On Board Graphics

[johntaylormfc]

Hi,

I am looking to build a cheap HTPC (isn't everyone).

Not sure what motherboard etc yet, but would be based on Athlox x2 4200 with 2GB ram.

I will be using it to play HD clips to my TV, mainly MKV files.

My question is, would the onboard graphics generally do a sufficient job of decoding these without being choppy etc.

I am trying to avoid getting an new graphics card to start off, with and will upgrade components gradually.

Cheers

John

[Tejstar]

You should be okay. I remember trying some HD files on my PC based on a E4300 before I had a graphics card and it played fine without any problems.

[jetinder]

Personnaly i'd say no.

If you want as much power from the PC as you can get dont use onboard graphics. Use a seperate graphics card as onboard graphics take up a lot of resources, CPU power and memory which an external graphics card (even some thing as slow as ATI1600 pro) doesnt.

With a graphics card the CPU has more memory and more processor time for other things while the seperate graphics card takes care of what it has to do (as it has its own CPU and ram).

If you have a PCI Express graphics card re-use that in your new PC or buy a cheap 2nd hand one off e-bay to start off with.

[Tejstar]

But with a dual core chip that strain is much less so. I never had any problems playing HD MKV files using the discrete graphics option before I had my graphics card. It obviously depends on the motherboard and chipset of the used.

[jetinder]

Originally Posted by Tejstar

But with a dual core chip that strain is much less so. I never had any problems playing HD MKV files using the discrete graphics option before I had my graphics card. It obviously depends on the motherboard and chipset of the used.

But the strain is still there and youre not using all the power of a dual core cpu.

Its like having a car with an automatic gearbox v manual gearbox, every one knows auto gearbox cars are a bit slower than their manual gearbox versions.

[Tejstar]

But the op is just asking whether it will do the job without being choppy and the answer is yes.

[MikeC]

I have an Athlon 4400 (S939 so DDR1 ram) which I initially used for HD movies using the integrated gfx card on the m/b.

The only problem was with h264 files. The cpu ran at 95% using Overlay mode only - VMR9 mode had the stutters. It was just about ok.
I got a passive 8500GT gfx card & it made a whole load of difference when playing these files.
CPU usage is now at 65% (not using Power DVD for h/w acceleration) with VMR9.

HTH

[Paul Shirley]

As long as the integrated graphics has the video acceleration you need your main worry is memory bandwidth. On AMD mboards with shared RAM graphics having DualChannel RAM is as important as CPU speed, that extra DIMM felt like a change of graphics cards on my nForce boards. Intel may be the same.

[Dragy2k]

food for thought

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...56&subcat=1010

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=56&subcat=403

i would say use a silent dedicated card in a low profile pcb for your htpc and give yourself peace of mind ,shop around do a google search and read up before you jump in .
good luck

[johntaylormfc]

Thanks for the tips,

Have now got the motherboard, ram and cpu, so will put it together and see how it goes with the onboard graphics first.

Thanks

John