low-specs Media Center.. what distro to use?

[onclouds]

hi all..

I've been thinking of turning my old computer into a media center for a while now (it was running Ubuntu Server 9.10).
I recently bought a new 23inch screen so.. out with the server, in with the media center! (currently Xubuntu but running on LXDE as it's a lot lighter)

My problem: The computer barely manages to play 720p videos on XBMC (on youtube or totem/vlc it's just impossible with breaks, lag and constant freezes).. I used the debug function of XBMC and guess what.. a 720p movie takes my cpu to a constant 100% usage!! =X

So here's my question.. what distro or 'buntu flavor would you advise me to use?? I thought about a minimal install but don't want to try it just yet..

System specs:

System information report, generated by Sysinfo: 6/9/2010 7:23:54 PM

SYSTEM INFORMATION
	Running Ubuntu Linux, the Ubuntu 10.04 (lucid) release.
	GNOME: 2.30.0 (Ubuntu 2010-03-31)
	Kernel version: 2.6.32-22-generic (#36-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jun 3 22:02:19 UTC 2010)
	GCC: no gcc detected
	Xorg: unknown (23 April 2010  05:11:50PM)
	Hostname: onclouds
	Uptime: 0 days 0 h 57 min

CPU INFORMATION
	AuthenticAMD, AMD Athlon(TM) XP 1900+
	Number of CPUs: 1
	CPU clock currently at 1988.085 MHz with 256 KB cache
	Numbering: family(6) model(10) stepping(0)
	Bogomips: 3976.17
	Flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mp mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow up

MEMORY INFORMATION
	Total memory: 1002 MB
	Total swap: 1944 MB

STORAGE INFORMATION
	SCSI device -  scsi0
		Vendor:  ATA      
		Model:  WDC WD1600AAJB-0 
	SCSI device -  scsi0
		Vendor:  LG       
		Model:  DVD-ROM DRD8160B 
	SCSI device -  scsi1
		Vendor:  ATA      
		Model:  SAMSUNG SP1604N  

HARDWARE INFORMATION
MOTHERBOARD
	Host bridge
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8377 [KT400/KT600 AGP] Host Bridge
		Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 807f
	PCI bridge(s)
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 PCI Bridge
	USB controller(s)
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
		VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82) (prog-if 20)
	ISA bridge
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
		Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 808c
	IDE interface
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
		Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 808c

GRAPHIC CARD
	VGA controller
		ATI Technologies Inc R420 JI [Radeon X800PRO]

SOUND CARD
	Multimedia controller
		VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
		Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device 8095

NETWORK
	Ethernet controller
		Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
		Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+

thanks in advance!

[waterhead]

What you need is to have your video card do the video processing. In Linux, this means using a nVidia video card. nVidia has excellent Linux drivers, ATI doesn't.

If your PC has a AGP slot, then good cards are no longer available. But you can get nVidia PCI cards that work pretty good. With the newer nVidia chipsets (GeForce 9 series) you can use VDPAU for video playback. I have this one, it revived an old P4 machine.

Newegg.com - JATON VIDEO-498PCI-DLP GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Low Profile Ready Video Card

Here are some others:

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,PCI,NVIDIA,GeForce 9 series

[onclouds]

well.. thanks for the quick reply but you misunderstood my problem..

I don't want to get new hardware.. my question is whether there is something that can be done with these specs to boost the performance of this computer.. be it tweaking some settings or using another distro..

anyone else care to give some input?

[waterhead]

well.. thanks for the quick reply but you misunderstood my problem..

I don't want to get new hardware.. my question is whether there is something that can be done with these specs to boost the performance of this computer.. be it tweaking some settings or using another distro..

Then your answer is: NO

The only way to improve the performance is to not have the CPU do the video processing. This is done by having the GPU do it, and ATI hardware is incapable of doing that in Linux.

[onclouds]

Then your answer is: NO

The only way to improve the performance is to not have the CPU do the video processing. This is done by having the GPU do it, and ATI hardware is incapable of doing that in Linux.

again.. thanks for the quick reply! =)

so you mean I might get better performance from a GeForce4 mx440 64MB then with a Radeon x800 256MB ?!?? 'Cause I have one of those lying around.. is it worth a shot?

[waterhead]

so you mean I might get better performance from a GeForce4 mx440 64MB then with a Radeon x800 256MB ?!?? 'Cause I have one of those lying around.. is it worth a shot?

I'm not sure if that card will give you what you need. You need one that supports some sort of hardware acceleration. But it won't cost anything to try it. Just make sure you install the proprietary nVidia driver. If using Ubuntu, it is available from the Ubuntu repositories.