DivX playback SLOWER in XP then 98SE...

[Mini-Me]

Just a quick Q:

How come Win XP, which claims to be so great for multi-media over 98SE, is slower at playing DivX then 98SE is?

98SE would play most DivX files with no problems, but in XP, we get dropped frames, and the audio-video sync is out by up to five seconds - this is hopeless...

:(

Same with DVD playback, although, the audio-video sync is O.K, but we get dropped frames, like the PC ain't fast enough, which was not an issue for the same hardware under 98SE...

This is a bit of a bummer after spending the whole day getting things re-installed for XP, and does not inspire confidence in the great multi-media OS claims that XP is supposed to be...

XP does seem a little more stable then 98SE though, and a crashed app in XP does not seem to crash the whole machine like 98SE.

I have latest version of DivX codec (5.1.1), and have installed the XP Service Pack 1a from the MS site.

Any thoughts?

My machine:

- Duron 1.3GHz
- 256MB RAM
- DVD/CD-RW combo drive
- 80GB Maxtor
- VIA AGP graphics, 8MB RAM
- AC'97 Sound


MM.

[Inka]

2 thoughts 1st off.

Your pc is about minimum spec for WinXP. 256 is about enough memory to run the operating system but wont leave any for running applications. Win98 on the same pc would have been positively flying as the minimum spec for win98 was much lower. Soo.. you could uprade the memory if you want, it is cheap at the moment. Another 256MB would certainly help.
The graphics card falls into the same category. If you are wanting to watch movies etc on the pc a reasonable graphics card is essential, I would say a minimum of 32MB graphics memory.
The CPU is ok so long as you dont have anything running in the background at the same time.

You could try turning off all the fancy things in XP to make it run leaner. Classic dektop etc etc. There may be settings in DivX to help too but I am not sure about that.

[Mini-Me]

Thanks for that, Inka.
:)

I decided the other day, to replace my m/board and CPU with something more modern.

This will be a 2.4GHz based machine, with 64MB AGP card, and 512MB RAM as a starter, and will up this as funds allow.

Found that I could eliminate the frame-dropping, etc, by setting the DivX codec to minimum picture quality.

Ta-ra!
:cool:


MM.