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[134LRS]

Hello all,

First let me clarify that I am VERY ignorant when it comes to computer specs and such so please bare with me.

I am very interested in perusing a HTPC in the very near future and have a couple of questions regarding my options. A little background, my use would be primarily home theater use and I ultimately want to create a home network to back up all of my old DVD's and Blu-ray disks and use JRiver as my library/player. I would like the computer to be able to pass loss less audio DTS-Master etc to my Emotiva pre/pro, and also pass 1080p video to my tv.  I am still wrapping my head around what options I have for a network. My setup at home consists of Emotiva UMC-200 pre/pro, Emotiva XPA-5 Gen II amp, DIY Clearwave 4T SE for my LCR spakers, Mirage OMD-5 surrounds, REW handling room EQ, PS3 (fat body),Samsung 55" HD LED TV (UN55-7900 if I remember correctly). and soon to be disconnected DirecTv (cutting the cord). I have no time to be a "gamer" but someday would love to be able to partake again (2 small children keep this in check) at which time I could upgrade. Even though my computer technical skills are laughable, my google skills are pretty good, so I can trouble shoot my problems pretty well. What worries me, is that a LOT of threads on HTPC builds consist of constant troubleshooting to get the computers to operate appropriately.

1st:

I currently have a laptop that I use for a side business that is relatively new its specs are:

Dell Inspiron 15 3537
Intel i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz  2.30GHz
64-bit OS
8GB ram
and around 650gig HD

Is this capable of doing what I desire? Also is there a program that JRiver supports to upconvert DVDs to HD?


2nd Option:

Build and HTPC to accommodate my needs. I have no idea where to start here. I have so many build threads bookmarked, but its hard to determine what is overboard and what is not. Many people simply want to "stream" content, where as I want HD audio and video, while others are building multi purpose gaming machines.


Please help, I'm a little lost.

Thanks,

Bill

[134LRS]

Ok, so I bit the bullet and downloaded the program. Extremely impressed and equally overwhelmed by all the options 

I have ran into a bit of a snag though. My laptop has an i5 Haswell processor in it but is very jittery/lagging when running Red October HQ. Any suggestions?

[astromo]

I work with RO Std but I'm obviously not a discerning vid user.

[mwillems]

Ok, so I bit the bullet and downloaded the program. Extremely impressed and equally overwhelmed by all the options 

I have ran into a bit of a snag though. My laptop has an i5 Haswell processor in it but is very jittery/lagging when running Red October HQ. Any suggestions?

ROHQ requires a powerful video processor/card, not a powerful CPU.  If your i5 has an HD4000 or 5000 GPU in it, you should be able to get ROHQ working well with some tweaks, but it may not run nicely out of the box.  RO Standard should work fine.

[134LRS]

ROHQ requires a powerful video processor/card, not a powerful CPU.  If your i5 has an HD4000 or 5000 GPU in it, you should be able to get ROHQ working well with some tweaks, but it may not run nicely out of the box.  RO Standard should work fine.

My CPU is an i5 and the GPU is an HD4400

I'm not sure what the problem is and am looking for any input.

Thanks again,

Bill

[mwillems]

Check out this thread for some instructions and options.  I'd suggest trying the DXVA scalers to start and then working up:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=80253.0

If you haven't tried RO Standard, you should give it a spin as well.  It looks very good, and should require no configuration on your hardware.  ROHQ may give you trouble on any of the more GPU intensive settings.

[astromo]

Check out this thread for some instructions and options.  I'd suggest trying the DXVA scalers to start and then working up:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=80253.0

If you haven't tried RO Standard, you should give it a spin as well.  It looks very good, and should require no configuration on your hardware.  ROHQ may give you trouble on any of the more GPU intensive settings.

I've read from the Devs that the madVR guide is a tool for power users. I gave it a go on my unit fitted with a HD4600 CPU and got myself tied up in knots. It certainly put the CPU under load. In any case I reverted to RO Std. I may give it another go in the future but that will probably involve new hardware or a lot of downtime.

Hello all,

First let me clarify that I am VERY ignorant when it comes to computer specs and such so please bare with me.

134LRS doesn't sound like a power user (don't worry, you've got company), so I'd suggest that RO Std is where you should start. Put ROHQ on the to do list for later.