ASRock Core 100HT-BD : Bringing HTPCs to the Mainstream Market [UPDATED : Noise Issue]
by Ganesh T S on July 19, 2010 9:34 PM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Arrandale
- ASRock
- Media Streamer
- Core i3
- HTPC
One of the most interesting aspects of the Arrandale platform is the fact that the GPU is integrated in the same package as the CPU. The GPU die also contains the PCIe and DDR3 memory controller. While the main CPU is fabricated in the 32nm process, the GPU die is fabricated in the 45nm process. Placing the GPU and CPU in the same package saves on power and also board costs. The graphics part of the GPU die in the package is an evolutionary version of the Intel G45 IGP. A comparison of the Intel HD Graphics in the Arrandales and the earlier G45 is provided below.
An interesting thing to note here is the availability of dynamic frequency scaling for the Arrandale GPU, which actually lowers the power consumption of the system. A 900 MHz GPU part on a typical Clarkdale system would up the TDP by 15W or more compared to the lowest end Clarkdale with a 733 MHz GPU. On the Core 100 HT-BD, however, overclocking doesn't require any special thermal arrangements. The higher frequencies kick in only when the load on the GPU becomes high.
We had earmarked the Clarkdales as the perfect HTPC platforms earlier this year. This Arrandale offering may actually tempt us to revise our opinions, given the form factor and the power profile. We will cover this in detail in the later sections. In the rest of this section, we will cover the features of the Intel HD Graphics engine, as it relates to HTPC users. Before going into the details, let us take a look at what Intel has improved in terms of video decode and processing in this iteration of their IGP.
DXVA Compatibility
Intel's support for DXVA came in for a lot of criticism during the G45 days. The paranoia inside the company made it impossible for open source enthusiasts to get hold of the special DXVA interface used by Intel. It used to be made available under NDA to various ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) such as Cyberlink, ArcSoft etc. Thankfully, things have been slowly changing for the better. Currently, most applications (except for VLC) are able to take advantage of the DXVA acceleration provided by the HD Graphics engine. The screenshot below gives us a quick idea of the DXVA capabilities of the Core i3-330M in the Core 100 HT-BD. It is interesting to observe that there is no VLD mode for VC-1, but we did observe 1080p VC-1 Blu-Rays play with less than 5% CPU usage on ArcSoft TMT. This just indicates that the interface to full acceleration mode for VC-1 is available only under NDA as of now.
HD Audio Bitstreaming
Right from its debut, the Arrandales have been able to bitstream HD audio from Blu-Ray discs played back through Cyberlink's PowerDVD or ArcSoft TMT. The Core 100 HT-BD is no different. We were able to play back all Blu-Rays with bitstreaming to the AV receiver, as the following screenshots show. In addition, hardware acceleration with Intel HD Graphics shows its class, with low CPU utilization being observed during playback. Despite the red spikes observed in the DPC Latency Checker program, we didn't notice any audio dropouts or stutters in the video.
Using the open source ffdshow Audio Decoder, HD audio can also be bitstreamed out of standalone MKVs and M2TS files. (More on this in the next section)
With the above features, Intel HD Graphics seems to be a winner, and the Core 100 HT-BD could potentially be the utopian HTPC that enthusiasts have been searching for. Is that really the case?
Driver Support - Intel Misses the Boat!
Since the release of the G45, videophiles have been clamouring for the support of 23.976 fps display refresh rate. Intel caved in and released a driver where you could choose 23 Hz in the graphics control panel. Unfortunately, this only results in a refresh rate of 24 fps. While watching videos encoded at 23.976 fps, this results in a small stutter every 40 seconds or so. Most people get past this by setting the refresh rate of their display to 60 Hz. However, dedicated enthusiasts still see this as a major shortcoming of the platform.
Another issue which has remained since the G45 days is the efforts taken to open up the DXVA specifications of the GPU for open source developers. Lot of progress has been made over the years, but full VC-1 decode acceleration remains elusive in applications like MPC-HC or VLC. As we discussed in the DXVA Compatibility subsection, the VC1_VLD mode which is commonly utilized by open source video decoders is absent. However, Intel's marketing team does indicate complete VC-1 decode acceleration. We can only surmise that this is made available for the Microsoft and other ISV decoders to make use of.
The drivers supposedly support advanced deinterlacing, but users do not have as much control over the algorithms used as they have when using ATI HTPC cards such as the Radeon 5xxx series. Noise reduction algorithms are also not transparent to the users. The frequency of driver updates is rather low, and issues continue to remain unaddressed.
If the end user can put up with these iGPU limitations (personally, I can), the Core 100 HT-BD is indeed a very good choice. This will be further elaborated in the next few sections.
