HTPC Help - why are frames being dropped frequently?

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jeffreii

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Mar 19, 2013
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I'm trying to figure out why I am dropping frames on my HTPC despite decent (though somewhat old) specs. I have considered upgrading my system but I still feel like it's a solid rig for a HTPC.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 2.53GHz
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-S2L
MEM: 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-800
GFX: EVGA Geforce GTX 550 Ti 1GB GDDR5
HDD System: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD102UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 16MB
HDD Storage (video file location): Samsung Spinpoint F4EG HD204UI 2TB SATA2 5400rpm 32MB
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 Bit

OUTPUT: Via Geforce GTX 550 Ti HDMI - > LG 55" 1080p LCD

LOAD: Aside from using the latest VLC (2.0.5) to play the 720p OR 1080p X264/H264 files (5-10k bitrate), the system has a few processes running: Unified Remote, Teamviewer, LogMeIn, Peerblock, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Dropbox.

ISSUE: Overall the quality and playback is acceptable...but there are dropped frames every now and then (every 10-20s?) that cause the picture to stutter for a moment.

I have tried changing some VLC settings to optimize, but it hasn't made any difference. I will continue to investigate software tweaks.

From a hardware standpoint, is there somewhere lacking? Again, this is not a gaming rig...I just want perfect 1080p H264/X264 10,000 bitrate playback on my 55" 1080p LCD via HDMI.

Any suggestions/thoughts/comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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Dec 10, 2012
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I have a similar setup, and have no issues with drop frames - so I wouldn't think it is hardware related - I can watch/record up to 3 channels at a time. Pixelation does occur a few times a day (due to hard drive i/o restrictions when problems arise with multiple recordings and computer access).

I did find that using Microsoft Security Essentials as anti-virus/malware was the best solution, as other programs created issues trying to scan the files.

Are synchronizations occuring with drop-box while viewing programs? This could be creating the issue.
 
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jeffreii

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Mar 19, 2013
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10,510


Thanks for the quick response.

I think I've done this before, but I will try closing all processes (including MBAM), to see if it makes any difference. Probably should have tried that again before posting this.

As far as Dropbox goes, I don't sync any video files there, so I wouldn't be playing any files from a Dropbox location.
 
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jeffreii

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Mar 19, 2013
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10,510
I just tried it out after enabling "gpu accelerated decoding" and it fixed the drop frames issue but created a minor stuttering issue...it even desync'd the audio once. Seems a little better but still not perfect. I will keep testing.

Does anyone see anything with my setup that really needs an upgrade to make this more reliable?

It seems unnecessary but I think it would cost about $250 to upgrade the mobo and cpu to an i3...and then upgrade the memory to 8GB DDR3-1600.

Thanks again.
 
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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Dec 10, 2012
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I have used my HTPC as the primary "cable box" for my home for the last 6 months. I typically experience pixelation about 2-3 times a day (the cable box was worse), so to get "perfect 24/7", may be an impossible feat.

I believe that drop-box reads from your local folder on a regular basis, and this additional disk i/o may be causing the stuttering. I have to schedule all downloads for Windows, WMC and other utilities that require hard drive i/o to periods of time that we aren't watching TV or recording, is it will cause issues.

99% of what we watch/record is HD (1080i from Time Warner Cable).
 
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Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw

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Aug 3, 2006
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I'm in the same boat as RoninTexas. I've been running my HTPC as a cable box for 18 months now. You can see the specs of my HTPC system in my signature block. One thing that I might try in your case would be to temporarily move a 1080p file from your storage drive to your OS drive. Play it from here and see if you still experience the same lost frames. I wouldn't expect you to notice any difference, but it's something to test.

-Wolf sends
 
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ronintexas

ronintexas

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Dec 10, 2012
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I have built several HTPC's - not just for myself - but for friends/clients. As a rule of thumb, 1 processor core and 2GB of RAM are needed per HD Video feed. My Core2 Duo handles 3 HD video feeds with 4GB of RAM without issues. I can watch/record 3 HD video feeds on the HTPC or via my XBox360 Extender at the same time without adverse effects.

The major bottle neck is hard drive I/O. A SATA II hard drive for recording/watching TV should provide enough bandwidth for watching a single stream of video.

The most expensive build I did for someone was a core i7 3770k, 16GB RAM, 4 2-TB WD Black Drives (RAID-0), Samsung 840 PRO SSD, and BluRay. There were negligible differences in performance for standard viewing of programs...

In every scenario where I found issues with pixelation, dropped frames, unsynched audio, etc....the culprit was something was running in the background - and it can be a very simple process....
 
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