Budget htpc build - audio issues with xbmc

[Garymlau]

Hi. I'm building a low budget htpc, using new and a few used components. Other than a few upgrades coming soon, it is mostly finished. Here's what I have so far.

P4 3.4 GHz cpu salvaged from a dell
New Intel D915PGN ATX motherboard
Used Antec 350w psu
Used Western Digital 250gb sata hard drive
1gb ddr ram
Soundblaster Live! CT4780
Sapphire Radeon HD 2400 PRO

Windows XP 64 bit
XBMC
VLC

I currently cannot use XBMC, because the sound quality is poor. However, using VLC, everything is fine. I thought maybe it was a driver issue, but I would think that would affect VLC also. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. I am new here, but I love the site. <-- shameless butt-kissing in hope of some help, lol

 

[AH-64 Longbow]

If the audio and video don't line up or if there are artifacts and skipping it might be that your computer is too slow for it. I have issues on a P4 Prescott 3.06 GHz. VLC uses GPU acceleration (don't think XMBC does) and a less bloated codec filter.

Try new codecs (codec Filters). I swear by CCCP, but some prefer KLite and others. CCCP works well on older machines IMHO.
www.cccp-project.net/

VLC won't work with it. VLC is all inclusive so it needs no system codec. Media Player Classic Home Cinema is included with CCCP. You might want to download it by itself to get the latest version, but if you tweak the settings a bit you can play HD video better than anything else I've used.

Hopefully CCCP fixes it for you though on XMBC. Good luck.

P.S if you set VLC for system codec it doesn't really work like it should. Also VLC is now2.0.1, just to make sure you have the latest.

 

[AH-64 Longbow]

Also a Celeron g530 Sandy Bridge seems to struggle on 1080p that is poorly or tightly encoded (YouTube) from what I have read, but it would be a cheap major upgrade if you need to go that route. You can probably bring it in under $300, but that still may be miles from what you can spend. Just a thought.

Also, try raising process priority of XMBC and shutting down some background programs like Live Antivirus scanners to find the issue.

 

[Garymlau]

Thanks guys! I'll try your advice. I'm a single dad on a super-tight budget, so my system is partially salvaged parts, but my cpu is a P4 3.4 GHz dual core, which I thought would be sufficient. Am I mistaken?

 

[AH-64 Longbow]

Is this solved?