I need recommendations on building a box that will play Blu-ray discs. My main computer (Q6600, Nvidia 8800 GT, 64-bit Vista, 8GB RAM) plays them fine. My media rig (older AMD, Nvidia 7900, XP Home, 4GB RAM) chokes on Blu-ray discs. When playing Blu-ray, which is more important, videocard or processor? Should I buy a cheaper processor—say, a Core 2 paired with a beefy GTX 850—or a quad-core with a 9500? And should I go Vista, or will XP be fine?
I’m ripping Blu-ray discs to the hard drive and playing them with PowerDVD 8 Ultra.
Dan, when playing back Blu-ray content, we recommend a modern videocard with a dual-core processor. Any modern card that can play back H.264 video will work; a good benchmark is that if a GPU is DirectX 10–capable, it should be able to handle a Blu-ray movie; try an Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT or, if you’re on a budget, an ATI Radeon 4350. Either XP or Vista will work fine. And make sure your GPU and monitor are HDCP-compliant or you won’t be able to play protected content.
 |
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes. |
Links:
[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/author1
[2] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/ask_doctor/ask_doctor_send_whom
[3] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/ask_doctor/ask_doctor_cant_see_capn
[4] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/ask_doctor/ask_doctor_feelin_my_flow
[5] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/ask_doctor
[6] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/bluray
[7] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/magazine/2009
[8] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/magazine/2009/june_2009
[9] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/magazine
[10] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/ask_doctor
[11] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/login?&commentfragment=comments_top_anchor
Print