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MBC Menu Stutter/Lag


coolsaber57

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coolsaber57

Hey guys,

 

I have recently built a new HTPC:

Hardware: Core i5, 4gb RAM, Radeon 5450, 240gb SSD

Software: Win7, WMC, MB3 Server, MBC, ServerWMC, Media Control, HDHomeRun, Shark007 codecs

 

I built it for a few reasons: needed a better CPU for transcoding to other TVs/chromecasts in the house, needed a GPU that would get rid of the 29/59 bug, and have room for a blu-ray player.

 

I've finally gotten all the software installed and configured, however the menus in MBC are VERY laggy/stuttery.  I use the Chocolate plugin theme with the Poster view with 4 rows.

 

My previous HTPC was on my Intel i3 NUC, which ran off of the integrated GPU and the menus were buttery smooth.  With this new (and arguable more powerful) machine, the stutter/lag is pretty bad.

 

Some things I thought MIGHT be causing this:

  1. GPU is just not powerful enough. 5450 is old.  (kinda doubt this one, they're just menus!)
  2. Media Control is causing issues.  I know nothing about Media Control, I really wanted to be able to turn on/off the subtitles from my remote (Logitech Harmony).  I know there's options about the refresh rate, and other stuff I didn't really understand.
  3. HW acceleration is not happening.
  4. Something in Media Browser Classic is not configured correctly.

I tried searching, but couldn't find anything useful.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

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coolsaber57

What is a "menu"...?

 

Sorry, should have been more clear.  I meant the screen you see upon entering a "movies" or "TV" option from the home page.  It's the screen where you're presented with either a grid of your movies or TV shows.  When navigating from one item to another (e.g. scrolling over to the next TV show) it's very stuttery.  

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Okay, that's not "just a menu" that is potentially a very large list of graphically-intensive information that is being animated as you move around.

 

So, graphics card performance is very relevant.  Also, if it is a new installation, those images need to be brought over from the server and cached the first time.  So, you could be dealing with just that initial caching or your graphics card could be struggling with the animations.

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coolsaber57

Okay, that's not "just a menu" that is potentially a very large list of graphically-intensive information that is being animated as you move around.

 

So, graphics card performance is very relevant.  Also, if it is a new installation, those images need to be brought over from the server and cached the first time.  So, you could be dealing with just that initial caching or your graphics card could be struggling with the animations.

 

Huh, I didn't know that they were cached on the machine.  I'll try it again tonight to make sure that it's still there.

 

I suppose that there are quite a few images that it has to render, I just thought that being a dedicated GPU, the 5450 could handle that, as it seems to handle 1080p playback just fine.  Though I suppose 

 

Do you know of any way to force the i5 to process it instead of the 5450?

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Video playback is child's play compared to animating graphics around the screen.  But, first make sure you weren't just dealing with first-time use issues.

 

Your graphics card handles graphics, that's what it does and that is what you want it to do.

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coolsaber57

Video playback is child's play compared to animating graphics around the screen.  But, first make sure you weren't just dealing with first-time use issues.

 

Your graphics card handles graphics, that's what it does and that is what you want it to do.

 

If it turns out that it's just not enough horsepower, is there a recommended level of GPU for this?  I've got a smaller case and can only use half-height cards.

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Biomorph

I have 5450 and MBC is nice and smooth, unless (as I also use Media Control to set refresh rates) my screen has been set to 24p for a movie and when playback is done, MBC looks laggy/stuttery.

 

I need to play other content (I hit Live TV) to get the screen back to 50Hz and then MBC is buttery smooth again.

 

In short, what's your screens refresh rate set at currently?

Edited by Biomorph
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