Linux MCE and x264 1080p video

[battlle]

I am finally getting a 1080p tv and would like to be able to get some 1080p content to it and this project seems like what i want.  I currently use an xbox with xbmc on it to grab files off a windows home server and play them on my sd tv and love how it works.  From what i understand they are porting xbmc to linux but it wont be ready for a while...so i was hoping this mce will do what i want.  Would any users please tell me there experiences with linux mce and playing 1080p video encoded in x264 using a .mkv wrapper.  I understand that i am going to be needing a hardware update as well to handle 1080p content so could you guys/gals(gotta be politically correct lol) give me some hardware recommendations, i would like to do it on the cheap since the tv already took most of my upgrade budget...but hey couldn't pass up such a great black friday deal.

This is what i have researched already(please correct me if i am wrong) and have chosen as possible parts:

Well first for the core i am planning on converting my windows home server.  The specs on it are: 
CPU- Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz
Motherboard-  BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2
Memory- 1gb corsair ddr2 800
Video card-uses the integrated geforce 7025
2 hard drives
Will this be ok for a core computer, it is just going to stream the file to the media director right? Its not doing any decoding locally is it?

For the media director(1080p on the cheap  ):
CPU- Athlon 64 X2(haven't picked a speed yet, hopping to get some feedback on one that would do what i want, and if the 4200+ is adequate i would probably pull it from the server and use a weaker one there, sempron should be ok for the core right?)
Motherboard-  BIOSTAR TForce TF7050-M2 (this board has got hdmi output and decent specs overall)
Memory- 1gb corsair ddr2 800(almost a shame breaking the set apart but this should be enough right?)
Video card- i am hoping to use the integrated geforce 7050 as this will keep the costs down, i was also looking at the amd 690g boards but from what i understand ati graphics are not that well supported in linux and the hardware accelerated video decoding that they both have (720p on the geforce and 1080p on the amd) is not supported, is my understanding correct?
Hard drive-was going to use the network boot so no hd....should really check and make sure the board has it though

Linking the whole network with gigabit so bandwidth between computers should not be a problem.  But would also like peoples input on 802.11g wireless for the media director as a possibility so i can move the computer between rooms in the future.

I will continue doing research on my own and post what i find but would love some input from this community, especially hardware recommendations and if this setup is at all possible.  Oh and sorry if this is a long post but i like getting everything out at once.

[aurum]

/*
Would any users please tell me there experiences with linux mce and playing 1080p video encoded in x264 using a .mkv wrapper.
*/

use the mplayer with opengl video output.

/*
Well first for the core i am planning on converting my windows home server.  The specs on it are: 
CPU- Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz
Motherboard-  BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2
Memory- 1gb corsair ddr2 800
Video card-uses the integrated geforce 7025
2 hard drives
Will this be ok for a core computer, it is just going to stream the file to the media director right? Its not doing any decoding locally is it?
*/

its too weak for 1080p... if u use linux. on windows the coreavc codec or the nvidia pure video hw codec can play full hd on 4200+ x2. but with ffdshow what is formaly ffmpeg can't. the 720p and 1080i 6..10mbps will work, but u will dont enjoy. because some timing problems of linux players the video will be lagy.

if u need, i can give u my mplayer.conf and xorg.conf what is work on some machine. with excelent picture quality over hdmi, because sw yuv->rgb conversion implemented on nv6150 gpu. its work well with 720p, but the video not smooth as windows player like zoomplayer or nero player on this pc.

[dgirard]

Arum:

I don't think he'll have any issues with the X2 4200+ as the core...from what I can tell (please correct me if I'm wrong), the core is just a file server...he implies that he's going to be using a different system as the Media Director.

I have been struggling with getting 1080P mkv files to play, and actually with 720p and 1080i mkv files as well.   Some play OK, some play with green blotches on the left side of the screen, some play with no audio, and some just don't play at all.   From what I can tell it's a problem with XINE's support of MKV...In fact, I've had to rename my mkv files to avi in order to get them to be recognized at all with the current release of LinuxMCE.

From what I can tell, the next release, due out any day now (0710) is supposed to replace or at least suppliment Mplayer for Xine...I'm hoping this helps...I'm not sure how to get MPlayer to work under the current release (I've read some postings implying that it's near impossible, and others, like yours, that seem to imply it's quite easy...

Could you clarify how to implement mplayer under the current release?   I believe I can run it under KDE, but how do I get LinuxMCE to use it instead of XINE?

/*
Would any users please tell me there experiences with linux mce and playing 1080p video encoded in x264 using a .mkv wrapper.
*/

use the mplayer with opengl video output.

/*
Well first for the core i am planning on converting my windows home server.  The specs on it are: 
CPU- Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz
Motherboard-  BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2
Memory- 1gb corsair ddr2 800
Video card-uses the integrated geforce 7025
2 hard drives
Will this be ok for a core computer, it is just going to stream the file to the media director right? Its not doing any decoding locally is it?
*/

its too weak for 1080p... if u use linux. on windows the coreavc codec or the nvidia pure video hw codec can play full hd on 4200+ x2. but with ffdshow what is formaly ffmpeg can't. the 720p and 1080i 6..10mbps will work, but u will dont enjoy. because some timing problems of linux players the video will be lagy.

if u need, i can give u my mplayer.conf and xorg.conf what is work on some machine. with excelent picture quality over hdmi, because sw yuv->rgb conversion implemented on nv6150 gpu. its work well with 720p, but the video not smooth as windows player like zoomplayer or nero player on this pc.

