PC Ownership poll (v2)

[hobbes_fan]

An interesting discussion was just brought up in regards to 720p fansubs. With more and more fansubs going to 720p resolution, I thought it might me interesting to see if the hardware of users of this forum are capable of playback. Might not get off the ground but I think the results could be informative.


HOW TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU HAVE 2 METHODS: Windows XP (TO BE TESTED ON WINDOWS VISTA SHORTLY, WILL ADVISE OF OTHER METHODS IF NECESSARY)

METHOD A: not as detailed but no Download required

Originally Posted by Sephi

I think the easiest way for people to check their specs is Start>Run>dxdiag

The first tab should show all the required info. Should people be to lazy to write. Just do Save all information And copy paste the stuff out of the first part of the txt here. It will sort of look like this:

Spoiler:

Time of this report: 10/17/2007, 11:56:51
Machine name: <edited out>
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_qfe.070227-2300)
Language: English (Regional Setting: Dutch)
System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
System Model: F3JA
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 455MB used, 3484MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

Method B: More detailed but requires a small download

Originally Posted by problemedchild

run CPU-Z for the CPU and GPU-Z. Then have them report the information =)

MAC OS/X Users

Originally Posted by Ledgem

For Mac OS the easiest way to find the information is to click the Apple logo in the upper left-hand corner and select "About this Mac" - it provides the processor clockrate and brand (but not model number, e.g. I see "2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo") as well as how much RAM and RAM speed. For graphics card and extended information you must click the "More info..." button, which will open up the System Profiler. Graphics card is listed under "Graphics/Displays" and will show the graphics chipset name and RAM. However it doesn't show it in a manner that very non-technical people would find easy to understand.

If you're still unsure please ask. I'm hoping this survey will be of some use to fansubbers and viewers a like.

Additional info: here are the recommended hardware specs advised by Apple and Microsoft. Using these as a guideline it might be interesting to see how many users are going to have difficulties

Spoiler:

Here are some recommended system specs for 720p playback taken from Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...hoosingpc.aspx

Choosing the Right PC for Windows Media High Definition Playback

Purchasing a High-Definition Capable PC
There are many computer configurations capable of playing high definition content. The system you buy should depend on the level of quality you want to experience.

Minimum Configuration
(to play 720p video)
# Windows XP
# Windows Media Player 9 Series
# 2.4 GHz processor or equivalent
# 384 MB of RAM
# 64 MB video card
# DVD drive
# 1024 x 768 screen resolution
# 16-bit sound card
# Speakers


Optimum Configuration
(to play 1080p video with 5.1 surround sound)
# Windows XP
# Windows Media Player 9 Series
# DirectX 9.0
# 3.0 GHz processor or equivalent
# 512 MB of RAM
# 128 MB video card
# DVD drive
# 1920 x 1440 screen resolution
# 24-bit 96 kHz multichannel sound card
# 5.1 surround sound speaker system


For either scenario, an AGP4x-based NVIDIA or ATI video adapter card with the most recent OEM driver updates is also recommended.

From Apple
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide...endations.html

Recommended Hardware Configurations for H.264 High Definition (HD) Playback

To play high definition video, a large amount of data must be processed by your computer. A powerful system will deliver the best playback experience.

For 852x480 (480p) video at 24 frames per second:
QuickTime 7 for Mac OS X:

* 1.25 GHz PowerMac G4 or faster Macintosh computer
* At least 128MB of RAM
* 64MB or greater video card

QuickTime 7 for Windows:

* 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or faster processor
* At least 512MB of RAM
* 64MB or greater video card
* Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista

For 1280x720 (720p) video at 24-30 frames per second:
QuickTime 7 for Mac OS X:

* 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer; 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo or faster
* At least 256MB of RAM
* 64 MB or greater video card

QuickTime 7 for Windows:

* 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 or faster processor
* At least 512MB of RAM
* 64MB or greater video card
* Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista

For 1920x1080 (1080p) video at 24 frames per second:
QuickTime 7 for Mac OS X:

* Dual 2.0 GHz PowerMac G5 or faster Macintosh computer; 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo or faster
* At least 512MB of RAM
* 128MB or greater video card

QuickTime 7 for Windows:

* 3.0 Ghz Intel Pentium D (dual-core) or faster processor
* At least 1GB of RAM
* 64MB or greater video card
* Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista

Note these are a general guide only.

[Caldron]

lol, my hardware is Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0ghz FSB1333mhz (not overclocked, it doesn't even need ), GeForce 7800gt 256mb ddr3, and ram 2gb ddr2 800mhz.

Well it can even play the 1080p, no problem with that at all :P

[grey_moon]

Main entertainment PC running MS XP (very tempted to ditch XP especially since GW is very well supported in wine now) - AMD 4200 X2, 2GB ram, Nvidia 7600GT <- Fine

PC for media streaming Xbox stuff and CCTV running MS XP MCE - P4 3GHz, 512MB ram, Intel GMA 3000 <- Fine

Data server with VMware guests running OpenSuSE 10.3 - AMD 2.something GHz, 3GB ram, Nvidia 6200 <- Fine.

