AMD 1800 XP HD video capability

[SalzundPfeffer]

I have some old components that I would like to make into a media machine. I have an Athlon 1800 XP and board with 1GB PC2700 memory that I want to pair up with a Radeon HD 3450 to stream video to my TV via an HDMI cable.

My primary use for this will be to stream Netflix and network TV via their websites (nbc, abc, etc.). I wont use it to watch DVD's or Bluray's

My question is whether or not the processor will be up to the challenge.

Thanks,
-bp

 

[MU_Engineer]

I have some old components that I would like to make into a media machine. I have an Athlon 1800 XP and board with 1GB PC2700 memory that I want to pair up with a Radeon HD 3450 to stream video to my TV via an HDMI cable.

My primary use for this will be to stream Netflix and network TV via their websites (nbc, abc, etc.). I wont use it to watch DVD's or Bluray's

My question is whether or not the processor will be up to the challenge.

Thanks,
-bp

Playing back streaming video from websites is a very CPU-intensive process as it uses Adobe Flash Player. You should be able to play back standard-def stuff in full-screen from sites that don't try to upscale to the native resolution, such as YouTube. Playing back HD video from streaming sites or using a site that scales up the video to the output resolution like Hulu will not work on that CPU. You would want at least a modern dual-core CPU close to 3 GHz (such as the Athlon II X2 240) to do that sort of thing; your 1800+ won't even come close.

 

[C00lIT]

The athlon xp is up for reading standard 700MB divx's

Can probably run a DVD but strictly using a DVD player such as powerdvd, just make sure you are running it by the videocard. (VLC will not play the DVD... it will try and fail)

As posted above, all regular streaming will work... anything labeled HD will probably lag.

 

[megamanx00]

It should be fine for low to decent quality video. I wouldn't try playing any HD flash content with it. It would be fine with DVDs or items in DiviX, but flash is just so darn CPU intensive. Also, you may want to consider a 4000 series card as the newer flash player and drivers offer Hardware acceleration for flash video.

 

[SalzundPfeffer]

Thanks for everyone's input. The problem is that my MB is limited to AGP video cards (think circa 2002). So I am trying to find a card that is AGP 4x/8x. Like I said "old" components. Maybe I will just put my old machine back together and see how it handles current media without buying anything first. It hasn't been a system for almost 5 yrs now.

 

[MU_Engineer]

Thanks for everyone's input. The problem is that my MB is limited to AGP video cards (think circa 2002). So I am trying to find a card that is AGP 4x/8x. Like I said "old" components. Maybe I will just put my old machine back together and see how it handles current media without buying anything first. It hasn't been a system for almost 5 yrs now.

The problem isn't your video card. There are modern ATi video cards available for the AGP 8x bus that will handle HD video playback just fine. You happen to have one of those cards. The problem is that you want to play video in a Web browser using Flash player. That eats CPU like Rosie O'Donnell eats a box of donuts since the CPU does all of the video display processing and video decoding instead of the GPU. If you want to play back HD video with that machine, you will need to get your hands on the actual video files and then play them back in a media player that uses DXVA. That will offload almost all of the display and decoding to the Radeon HD 3450 and your machine should be able to play back even pretty nasty 1080p stuff. Or you'd need to wait until Adobe finally gets their crap together and adds GPU acceleration to Flash playback. Adobe has their heads planted firmly up in their lower GI tracts, so I'd try to play back media files instead.

 

[SalzundPfeffer]

Great info. Thanks. I should probably mention that I have not purchased the 3450 yet. Planning to since it has the video/audio HDMI out capability. My old card is a GF4 4200 (VGA and DVI). I am going to get a case and power supply free from some guys at work. I will keep the thread updated with the results.