How to Optimize SMPlayer for AMD APU Fusion on Windows XP

[ganymede]

I plan to keep using Windows XP because the thought of dropping $1000 on a new laser printer and scanner just to accommodate an expensive $100+ OS gives me migraines, and from what I understand, Internet doesn't work any faster on Windows Vista/7/8.

Recently I purchased an ASUS E35M1-M with an integrated AMD APU Fusion E-350 apu, which combines video card functions on the same die as the cpu, uses a trifling 18W at max load, and requires no fan. So my PC has been rendered almost silent except for the chassis fan, which I plan to turn off after the summer.

The first thing I did was to ignore ASUS's version of the video driver and go directly to AMD to download the latest stable version of Catalyst, at this time 12.6, although there is a beta of 12.7.

On a different subject, I like SMPlayer better than VLC because SMPlayer has better features, such as remembering the stop point and speed, excellent subtitle support, slow-mo, and frame by frame advance. I do not know what features UMPlayer has that SMPlayer does not, and from what I can tell UMplayer is basically a clone of SMPlayer with a different name. Nowhere on the UMPlayer web site do I see any features that stand out as different from SMPlayer.

[ganymede]

Well, Smplayer does work on my AMD E-350 Fusion, but I noticed recently that to open any video takes about 12 seconds. There is this substantial delay during which Smplayer is blank and apparently pulling its socks up and getting ready to do something. Then the video plays. I think that SMplayer is not really using the AMD Fusion GPU. It is instead using the CPU.

I found a solution however by saying goodbye to my beloved Smplayer and installing VLC Player which DOES support the AMD Fusion GPU. It loads videos in .12 of a second, instead of 12 seconds, and plays them about as fast as you like.

[redxii]

MPlayer doesn't use GPU acceleration on Windows, but it can use multiple cores to decode H264 & MPEG 1/2 files. My Pentium D could play full bitrate Blu-ray without issue and now I have an even faster CPU (Core i7) and probably don't even need half a core for that.

[ganymede]

Yeah, it is a pity Mplayer doesn't take advantage of GPU because the new line of low-power HTPC processors, including Intel's ATOM and AMD's Fusion, gain most of their bang from the GPU being integrated with the CPU. If GPU is not used by the video player then the low power CPU, even if it is dual core, is going to have a hard time keeping up. For instance, AMD's E-350 is only 1.6 ghz. So, if I want to watch 720p video, no matter how much I like SMplayer I can't choose it.

I have been experimenting with other video players such as MPC-HC, but that seems to require several hours of study in order to configure. Apparently one has to install FFDShow, configure that, then install Haali Media Splitter, configure that, and then configure MPC-HC itself. And there are a ton of configuration options and I don't see a really comprehensive up-to-date guide out there. Since I don't have ten hours to spend on experimentation, MPC-HC is not an option.

I tried VLC Player next and so far it seems "just okay" with higher def videos, meaning 720p, *IF* all the high-performance options for the video card (ATI) are selected. VLC Player seems to have a little option that delegates some processing tasks to the GPU. It is not a perfect implementation but a little bit better than MPlayer, so I am sticking with it for the time being.

I don't know of any media player that is easy to configure and will handle high def videos on an HTPC processor. I suppose that is the #1 reason people are abandoning Windows altogether and going with XBMC, OpenElec and other Linux solutions. I myself am going to try OpenElec on my living room HTPC, because the developers offer a build specifically for AMD Fusion chips.

AMD Fusion really seems like the right choice in HTPC hardware because it is low cost, low power, silent (no processor fan required), and should be quite capable in theory of running HD videos. Imagine running a personal computer for the same cost as a compact fluorescent bulb. Imagine not being able to tell the computer is on or not because it is as silent as the LCD monitor. That is what's known as cool. Cool temperatures, too.

However it is quite a trick finding the right video player. So far it looks like if I want the capability of viewing HD video, then Windows is not the easiest option, because it requires too much configuration and experimentation and ultimately frustration and failure. Instead OpenElec seems to be the right choice. I will know more after I have finished the installation when my new motherboard arrives.