Upgrading old computer to play Blu Ray

[zedzed77]

I have a computer built in 2003 that I am looking to convert to a media system. It is a P4 3.0 GHz processor with 2 GB of RAM. At the time of construction, it was a top-of-the-line kickass system. I recently bought a new computer not too long ago and want to use the old one as a media center which will play Blu Ray. My motherboard supports SATA so I plan to purchase a BDROM which will play Blu Ray movies.

My question revolves around the Video Card. Astute friends have pointed out that the current ATI X800XT in that machine will not work with Blu Ray processing so I need to look for a new card. The machine supports AGP8x only so I need to get an AGP card.

One card I found is similar to this:
http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=020414&cid=999.821
I was told that this card may not be fast enough to play these movies, even if it supports HDTV.

The second card is this one.
http://canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=019402&cid=999.821
This card has a bit more oomph to it, and it does cost more, so if this one can definitely play it, then I could wait until the prices on this card are lowered to the point I can buy it.

One tech at Canada Computers says that it all depends on the processing power of the CPU, in my case, he says the P4s won't hack it, that I need a minimum of a P4 with 3.6 GHz, so I may be better off trashing this system and buying a new one. I am on a budget so if I can stretch this machine to do a little more, I will do it.

Opinions anyone?

 

[Twister]

Sounds like between the the drive, upgrades may as well just buy a BR player.......

 

[zedzed77]

Curious as someone says that a Blu Ray movie can play on an Intel Atom processor, as even a low end HD compatible integrated video card can play Blu-Ray as well. Is this true? I thought the Atom was a slower processor.

 

[BillyBobBobbybob]

hd

Well, if you get a blue ray player, it will play. Will it be high def? depends if your screen is high def. If your screen and video card dont support high def, it will simply downgrade the quality.

So can you play high def, yes, has nothing to do with your CPU.

Player > Video Card > HDMI Cable > Your HD screen.

 

[onthebottom]

Wouldn't a PS3 be a better option?

OTB

 

[samcan]

check out this site, will have all the info you need for
BlueRay on Pc.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=26

 

[thewheelman]

https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=243168

Check that thread for info on MediaPlayer Classic - Home Cinema which will use your GPU instead of your CPU to process the video files.

I have the same PC (P4 3.0Ghz 2G mem AGP card), and went through the same trials trying to get Bluray rips to play last year.I purchased the fastest AGP card I could find and it still would not play 1080P .mkv rips smoothly.
I eventually purchased a new PC and converted the P4 to a linux file server.

Today, 2 things have changed...
1) Bluray rips are now mostly encoded using a format profile High@L4.1 instead of High@L5.1 (apparently this really helped with slower CPU`s)
2) Some Media Players, like MPC-HC, now utilize the GPU instead of the CPU to process video files. This makes a huge difference as other CPU processes will no longer cause the video to studder or lag.

So...find yourself a AGP video card that is supported by MPC-HC...if there is one. One of the articles in that other post lists the cards that work.

 

[onthebottom]

New PS3 was announced yesterday in Germany, price dropped to 299.....

OTB