Poor little communication laptop for email, IM, and everything related to the interweb running Ubuntu (Waiting for 7.10) - Celeron 1.5GHz, 2GB ram, VIA N800 <- Like watching bullet time.

[Vexx]

My game machine is XP(home) with 1gb RAM, AMD Athlon 64, with an nvidia-based GeForce 7600 GT.
The poll is kind of broken because I can only choose one button and I just listed 4 attributes.

Not the fastest or latest greatest machine but it runs what I play fairly well.

My work machine is a P4 1.8GHz, 1gb RAM, with a GeForce4 older card on a Shuttle microchassis .... its fine for work/study but its starting to creak when I'm processing video or image files.

Usually what I do is I upgrade my game machine and the work machine gets the benefit of hand-me-down parts. I've held off for a year more than usual because the work machine is on a Shuttle frame, which means I need to find a new case (or really a pair of cases).

[WanderingKnight]

My PC is quite a modest one, an Athlon XP 2000+ 1.5 Ghz, 512 MB of RAM, Nvidia 5200 FX 128 MB. I built it three years ago and it's given me nothing but satisfaction since then. Granted, it can't run games, but I don't like PC games very much, other than the random eroge and console emulators.

In April I installed Ubuntu, a Linux distribution, and a week later I nuked my XP partition. Now I have an official excuse not to upgrade my PC anymore (No need for new games, no need for Vista bloatware). Though I guess I'll be building a new one next year or so, it's been too long since I've done it.

@hobbes_fan: PM a mod to edit the poll for you. Oh, and I'd suggest that you separate OS X and Linux... they're not Windows, but they're also quite different, even if they're both Unix based.

[GHDpro]

I've created a new thread for hobbes_fan with a new poll since I can't change that you could only vote for one option in the old poll.

Edit:
Okay done. I've added a "Dual Core" option for the CPU selection, but I'm still not 100% sure if the options are really right. See a Celeron D 3.x Ghz will definitely out pace a Pentium IV 1.6 Ghz. It really depends a lot on how efficient a CPU design is and the clockspeed. Though I'd assume anyone running a dual core CPU will have no problem with any of the current fansubs, no matter how simple of a model dual core CPU he/she has.

PS.
My hardware (for viewing fansubs with; I've built a new HTPC recently):
- AMD Atlhon X2 4400
- 2 GB RAM
- On-board but DirectX v9 compatible video card
- Windows Vista (I screwed up the selection for this one as I was thinking about my desktop [which has similar specs] initially, but I'll be watching more anime on my HTPC now)

I've had no problems or slow downs playing anything recently. There are files where I notice the sound goes out of sync, but I chalc that up to the encode as the CPU never goes to max in those cases (most of those files aren't anime). The only time I noticed a system was really unequipped for 720p material was when I tried watching Heroes in 720p MKV quality (1 GB filesize) on my sister's PC with CeleronD 2.9Ghz. But that's pushing it of course, I think her PC will handle 720p fansubs fine as they're much lower bitrate.

[Sephi]

Only got my laptop i bought for University last year. It's a Asus with the following specs:

Proc: T7200 (Meron) 2.0 Ghz
Ram: 2GB (2x 1GB)
Videocard: ATI X1600 Mobility (256RAM)
Screen: LCD 15.4 Inch @ 1280x800
OS: XP Home
DirectX: 9

As for 720p fansubs. I have yet to encounter a fansub that gives me trouble playing it. I think it might even run 1080p. But meh... My resolution is only 1280x800...

[Vexx]

Thanks for fixing the poll

I still use win2Ksp6+ when I can mostly because I'm a bit uncomfortable that XP can be shut down by the remote possiblity that Microsoft forces an "end of life" situation. Vista is clearly a 'spiral of doom' ala WinME so I'm waiting to see if they recover with their next OS. yeah, yeah, I'm a *nix fan but there are still some aspects of inter-operability that Microsoft does do well and most of the games I like are on that platform.
<shrug> so I have a Win-PC for games and media manipulation and a work PC that is currently win2K but may veer into Ubuntu. My server PCs and gateways are all linux.

I've already stated my current setup. I'm likely to bop up to 2GB before Christmas on both machines, but probably when I do the hand-me-down upgrade from gaming PC to work PC.

[panzerfan]

My laptop is the Acer Aspire 5920g

Proc: T7200 2.0 Ghz
Ram: 2GB DDR2 667
160GB
Geforce 8600m, 256mb ram
15.4" 1280x800
Vista home.

Before that, I had another laptop...
(really just usable for office apps )

Core solo processor.
14"
512mb ram
80GB HDD
XP home
Integrated Intel graphics


My desktops:

XP2500+ oc to 3200+
Ram: 1GB DDR
160GB HDD, 500GB removable
X1600 128mb ram
20" 1680x1050 + 19" 1440 x 900 displays
Audigy 1 OEM (not SE)
XP Professional
Creative S750 7.1 speakers

XP2000+
Ram: 1GB
160GB HDD
Radeon 9600
17" CRT
XP Professional


My desktop and current can handle 720p material, with the laptop even having HDMI port for secondary hi-def output. I am now trying to obtain another sound card that can support 7.1 and optical in, as well as getting a monitor/display capable of outputting 1080p source.