[totallymaxed]

Arum:

I don't think he'll have any issues with the X2 4200+ as the core...from what I can tell (please correct me if I'm wrong), the core is just a file server...he implies that he's going to be using a different system as the Media Director.

I have been struggling with getting 1080P mkv files to play, and actually with 720p and 1080i mkv files as well.   Some play OK, some play with green blotches on the left side of the screen, some play with no audio, and some just don't play at all.   From what I can tell it's a problem with XINE's support of MKV...In fact, I've had to rename my mkv files to avi in order to get them to be recognized at all with the current release of LinuxMCE.

From what I can tell, the next release, due out any day now (0710) is supposed to replace or at least suppliment Mplayer for Xine...I'm hoping this helps...I'm not sure how to get MPlayer to work under the current release (I've read some postings implying that it's near impossible, and others, like yours, that seem to imply it's quite easy...

Could you clarify how to implement mplayer under the current release?   I believe I can run it under KDE, but how do I get LinuxMCE to use it instead of XINE?

/*
Would any users please tell me there experiences with linux mce and playing 1080p video encoded in x264 using a .mkv wrapper.
*/

use the mplayer with opengl video output.

/*
Well first for the core i am planning on converting my windows home server.  The specs on it are: 
CPU- Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2.2GHz
Motherboard-  BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2
Memory- 1gb corsair ddr2 800
Video card-uses the integrated geforce 7025
2 hard drives
Will this be ok for a core computer, it is just going to stream the file to the media director right? Its not doing any decoding locally is it?
*/

its too weak for 1080p... if u use linux. on windows the coreavc codec or the nvidia pure video hw codec can play full hd on 4200+ x2. but with ffdshow what is formaly ffmpeg can't. the 720p and 1080i 6..10mbps will work, but u will dont enjoy. because some timing problems of linux players the video will be lagy.

if u need, i can give u my mplayer.conf and xorg.conf what is work on some machine. with excelent picture quality over hdmi, because sw yuv->rgb conversion implemented on nv6150 gpu. its work well with 720p, but the video not smooth as windows player like zoomplayer or nero player on this pc.

Getting mPlayer to work as Xine does under 0704 would be a pretty big job... and it would just be replicating what 0710 will give you anyway. I would just wait until 0710 is released as mPlayer and HD playback  will be there as standard. I can't say when 0710 will be released but it wont be long now ;-)

[colinjones]

Andrew - could you give us your impression of what "grunt" would be needed for 1080p (whichever codec...), and how you feel any hardware accelerated decoding would be supported under MPlayer/0710?

[dgirard]

Getting mPlayer to work as Xine does under 0704 would be a pretty big job... and it would just be replicating what 0710 will give you anyway. I would just wait until 0710 is released as mPlayer and HD playback  will be there as standard. I can't say when 0710 will be released but it wont be long now ;-)
[/quote]

Thanks.  That's pretty much what I thought...I'll just hang in there...

On a related note....do you know if the Nvidia Linux drivers will be supporting x264 acceleration with the 8xxx series cards under Linux?....Their specs say the 8000's support it, but don't reference a platform...I'm thinking about gettting a new card with a native HDMI port on it (so I can send digital audio to my set)....I'm currently using a DVI->HDMI adapter, but that doesn't pass through audio, so I've got to do audio the old fashioned (Analog RCA) way....Kinda sux that my Magnavox 47" LCD doesn't support any form of digital audio in other than over HDMI.   

[totallymaxed]

Andrew - could you give us your impression of what "grunt" would be needed for 1080p (whichever codec...), and how you feel any hardware accelerated decoding would be supported under MPlayer/0710?

Well I would expect 3Ghz Processor at least and a 6200 class nVidia graphics card to be adequate (hardware accelerated h.264 is not possible yet with current linux drivers).

[blackoper]

I've had success with intel e2180 overclocking to around the 3ghz mark. Plays back everything I throw at it flawlessly I did however need to boost my ram up to 2gb. It actually was more dependent on the ram for me than upping the processor. With 1gb of ram it ran choppy sometimes

[aurum]

Arum:

I don't think he'll have any issues with the X2 4200+ as the core...from what I can tell (please correct me if I'm wrong), the core is just a file server...he implies that he's going to be using a different system as the Media Director.

[/quote]

the core-hybrid is some pc.

[aurum]

[/quote]

Getting mPlayer to work as Xine does under 0704 would be a pretty big job... and it would just be replicating what 0710 will give you anyway. I would just wait until 0710 is released as mPlayer and HD playback  will be there as standard. I can't say when 0710 will be released but it wont be long now ;-)
[/quote]

u have right. but.. the linuxmce looks unsusable on this form (at least for me). i apt-ed vnc and mplayer and start the videos from vnc, after use lirc to controll.