Frame rate awful during movies GTS 250 1GB

[johnackerman]

Hey guys I need some help. I recently purchased a Palit GTS 250 with 1GB video card so I could run HDMI from my computer to my 1080P TV. My old card was a Geforce 7300LE from like 2005.

My computer is a XPS400 Pentium Dual Core 2.99 GHZ, 2GB RAM, 375W power supply.

My issue is that the video card seems to run games just fine (ARMA 2 on High Quality Settings), but not 1080P video. I downloaded some sample stuff (cause I have plans to buy a blueray drive soon) and the video is choppy and nasty, like the frame-rate drops out. I don't know if it's a codec issue or what. I downloaded new drivers too.

My video card should be able to handle 1080P no problem right?

Any suggestions?

 

[4745454b]

What program are you using to watch the movies? The problem might be the 2GBs of ram or the CPU. Which CPU are you using?

 

[johnackerman]

Windows media player.... the framerate is just a mess.... CPU is a Dell XPS 400 dual core 2.99 GHZ.. Is that what you mean?

 

[4745454b]

No. I'm trying to figure out if you have a hyper threaded 3GHz P4, a P4D at 3GHz. or one of the newer C2D based Pentiums. If its a hyperthreaded P4 that might be your problem. A true dual core would work better.

I don't know if WMP would offload the decoding of the video to the GPU. Try using WMPC-HD, GOM, or VLC to see if any of those work better. I'd start with GOM actually. Excellent player and you might never use WMP again. BTW, which version of WMP are we talking about here?

Edit: Looking it up online you have either a hyperthreaded P4, or a P4D. I found a Cnet review online and they were using an upgraded CPU, the 940. (dual core, 3.2GHz.) These are P4 based, not C2D based. The best thing to do is find a video player that will offload the video decoding functions. I'm also not sure the GTS250 will decode blu-rays. Anyone know if it can?

 

[deadlockedworld]

I'm sure the GTS 250 is capable of handling blue-ray just fine. The problem here is definitely not the video card.

1. I agree that you should try GOM player and see if it makes a difference.

2. Did you get drivers from the nividia site or the palit site? Whichever it was try downloading from the other.

3. Are you running xp/vista/7, 32 bit or 64 bit? If you are running windows vista or 7 you really could use the ram...

Other than those ideas... im not sure what the problem is.

On a side note-- running a GTS 250 on a generic 375w psu is risky. Unless that is a fantastic power supply you are really pushing your limits there.

 

[4745454b]

The Dell 375W PSU is not a generic PSU. 30A on the 12V rail, it shouldn't be the problem.

I agree that the GTS250 should handle Blu-ray just fine. I only mention it because the G92 that powers the GTS250 is an older chip, and might not have had whatever codec Blu-ray uses in mind when it was developed. I'm mostly sure its a software/playback problem, more so if he's using the same version of WMP that came with the computer. (WMP9?)

 

[4745454b]

No, the Pentium Ds are true dual core chips. All of the 8xx and 9xx labelled pentium chips contain 2 Northwood or Presscott cores. The 5xx and 6xx chips are single core, but hyperthreaded. Decoding 1080p content is either CPU + Ram intensive, OR GPU intensive. If you have a GPU capable enough and a player that can offload the work to the GPU, you don't need a massive CPU. (Not sure about the ram requirements in this case, I'm assuming you'd still need a bit just not as much.) If your using older software of trying to play something your GPU can't decode, then you'll need the strong CPU.

I'd still like to hear back from the op about which version of WMP he was using, and if GOM/VLC helped. I'd bet it would.

 

[johnackerman]

hey guys I really appreciate the responses... I have class right now but i'll do some poking around later tonight and see if anything works. I'll let you know the outcome.

Thanks again so much, super helpful.

 

[4745454b]

I did some digging around, Blu-ray uses either the H.264 or the VC-1 codec. I'm 99% sure the GTS250 handles this. I'm going to guess you are using an older version of WMP and using better software will fix this. I'd start with GOM and use VLC if your not happy with the results.

 

[johnackerman]

Alright, sorry about the delay gettin back. The WMP I was using was WMP 10 and it was having some severe issues. I've downloaded GOM and DIVX player after reading around a bit, and whatever codec it installed seemed to do the trick on BOTH players (thanks 4745454b).... with one hangup....

I downloaded a sample 1080P "Terminator 3" movie file which is about 3 minutes long. The video runs great until about halfway in, on both players; then the video freezes and I get a "stopped responding" message when I try to exit. Also, I can't fast forward without the same occurrence happening. I'm assuming this is RAM related since everyone keeps mentioning 2GB for Blue-ray is a little low. Am I right to be assuming this to be the issue?

I can't say it enough, thank you.

 

[4745454b]

I don't have the answer for this. I would assume that if the GPU is decoding the video, you'd be using the GPUs ram and not the system ram yes? If so, you don't need lots of system ram. I haven't personally seen this error your talking about, so I don't know what might cause it. You might want to see if you can find a divx/GOM player forum and see what they say.

If it happens only on that one file, it could be the file is corrupted. This would be certain if the problem happens ONLY on that one file, and you can never play passed that point. I believe there is a divx dr fix program that might be able to fix it, assuming the 1080P file is coded with Dvix.

 

[tuesday0180]

Just to add, I also have a Pentium D type processor. Mines the 915 though, but it's fairly similar to yours. I use my downstairs computer to play movies with it. That computer is a Pentium D915 with only 5125megs of ram. It runs windows 7 and I run movies on it all day with a Geforce 9500gt.

It runs movies just fine. No lag or anything.

 

[leon2006]

Windows Media Player won't play Blue ray @1080P. Windows Media Player is not HDCP compliant software.

If you want to play Blue Ray movies (disc) you need an HDCP compliant software like PowerDVD from Cyberlink.

Your hardware is sufficient to run HD movies. HD movies that are copyright protected require HDCP compliant Hardware & Software. Windows Media Player is not HDCP compliant and it will not play Blue-Ray Base HD-Movies @ 1080P.

 

[Guest]

Seens you have low power supply. I would recommend a 600W power supply for GTS 250.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey