How powerful processor do I need for 1080p?

[AlphaMale]

I am running 1080p perfectly from my laptop with C2D 2.13 Ghz & 2GB RAM. No problems at all...

That statement alone doesn't mean too much, you should specify what it is you're really doing: are you just streaming, remuxing, or transcoding?

[Fixet]

Indeed. I usually transcode all the files (720p/1080p) with PS3 Media Server since I'm watching movies with subtitles. I have i7-950 and using the bandwidth limit. In this case, limiting the bandwidth adds extra work for the CPU, since it has to transcode the movie with constrained bitrate. It works but it requires a fast CPU, mark my words, especially with 1080p material. Mpeg2 video settings are 1=1=1 with bandwidth limit of 50. Many people have noticed, that dual core isn't fast enough for 1080p transcoding, especially if using tight settings. I'd say quad core is the way to go with heavy transcoding.

[davidtbaron]

I convert all my mkv to m2ts with ac3 audio 5.1 and stream them to my ps3 with ps3 media server without trans coding. It is perfect i can fast forward and rewind perfectly and also pull up the thumbnails for 5 minute intervals no problem. Transcoding takes away from the cpu streaming does not. convert with ps3 muxer best program out of all of them leaves video alone and coverts audio from dts if needed the remuxes them to m2ts. I spent a whole week testing them all on mac and pc. ps3 muxer #1 them MKVtools #2. mkv files between 8 and 12 GB usually take 15minutes. Its so worth it to do this than drop an mkv file in the folder and transcode to ps3.

[davidtbaron]

Forgot to mention i am on gigabyte network

[psxgamer]

I bought new processor, a E8500 Intel.

Now the playback is almost always smooth with no problems whatsoever. However, some very heavy presentations, like the Planet Earth on 1080p still suffer from occasional stuttering. The buffer seems to be well ahead of the movie and my wired network is a gigabit capable (is there anyway of checking this on the Playstation like it is on any Windows PC that clearly states that the network is a gigabyte network?).

However I was wondering could this very rare and occasional problem be caused by my hard drive? I have only Samsungs Ecogreen drives that run on 5400rpm, since my PC is built to be as silent as possible. Normal playback on my PC doesn’t have any problems, but since PS3 Media Server has to read the mkv-file and then transcode it to PS3, could the hard drive be too slow to keep up?

[meskibob]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/und ... ,1557.html
Your read performance should be more than enough...

[Joksi]

I have a Phenom 2 X3 720 CPU (2,8ghz) and I have no issues whatsoever with any 1080p yet (transcoding, best quality setting).
However, I do have noticed that if my PC have been running for a while (without reboot), say a week or longer, it can happen it stutters sometimes.
I'm on a gigabit connection directly from PS3 to the PC, without any bandwidth limiting. I switched to a direct connection on gigabit (my PC have two NICs) because on my 100Mbit LAN it seems some 1080p material occasionally stutters, it seems to me the CPU is the bottleneck cause when limiting to 50Mbps it is unwatchable, but when limiting to 100Mbps in PS3 Media Server it works most of the time (sometime i need to let the buffer fill up though).
This tells me clearly that even my CPU isn't over dimensioned exactly, cause its hard for it to transcode 1080p on 100Mbps, but no problems at all at 1Gbps (no bandwitdh limiting needed).

[squadjot]

I have bought a board with a Intel ATOM 525 processor 1.8ghz Dualcore (runs 4 threads)

I can transcode a 720p file with menvoder+subtitles which i'm very satidfied with!
with tsMuxer i can do 1080 no prob, but i always use mencoder as i need subtitles.

[stofferm]

Im very interested in this thread, as I believe it to be the single most important thread for PS3MediaServer to go comfortable into peoples own home in small media servers. Ofcourse the settings are different for each user, but in my experience, being able to know what you get when you buy e.i a small powerconsumption device and put it together with software like PS3MS - is vital for the softwares popularity.

I have a Sony 40EX700. Needless to say, im screwed when it comes to media-options from my NAS. So i basicly decided to kill my nas and spend my time finding low-power, high(er) performance mini-itx board and configurations, which can run PS3MS and show all my family recording .AVI files on our Sony TV. I have files in almost every format - out of which the TV itself will only recognize one single one, the mpg.

Now, finding a machine that have enough power to run PS3MS, serve as a NAS and at the same time be low powered, isn't an easy task. I am full aware that i need to be able to transform some of my AVI's into less pleasent formats, on the fly, which im not really that comfortable letting some of the Atom processors do. Never the less, I see my self forced to choose such a processor, since its both costing less and the power consumption is, to say the least, awsome.

My setup is so far:
ZOTAC NM10-ITX WIFI, Atom D510 - around $150
+ 4gb of some random Ram i have lying around

And thats it. Isnt that just awsome? I love these new integrated boards.

Anywho - Im having second thoughts about the Atom D510. Will it really be able to transcode my .avi files into a more viable format. On a third thought, I have considered making a simple script to "detect .avi files that arent transcoded yet, and transcode them manually to a viable format" - then run this script every hour or so, forcing every file on the machine to be in a readable format - to only need streaming.

Any thoughts on the above?

[squadjot]

Zotacs boards seems nice, i only chose my Gigabyte GA-D525TUD, because it was cheap (99$), had 4 sata ports and had the fastest Atom CPU.
Some of the downsides is VGA output (no HDMI), only PCI (not pcie), last the system is not fanless , but im building my own mod 92 mm fan-mod =)
The good things is the 4 sata ports, raid is optionally (you can even buy a pci card that adds 4 more), DDR3 ram, Gigabit LAN, Surround Sound?

Compare CPU benchmarks 525/510
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/midlow_range_cpus.html

My Challenge was that my Sony Bravia W5500 has a pretty slow LAN interface.. 44mb/s.. so.. i have to keep the bitrate down, and as you know, the more you try to squeeze the movie, the more CPU it takes.
I tested with a 720p bluray rip of the movie "300", i started it 58 minutes into the movie.. the scene with the many arrows falling from the sky is a pretty good test, imo.
Start with stutters for a sec..but after that, not one single jitter..Note, the atom JUST makes it.. with above test, it takes about 2-3 minutes before i can even see blue @ transcoding buffer-bar..but still it works without hickups..
this is with subtitles (wich takes up even more CPU as i understand/experience it)

I DID NOT set a bandwidth limit as it seems to be heavy for the CPU, rather i tried to keep the bitrate under 44 mb/s by using: keyint=5:vqscale=4:vqmin=3

So, I suppose that your TV can receive more data than 44 mb/s?.. if yes.. then it should not be a problem to transcode up to 720p with mencoder (maybe more, but 1080 i doubt it).
If no, then ..if your not using subtitles, then you should still be fine.
But if your'e using subtitles, then some extreme scenes in 720p might stutter.. still, i'd think you'd be good!

If tsMuxer can read the file, you should be able to do 1080 aswell (without subs)