ASRock's High-End Vision 3D 252B HTPC Review
by Ganesh T S on May 7, 2012 6:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Sandy Bridge
- HTPC
- GT 540M
- NVIDIA
In the Intel Ivy Bridge HTPC review, we introduced our video decoding and rendering benchmarking methodology. These benchmarks provide an idea of the capabilities of the system with respect to usage of various video renderers in the Windows environment. Under Microsoft's DirectShow framework, there are a number of options for the video rendering filters. Amongst the native ones, EVR (Enhanced Video Renderer) is preferred. The native EVR mixer uses the DXVA video processing services to deinterlace and mix the video. So, this gurantees that the driver's post processing capabilities (if enabled) get utilized. Users of MPC-HC have EVR-CP (Enhanced Video Renderer - Custom Presenter) as the default. This is an open-source implementation of the interfaces provided by EVR and uses all of the driver's post processing capabilities except for the hardware scaler.
Our Ivy Bridge HTPC review presented CPU and GPU utilization during the playback of various types of clips (different codecs / resolution / interlacing characteristics etc.). We have further refined the methodology by including a 720p60 clip in the list. Also, we have changed the presentation scheme for the results. Comparing CPU usage directly has never been a fool-proof way to identify exactly how much more the system is stressed on a comparative basis (because the CPUs always tend to enter a lower clocked state under low loading conditions). Instead, the power consumed by the CPU package is a better comparison metric. In addition, we have also changed the presentation of the results. Instead of a table with numbers, we have usage graphs.
In this section, we will consider the usage of software decode as well as hardware decode when combined with EVR. As mentioned earlier, LAV Video Decoder was used. It has a native DXVA2 mode as well as a 'None' mode for hardware decoding which defaults to avcodec.
| Software Decode with EVR | Native DXVA2 with EVR |
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| Software Decode with EVR | Native DXVA2 with EVR |
Resource Usage Comparison - DXVA2 Hardware Decode vs. Software Decode with EVR
We tested a variety of clips (480i60 MPEG-2, 576i50 H.264, 720p60 H.264, 1080i60 H.264, 1080i60 MPEG-2, 1080i60 VC-1 and 1080p60 H.264) and the observed CPU package power, GPU core loading, GPU memory controller loading, GPU VPU loading and GPU memory loading are presented in the pictures above. You can roll over the mouse on the text at either the top or bottom of the picture to see how the characteristics change. In the case that you wish to download the images for further perusal, the appropriate plots are linked here [ Software Decode with EVR, Native DXVA2 with EVR ].
The results are not surprising. Playback of HD material benefits immensely from hardware decoding. With 1080p60 H.264, software decode takes up more than 50% of the CPU's allowed power consumption. (~19W, when the Core i5-2520M is rated for 35W). The GT 540M's core and memory controller loads are the same for both software and memory decode. However, the VPU gets loaded (almost 85% with the 1080p60 H.264 clip) in the DXVA decode mode. Extra memory (GPU RAM) is also taken up in the DXVA decode mode as the decoder moves frames in and out during the decode process. In the software decode mode, the GPU memory load is lesser because frames are delivered by the software decoder, get to the GPU's memory and are taken in for post processing (calls made by the EVR) and then delivered to the video output buffer. There is no need to move frames in and out for the decoding process itself. The amount of post processing done by EVR in both cases is the same, and that is the reason why there is no difference in the GPU's core load.
In the next section, we will see how the system fares under madVR, which is a much more demanding renderer compared to EVR.
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LoneWolf15 - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
As nice as it looks, I'll pass.Cool PC, bro --but there are options that will get this job done equally well, for far less. Ones that don't have Asrock's track record for awful customer support if something goes wrong (having owned one of their high-end mainboards briefly, I experienced that personally).