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Lostclusters - Sunday, July 25, 2010 - link
I know the review mentioned things like "Perfect Blu-Ray playback with bitstreaming", and "able to play back all Blu-Rays with bitstreaming to the AV receiver", but there is no mention of whether the sound is at 24 bits or 16 bits. I am sure that the same limiting factors as any other PC comes into play. But as I am currently not very well informed on Windows 7, I'd like to see some mention of this in the review. Both with LPCM and native codec.ganeshts - Monday, July 26, 2010 - link
Lostclusters,The bitstreaming is perfect. This means whatever bit resolution is present in the soundtrack is passed on as-is, with no downsampling of any sort.
Its HDMI can pass through Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio up to 192KHz/24-bit , whereas absence of passthrough would mean support for only Dolby or DTS 48KHz/16-bit audio quality.
Even on the other sound channel, i.e, VIA VT2020 codec, there exists support for Blu-ray audio up to 7.1ch 192KHz/24-bit audio with content protection.
Lostclusters - Sunday, July 25, 2010 - link
I forgot to mention that this should be examined not only when playing off a Bluray disk but when playing files off the hard drive as well.Lostclusters - Monday, July 26, 2010 - link
Another item not addressed (maybe in the bench marks) is was how it performed an SD media. I know the screen resolution is locked in at 1080. But how well does it play SD media?ganeshts - Monday, July 26, 2010 - link
Lostclusters,While I agree that the majority of the streams in the test suite were HD (after all, that is the future), we do have 5 - 6 SD streams (evident from the file names).
What you may be looking for is the upscaling capabilities of the GPU / software. I didn't pay much attention to this, but things didn't look horribly wrong. So, I would say that it is good enough to play SD media also. I am unable to think of a metric which will give you a quantitative view of the capability.
Lostclusters - Monday, July 26, 2010 - link
Check out this link at the bottom of the post under the heading of "My Pick of HTPC":http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18...
LNCPapa - Monday, July 26, 2010 - link
This device really appeals to me - I was seriously considering going with a Mac Mini + Plex but with the price changes I figured I might as well not give Apple any more my money. By the way - great link post LostCluster - That thread was an awesome read and that guy has done an incredible amount of research.If this device had/would launch at a $500 price point I would purchase it now and ask the wife for forgiveness later.
ganeshts - Monday, July 26, 2010 - link
NewEgg seems to have the non-BluRay model for $580 + shipping:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Lostclusters - Monday, July 26, 2010 - link
I have been following Rene's work since his first recommendation on hardware. I have even donated to his work. He is one dedicated individual and has several threads on that forum. Many many good threads there. Chocked full of info.Decaff - Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - link
I really enjoyed reading through this article, as I am myself looking for a media streamer solution. I do, however, have some points of inquiry.First of all, the picture quality testing should be figured out. I have seen television review sites who do regular testing of the picture quality. I know that much of this is a often subjective, but I still think it is paramount that this is analysed, as many home theater enthusiasts are highly sensitive to the picture quality. I do think the use of the HQV test is a good starting point, but I still think subjective measures are in order, as a means of relating the numbers to any percieved loss of quality.
In essense, the people investing in HTPC's of media streamers will probably also have a quality TV-set/projector attached to it. So the framerate issue could naturally be a killer for many enthusiasts, as I know this particular issue has been discussed on many TV forums, where they are very concerned with configuring the TV properly to the correct framerate in order to achieve the right picture quality.
Perhaps an alliance with a site that specialises in reviewing picture quality of TV sets?
Secondly, I think you should be more aware of what software you are using on the machine. Naturally, Anandtech is largely a hardware site, but when dealing with a media streamer/HTPC it is essentially the software that defines the final user experience of the setup. Essentially, if I have just bought a HTPC, I don't want to be pestered with 3 different programs in order for the box to do its job. Rather I (and presumably almost everyone else) wants a nice interface that can handle all the tasks the box it built for, preferably using only the remote control, and the occasional keyboard/mouse when performing tasks that are PC-centric.
So my suggestion is to make a large article with HTPC software, where you look at the features it offers, ease of use, and naturally and in relation to my first point, the output quality of them.
Lastly, I'm really looking forward to seeing some reviews of more dedicated (smaller and cheaped) streamer boxes, such as the WDTV live, A.C. Ryan Playon!HD or the Popcorn machines and naturally also a comparison with the gaming consoles as the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360 and how they fare in comparison, regarding codec support, and of course in the area of picture quality and ease of use.
These last are at the moment those that interest me the most, as I just want a box that can play my movies from an external HDD or a NAS/Home Server, without all the extra stuff (although it is of course nice to have), and I suspect a great deal of people have similar demands and can use another PC to rip their movies.