Processor Running at 100%

[blkdrgn]

ASUS EeeBox PC EB1021 Net Top
OCZ Vertex 2 120G SSD
AMD Dual-Core Processor E-350,1.6GHz
AMD Integrated Radeon HD 6310
DDR3 1333 SO-DIMM 2GB
Windows 7 64 bit
Media Browser 2.3.2

When I play my high def .mkv movies through Windows Media Center, the processor pegs out at 100%. It somewhat plays fine for DVD quality .mkv files but the processor still averages around 90-95%.

If I were to play the file directly through Windows Explorer, the movie plays fine and hardly takes up processing. I do not have any media libraries setup and I only have the Media Browser plugin. What could be the problem?

This is a new computer. I uninstalled all the ASUS utilities and the ATI Catalyst driver. The reason why was with the driver package the screen would not fit the TV correctly. Had to uninstall and use the Windows ATI default driver. I do not have any other software installed except Microsoft Security Essentials.

Playing through Windows Media Center

Playing with Windows Media Player via Windows Explorer

 

[kurahk7]

You need to adjust the scaling options in CCC so that there are no black bars around the screen. I cannot give you the specifics on where the scaling options are in CCC since I am using Nvidia right now. From what I remember, scaling options should be located in Display Properties.

 

[blkdrgn]

is this why my processor shoots up when playing in Media Center? Should I reinstall the ATI drivers from AMD?

 

[kurahk7]

I can not say for sure if it would fix the 100% load issue, but it wouldn't hurt to reinstall the AMD drivers. Remember to download the latest drivers from: Downloads
Good luck .

 

[blkdrgn]

i rebuilt the computer with windows 7 ultimate 64bit. loaded the video drivers from AMD. the rest of the drivers are from ASUS. also tried to use shark007 instead of coreavc for the codec. also removed the metabrowser. still same thing. my extra memory comes in on Monday so I will see if that helps. thing that boggles me is that it plays fine from Windows Explorer but extremely slow through Media Center. Doesn't Media Center use Windows Media Player to play? I thought that it was a cataloging problem as I have about 1000 files. I let it sit in Media Center for about 24 hours and that didn't help.

 

[Shark007]

Media Center is a player.
Windows Media Player is a completely separate player.
Media Center uses WMP for thumbnails, NOT playback.


On 64bit systems you also need to install the x64Components addon along with the Shark007 (32bit) Win7codecs for proper Media Center playback.

After installation of the x64Components, open the 64bit Settings Application as an admin once, and close it. Test your files. If it is not proper, try selecting a different H264 decoder on the 64bit H264 TAB such as 'use FFDshow's codec'.

If you chose to disable UAC, you may never get proper playback. (applies to some but not all people)
The codecs need UAC enabled for proper installation and for the settings to be properly set.

 

[blkdrgn]

Wow, i think that was the fix! I changed the H264 codec from Microsoft to FDDshow DXVA. Now it's averaging about 40-50% processor usage and the video is running smooth. I will play with the other settings. i was about to give up and sell my brand new net top.