of a Geforce9400 recently, so CPU power shouldn't be a big deal. XBMC is another story.
Most of the time over clocking and audio/video just don't go together, not saying that it never works, its just that as the over clocking goes up, funny things start happening. :shocked:
TC
If funny things start happening, your system isn't stable for anything, including AV. A stable overclocked system won't have any trouble with AV, the problem is many people who overclock push it too far or do proper stability testing.
If funny things start happening, your system isn't stable for anything, including AV. A stable overclocked system won't have any trouble with AV, the problem is many people who overclock push it too far or do proper stability testing.
I'll second that. My main system is a Q6600 that was overclocked to 3Ghz as well and has been running stable, 24/7 for about a year.
In fact, for the past week or so it has been running at about 100% usage 24/7 as I've been transcoding my DVDs to h.264.
rimmi2002
2009-02-07, 21:21
seems like the best budget plan is to go the way of AMD.
Planning on getting this 780G board with onbaoard ATI Radeon HD 3200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131324
i don't know much about AMD processors. Which processor will work well for blu-ray/HD (720/1080p) playback via XBMC. (without overclocking)
Best of both worlds ?
I'm thinking baout slotting one of these in my new Shuttle. Does anyone have any advice to share, any thoughts ?
http://www.amazon.com/LG-Super-Blu-ray-DVD-ROM-GGC-H20L/dp/B000ZEBOFG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1234047835&sr=8-4