How many PC Cores are needed for smooth T3i playback?

[jerrykr]

OK, I know, my question even sounds dumb to me.
Sorry, I know little about what it takes to get away from the jerky 1080p video play on my ancient PC.

If I were in the market for a new PC, what should I look for as far as CPU capability?, also do I need a high zoot video card?

Thanks for any advice!

[Kalrog]

I think I have to go with the default answer... it depends.

You have to think of a computer as a whole system - it only performs as well as the slowest bottleneck. Now, what the bottleneck is depends on exactly what you are doing with it. In general I would advise against getting the latest and greatest/cutting edge stuff as you pay too high of a premium for it. But for new purchases, the stuff that has been out about 3-6 months is usually perfect.

Are you looking to buy from somewhere like Dell or are you looking to build your own?

Faster proc, more RAM, faster disk, etc. are all good things, but there is a point of diminishing returns. A 10GHz proc with 128MB RAM is still going to be a dog.

[SCone]

Not enough information...
Are you trying to tether the T3i?
What are the specs on your current PC?
Does it happen with other 1080 videos?

[groovyone]

My Dual core does AVCHD playback very well. The 1GB independant video card probably helps.

[jerrykr]

For purposes of discussion of my question, just forget the old slo-dog PC.

Now, I shoot some video at 1080p on the T3i, playback looks good on-camera. Class 10 SD card.

I take the SD card out and pop in my card reader and copy to my Hard Disk.

OK, slo-dog PC can't handle the load, VERY jerky. Just a given at this point.

Back to my question, I walk into Fry's to get a new PC. Do I need to get one with a CPU with 7 cores?

So far, it sounds like a good, capable, video card upgrade on the new PC would help.

Hope this clarifies my original question.

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate!

[groovyone]

What processor is in your current slow computer? You should be good with dual core chips as long as you have a video card with independant memory. Most laptops use shared RAM for video, but several have a seperate card. I think that helps with smooth playback. My Vaio is at least 1.5 years old and plays it with no issues. It is a dual core II Intel with 4GB of RAM and a 1GNB video card.

[SCone]

More of a video card issue than processor core. Small videos will probably run fine for you, but full-screen requires lots of video RAM. Back in the day, trying to play Doom on an old PC with the on-board video card was not a good experience... but upgrade to a 512mb video card & everything worked fine.

Buying a new PC will solve the problem, but a $40 video card could have the same effect.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

Well... lets tackle the issues 1x1...
- Since we no nothing about the "old slo-dog machine"... we dont know if its newer SATA interface or the older PATA/IDE interface drives.
- I/O to and from the disk to the video card is still managed by the CPU
- Yes the video card has a lot to do with it.
-- is the current video setup factory stock? (most likely) if so, then the memory for the video subsystem is most likely also SHARED memory for the RAM on the machine.

If you are looking to buy a new machine or board...
- dual core at a minimum, but quad core if you can afford it
- MAX of 3GB RAM...IF you are only running a 32BIT version of Windows
- MIN of 4GB RAM... IF you are running a 64BIT version of Windows
- Video card with min 512MB VRAM (prefer 1GB)... DEDICATED to the video card, NOT shared with the system.

My AVCHD video is smooth as silk on my PC.
- dual quad core CPUs
- 8GB RAM
- Win7 Ultimate 64BIT
- AMD Radeon HD6950 video card (2GB)
- Local Drive Layout
-- C: 750GB - OS and core apps
-- D: 750GB mirror of C:
-- F: 2TB - for audio
-- G: 2TB - for video
-- H: 2TB - for photos

Network Drive Layout
-- NAS : 4TB via Synology DS211 (whole house backup, media station, music station)
-- NAS : 8TB via Synology DS411+II (my machine backup and network based drive dupes, photo station)

[SCone]

Now you're bragging...........

[Sonny]

Could it be a codec issue?

[jerrykr]

I'll have to look when I get home, but slo-dog is a Compac about 4-5 years old. It has a pentium cpu (what is that 1 core?) and wasn't even the latest and greatest at the time. Running XP with all the service pacs and webroot for security. 2 gigs of RAM (pretty sure) and the stock on board video.

slo-dog is long past its life, for sure. I just want to know what an acceptable level machine is today, where 1080p is probably the hardest job I'll throw at it. I'm not a gamer.

Looks like I have a pretty good bit of advice now, and again I appreciate it!

[Rson]

Oh yeah, pentium....slooow. My guess is that you are using IDE also.

Since my machine is very similar to Gregs, I prefer a balanced speed machine. SSD drive for the main drive, RAID 0 for file serve drive and standalone drive for storage.

AMD Hex cores are great and the best bang for buck. 8gb ram is perfect, 1gb video with a newer chipset (AMD 6XXX series or Nvidia 400/500 series).

[jerrykr]

thanks Rson

slo dog is Compaq Presario - Celeron 2.70 GHz - 1 GB Ram XP Service pac 3

Quicktime plays a 299,678 KB movie I took at Thanksgiving, but very jerky.
Win Movie Maker complains that it cannot use the file.

My wife's Acer Netbook Intel Atom 1.66 GHz - 1 GB Ram - 32 bit Win 7 Starter
plays the same movie file in Win Live Movie Maker - still jerky, but about twice as good as slo dog.

Don't get me wrong, I do not expect great things from the netbook, I just gave it a try, since I'm beginning to think that Sonny is right about the codec being wrong for XP. Interesting that Win 7 worked better than XP, and on a slower CPU.

Anyway, it's time for a new PC. Thanks for all the good info, it will certainly help.

[Rson]

Feel free to call me, I am in Keller and I build Monsters.

817 898 1526