Less expensive options have desktop CPU upgrade options too. The mobile Sandy Bridge systems currently out aren't upgradeable to mobile Ivy Bridge, so I doubt this is, either.
cjmccarthy72 - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
I almost dare not admit to owning one of these- I can imagine the comments especially from the build your own brigade....But I got one just before Christmas and it is a real box of joy. I stuck a SSD from my previous HTPC inside it and this goes like the wind. Large photo, music and movie collection load really quick in WMC. Streams HD media with ease. Extremely quiet- the fans on my plasma are more audible!
Very small- and yet it is truly a one box solution- despite this review I can play most games like Street Fighter IV at full spec on it.
I live in tiny city centre flat and so yes it is expensive, but it beats having a laptop or desktop on the floor, taking up space. Paired with a soundbar and HD tv it means very little space is taken up with my equipment and so my wife is happy. It means that my AV cabinet is now taken up with more family friendly boxes- Scrabble, Monopoly, Battleships!
Last, but not least, it has Blu-Ray- now if only Windows 8 supported it natively....
allensays - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
I can do the same things with my similarly spec'd Asus K73S laptop, then unplug it, go out on the deck or take it to the beach......For much LESS $.
What a waste.
cjmccarthy72 - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
I'm happy for you- no beach or deck where I am I am afraid- & lots of rain at the moment here unfortunately... but also no USA Amazon so no "similarly spec'd Asus K73S laptop". Our Amazon has listed only an Asus K73S- but this only has an i3 cpu, dvd only, 4gb ram only, 320gb hard-drive only - all for $852 equivalent price in dollars. So you clearly have the better deal your end.I have a company laptop which sounds like a jet taking off so I like the silence of this HTPC but I also use it as my PVR so want it hooked up all the time- yet hidden away without my family needing to plug it in and hook it up. + I can do some limited upgrades with it. My last HTPC, a Sony VGX-XL, was also relatively expensive- but I had it for over 5 years before I sold it and so thought that was a reasonable investment.
But clearly for some people this would be a waste- I agree- no argument. However as an owner I thought I would add an opinion about this HTPC, as the majority of comments here only deal with the price.
iq100 - Thursday, May 24, 2012 - link
There are better alternatives to the $50 JRiver MediaCenter game. Did you know that JRiver will charge you again and again for each new release? Worse is their censorship. Criticize them, post about alternatives, and you will be BANNED for life. And they will get their 'commercial friends' to do the same. These folks are NOT like anandtech. They are not about sharing ideas. They add on free GNU softward without embracing the spirit of open source code. They are about commercial money wars. If they were Egypt, or Iran, or Iraq, the would kill your right to speak.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltoQwSpHQBA
iq100
the best way to delete an idea is to post one of your own.
ix400 - Sunday, June 3, 2012 - link
Or is there an alternative tool for finding out the exact refresh rate of the display?iq100 - Monday, June 4, 2012 - link
With MPC-HC:http://www.homecinema-hd.com/autofrequency_en.html
iq100
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltoQwSpHQBA
ix400 - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
... but this tool doesn't show me a precise value of the refresh rate that is actually set.iq100 - Friday, June 8, 2012 - link
>http://www.exampledepot.com/egs/java.awt/screen_Sc...You can do this in java:
http://www.exampledepot.com/egs/java.awt/screen_Sc...
iq100
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltoQwSpHQBA
shurik_1 - Thursday, August 2, 2012 - link
try to create couple of dozen gig archive on another PC. create a parity set. corrupt a few bits. transfer to Vision 3D. try to repair and see for yourself what happens...I have complained to ASRock about this and was forced to send entire PC for repairs (no they do not refund shipping costs you have to swallow it). Only change is that BIOS now is 1.10c instead of 1.10. A friend of mine managed to get from their support the actual BIOS without shipping back and indeed it solved his issues as well.
Now I try to update memory to 16GB and the issue is back. Had to go back to 8GB. It's been over a month since I reported this new issue to them and still no fix.
Note that they never acknowledged the issue and never posted updated BIOS to their site. Customers data gets silently corrupted meanwhile...
Other than that is has everything I wanted in HTPC.