Intel GMA X4500HD

[kxmas]

no one care to add some thoughts/advice?

My advice is if you need a HTPC, go NVidia. NVidia's VDPAU API for video acceleration is in boxee, mythtv and xmbc. With VDPAU, even the puny Intel Atom processor can handle 1080p.

My HTPC has a 45 watt AMD processor and an NVidia 8300 video chipset. I couldn't be happier with the set up.

My laptop has Intel graphics, and while I appreciate the open source goodness and I know it's going to better when Ubuntu 9.10 is released, right now it sucks.

[jalyst]

My advice is if you need a HTPC, go NVidia. NVidia's VDPAU API for video acceleration is in boxee, mythtv and xmbc. With VDPAU, even the puny Intel Atom processor can handle 1080p.

My HTPC has a 45 watt AMD processor and an NVidia 8300 video chipset. I couldn't be happier with the set up.

My laptop has Intel graphics, and while I appreciate the open source goodness and I know it's going to better when Ubuntu 9.10 is released, right now it sucks.

Sorry I don't think I previously mentioned that I'm building a NAS/"server of all trades"!
It may do some video decoding in the longer-term and may even become a MythTV back-end, but not initially.
And if I did go that route I would almost certainly add a discrete card anyway.

No I've got the following for a HEPC: p35 mobo, 2GB DDR2 800Mhz generic, E4200?*, and a discrete 8600gts.
Is this VDPAU compatible with older gen. cards such as the aforementioned?

I'm trying to determine whether the Intel or nV (730i) chipsets (I'm settled on Intel CPU) is the best route and if the former, the G45 or the Q45.

Just 'some' of the discussions I've been having ;-)

http://communities.intel.com/message/51414

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16890172#post16890172

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=1942

For me IGP prowess is irrelevant, I care more about base performance without the influence of the IGP.
Raw Mem/CPU performance, & peripheral I/O performance for: SATA, USB, RAID, FW400 etc...


*i think? had the system for 18mth+ and done nothing with it!

[Kjella]

Once I find the hardware that does hardware decoding of 1080p h.264 in linux on a low power integrated graphics, I will be a happy camper. So, if you know of a setup that works perfectly, and uses an average of 60 watts (mostly idle of course), let me know.

ASRock NetTop ION 330

If you don't need a DVD/BD drive, then the Acer Aspire Revo 3600 with Linux is even cheaper and also has the nVidia 9400M chipset - full H.264, VC-1 and MPEG2 acceleration.

Both of these draw much less than 60W, I think 30-40W for the ASRock and 20-30W for the Acer. The video acceleration is brilliant, it drops CPU usage to ~0% even for 1080p.

Of course, this means using the nVidia blob otherwise you need a ton of patience.

[Kjella]

No I've got the following for a HEPC: p35 mobo, 2GB DDR2 800Mhz generic, E4200?*, and a discrete 8600gts.
Is this VDPAU compatible with older gen. cards such as the aforementioned?

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDPAU yes. However according to nVidia's readme file it has full H.264 acceleration, but only PARTIAL VC-1 acceleration. Only the VP3 cards have full VC-1 acceleration.

[jalyst]

Thanks for clarifying, the HTPC/PVR side of things isn't my focus atm, so I'll have to deal with limitations (if any) as they arise.

[jalyst]

Sorry I don't think I previously mentioned that I'm building a NAS/"server of all trades"!
It may do some video decoding in the longer-term and may even become a MythTV back-end, but not initially.
And if I did go that route I would almost certainly add a discrete card anyway.

No I've got the following for a HEPC: p35 mobo, 2GB DDR2 800Mhz generic, E4200?*, and a discrete 8600gts.
Is this VDPAU compatible with older gen. cards such as the aforementioned?

I'm trying to determine whether the Intel or nV (730i) chipsets (I'm settled on Intel CPU) is the best route and if the former, the G45 or the Q45.

Just 'some' of the discussions I've been having ;-)

http://communities.intel.com/message/51414

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16890172#post16890172

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=1942

For me IGP prowess is irrelevant, I care more about base performance without the influence of the IGP.
Raw Mem/CPU performance, & peripheral I/O performance for: SATA, USB, RAID, FW400 etc...


*i think? had the system for 18mth+ and done nothing with it!

Any thoughts on this????
North-bridges are very close, nV has an edge so small that in real world terms it means nothing....
I haven't been able to find reviews which compare the south-bridges though :-(
I know the platforms chosen are prolly overkill for what will primarily/initially be a NAS.
But I want the "slack"...

[deanjo]

Any thoughts on this????
North-bridges are very close, nV has an edge so small that in real world terms it means nothing....
I haven't been able to find reviews which compare the south-bridges though :-(
I know the platforms chosen are prolly overkill for what will primarily/initially be a NAS.
But I want the "slack"...

Performance wise you won't see any appreciable difference. It really comes down to what features you want.

[jalyst]

Performance wise you won't see any appreciable difference.

you know that how exactly? ....

cheers,
j

[Zapitron]

So what's the latest on this chipset's video decoding drivers?

Are we there yet? Is the X4500HD chipset suitable for a MythTV frontend? Or does NVidia still have the only hardware decoder working right now? I want to order parts this week and actually get them working, not wait'n'hope for a future driver release.

[Kano]

Go for nvidia with 512 mb vram series 8+.