I am now learning VMware and playing with Linux (Ubuntu)

[Tiberium Wolf]

E6600
2GB ddr2 800mhz
XFX 8800 GTS 320M
ACER LCD 17'' 1280x1024
WINXP


No point going Vista yet. Besides this setup allows me to play everything smoothly.

[Ledgem]

I hate to play the skeptic once more, but this poll is also in the wrong place to get a good demographic. I think that most of us who frequent this forum are big-time techies, and while we may not have the hottest hardware around, we can generally work it properly to get playback.

But like any good techie, I can't resist giving my system specs, at least in brief:
Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro w/ 3 GB RAM, Mac OS X, no problem with any fansubs.
Sempron 3100+ w/ 1 GB RAM, Windows XP/Linux hybrid. Haven't tried, but I can imagine that the higher-end releases of Gundam 00 would give it pause. Also note that I built this system myself; before this I was using a stock Athlon 1.2 GHz (Thunderbird core; this was not an Athlon XP) that was struggling on fansubs and Japanese emails.

[GHDpro]

That's true. Plus, the people who would be able to actually answer this poll would have to be "techies" too. There are hordes of people out there who have NO CLUE what kind of PC they have, as long as it "works". They maybe able to mention a model range ("Pentium something") but I doubt a lot would know the exact model of CPU, exact RAM and if their videocard is DirectX v9 or v10 compatible or not.

[WanderingKnight]

I was actually thinking something similar but in different terms... So how about moving this thread to the General Chat subforum? I find we'd get a better "sample" survey by putting it there. Many people here (if not most) don't visit the Tech Support forum at all.

[Zero Shinohara]

Yeah, i agree with the fact that it should be posted in a more widely-frequented area of the forums. Personally, I think that, to get a really good idea of the overal specs of Forum users, we would need to expand that and add it as a Global-announcement type shown in all subforums. Not sure if that would be possible, but the results could be fairly interesting to know.

And following Ledgem, here are my particular specs relating to the topic. I'm adding hard disk space because I'm seeing an increase in the number of "heavier" episodes being released ( i.e, Hayate in H264 comes up to about 230MB per episode, same with 720p Gundam 00, if I'm not counting the 400mb+ for each Shakugan no Shana II raw in HD I get.) and knowing how much storage the users have could play a fact in sub releases.

Pentium C2D E6400 @ 2.8ghz (OC)
2GB DDR2 800 RAM
2x 320 GB Seagate/Maxtor 7200RPM HDD
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS

I'm saving up to get myself 1tb of storage... I'm already freaking out because there're only 80 gigs of space available on my Storage drive... Guess I'll start moving my games back to the program one, need more space for hentai.

[problemedchild]

CPU: C2D E6600 @ 3.2 GHZ
RAM: 4 GB PC-6400 DDR2
Storange: 820 GB HDD
Graphics Card: eVGA 8800 GTX
Motherboard: eVGA 680i A1

I'd include an option for 1 GB, 2 GB, 2 GB + for RAM. It's pretty hard to buy a $900+ computer with only 1 GB of RAM now days...... Unless you're buying Apple =P

[Epyon9283]

Main machine:
2x2.66Ghz dual core Xeons
3GB RAM
geforce 7300

[Dkong1026]

I use a laptop day to day. It's Windows XP with 512 RAM. No idea about the graphics card and CPU, though.

[hobbes_fan]

I've tried to make the poll as general as possible, as poll options are limited to 10. Also I've tried to make it as easy as possible to answer eg you're using XP clicking start--> control panel ->system will be able to give you enough info to answer. (I find Linux users tend to me far more tech savvy so I always use XP users as the base). If mods feel that they can move this to general and be of much more use there it'd be a good idea. I didn't really bother with storage, as even if you have a 20gig HDD there are very cheap short term storage alternatives (DVD)

[grey_moon]

@Dkong1026 - Does your kit play 720p fansubs?

@Everyone else - Correct me if I am wrong please, but in my mind for media decoding, unless the graphics card has a hardware decoder, then CPU is king followed by memory?

[Ledgem]

Graphics card has nothing to do with it unless you're playing back HD-DVD/Blu-ray and using commercial software that can call on the H.264 decoding of the newer cards. I'm a bit skeptical that RAM really has much of an impact, either - the speed of the RAM, maybe, but the amount not so much.

If you want to move this into the general area of the forum then you should also include an "I don't know" option, because many people would probably see the results, be clued out, and not answer anything. It's a useless option but shows involvement; to make it more informative you could make it "IDK but it's new" or "IDK but it's 2+ years old" or so (which still don't tell us much, but they're better than nothing).