NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M

[deanjo]

oh, and why is there a 'threads' useflag for ffmpeg if it doesn't support threads?

maybe your distribution ships a crappy package?

Ummm, for encoding perhaps? There is a reason why there is a separate project called ffmpeg-mt. (Which is what you use if you want to utilize the threading setting in xine)

Perhaps you missed this article a while back.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ffmpeg_05_interview&num=2

Diego Biurrun felt that this multi-threaded version of FFmpeg may still be years away.

[energyman]

oh, and why is there a 'threads' useflag for ffmpeg if it doesn't support threads?

maybe your distribution ships a crappy package?

[deanjo]

2. Scenes with millions of flying birds from "Planet Earth". Those become a slideshow even at 3Ghz.

Otherwise known as the killa sampla, found easily with google. (Which btw plays fine on even a lowly 8200 IGP with vdpau).

[energyman]

really? I have an option in xine
'FFmpeg video decoding thread count'

and could you point to some video material that is
a) sanely&good coded
b) 1080p

that can be legally downloaded somewhere?

Thank you.

[mgc8]

While one can easily play an HD video with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 and not experience a bottlenecked CPU no matter the video output, as can be seen from the graph above, when using VDPAU there is virtually no CPU usage at all.

I am sorry, but that is very wrong. You do not specify what movie you used to test "1080p playback" but it obviously is a very simple, low-bitrate clip. Most other 1080p content is a lot more demanding on the processor and a 2Ghz Core would be hard pressed to play it smoothly, let alone at less than 100%!

The reasons for that are simple:
1. None of the Free/OSS media players support multithreading, so the 4,8,or 64 cores are wasted. This is mostly caused by ffmpeg which still, after all these years, does not do multi-threaded decoding.
2. Seeing as only one core is used, the speed becomes very important! I've ran a lot of tests with various video files, and the conclusion is that one needs at least 3Ghz for proper playback of most content. Even then there will be some movies that have trouble in certain high-movement parts, for example when there is snow, rain, or flocks of birds flying around.

As a proper test, I recommend two clips:
1. The Matrix Reloaded intro, with the "green/digital" clock -- that will run sluggish @2Ghz but should be ok @3Ghz.
2. Scenes with millions of flying birds from "Planet Earth". Those become a slideshow even at 3Ghz.

Of course, a lot of other content will play fine, and the slowdown will only be observed in high-action scenes, but that doesn't make a 2Ghz processor fit for the job, at most it's barely adequate. I would also like to see benchmarks with VDPAU for a movie that brings the processor to it's knees, otherwise these low-bitrate tests are quite useless...

[deanjo]

Sorry, I take my words back regarding the rebranding thing. Indeed GTX280M is apparently a rebranded *desktop* 9800GTX . I was assuming it was related to the desktop GTX280, which is new. What is a little disappointing is that the bus is still 256-bit (my 9800M GS has that too, except that 280M has double the shaders).

PS: I am happy with the old crap .

Ya it's the same chip as the desktop 9800GTX but it's not quite the same as when they rebranded chips like the 8800GT to a 9800GT. This is at least the first time this particular configuration of G92b that it has been featured on a mobile platform.

[energyman]

Yeah Inquirer and Wikepedia and so on . If you faced something bad on yourself, please do tell us - or better, go to the appropriate place. What you don't mention is the action the OEMs and Nvidia took. For example, when the problem arose, I was worried too about my Dell Vostro. Within a short time, Dell did extend the warranty to two years - no excuses. Likewise, I am sure Apple did their part, and hopefully the rest of the manufacturers and so did Nvidia.

Meanwhile, what makes you think that GTX280M is a rebranded one?

nvidia took no actions at all. They lied for more than a year about the problem, then put 100m aside - not very much, if you look deeper into the problems. The numbers are in the open for everybody to check. From SEC filings, to filings by the insurance company and the forums of almost everybody who ever sold a nvidia laptop.

But continue to live into your little fanboy bubble if you prefer....

[hdas]

Sorry, I take my words back regarding the rebranding thing. Indeed GTX280M is apparently a rebranded *desktop* 9800GTX . I was assuming it was related to the desktop GTX280, which is new. What is a little disappointing is that the bus is still 256-bit (my 9800M GS has that too, except that 280M has double the shaders).

PS: I am happy with the old crap .

[hax0r]

Meanwhile, what makes you think that GTX280M is a rebranded one?

All of the new products that were released is basically rebranded old crap.

[hdas]

Yeah Inquirer and Wikepedia and so on . If you faced something bad on yourself, please do tell us - or better, go to the appropriate place. What you don't mention is the action the OEMs and Nvidia took. For example, when the problem arose, I was worried too about my Dell Vostro. Within a short time, Dell did extend the warranty to two years - no excuses. Likewise, I am sure Apple did their part, and hopefully the rest of the manufacturers and so did Nvidia.

Meanwhile, what makes you think that GTX280M is a rebranded one?