1080p HD playback.

[weEvil]

I have a baron 3200.

I am also in the process of upgrading my video to a 7600GT or 7800GS (whichever I find a better deal on). Also with 2GB sf memory.

I know that its enough to play back H264 at 1080p. What about the "other" codecs? Like VC-1? Or whatever its called?

What are the absolute minimum specs you've seen a computer playback such codecs?

[Guest ytrewq]

Unfortunately there's no simple answer to that question.

The load varies a bit from one decoder (codec used) to another. And it varies a great deal depending on many factors, like the video frame rate, profile, level, and features of the codec they used for each specific encode job. To make things more complicated, some decoders are able to make use of certain video cards to accelerate decoding (hopefully whatever decoder you plan on using will work with your card).

But then again, "1080p" only means so much. As a mpeg2 transport stream, it wouldn't require that much power to decode. As a plain mpeg4 file (e.g. xvid) it still wouldn't be too bad. But if you're talking about HD DVD and Blu-Ray, and using players like PowerDVD or WinDVD, then you'll need a rather fast machine as it needs to do the decrypting and everything else in real-time.

For the new HD discs, you're talking about something like a mid-range Athlon64 X2 or Core 2 Duo. Either ways, nothing that will fit your S462 board (either AM2 or S775). And new systems will also mean new RAM (DDR2). Obviously you're going to need the Bly-Ray and/or HD DVD drives too. And because of all the DRM stuff, you'll need not only a fast video card, but it also needs to support HDCP. Your monitor also needs to support it, so you might need to add a new monitor to that list too.

Just check PowerDVD's minimum requirements for HD playback

Long story short, you're not so much looking at an upgrade but rather a whole new computer. It's just not going to be cheap no matter what.

As for mpeg2 and wmv/vc1, they're easier to decode than H264.

For what it's worth, my old Athlon64 3500+ can't nearly do it, so a Barton 3200+ (a slower older socket A CPU with slow FSB that doesn't even support SSE2) is just not gonna cut it.

[weEvil]

You mean HD playback for BluRay & HDDVD? On your Athlon64?

Are you using pure software decode? Or GPU also?