HTPC Headaches

aisle9 · July 17, 2016

I've got a couple of HTPCs around here: Ikaros and L. Both are linked to PCPP in my signature. Basically, I'd like Ikaros to be a 4k/30fps playback only machine, switching to 1080p for any gaming I do on it (not much). Generally speaking, my benchmark clips have always been Let It Go--a decision I regret every time I fire it up--and Ronan's starship crashing from Guardians of the Galaxy. Ikaros has the following specs:

Windows 10 64-bit

i3-4150

8GB DDR3-1600

EVGA GTX 750 Ti SC

240GB Micron M500 SSD (for boot and storing the video being played)

Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB (for storing media when it's not in use)

Ikaros' playback when pushing 4k, even 1080p to a 4k TV, is choppy at best, unwatchable at worst. I can confirm Internet speed isn't an issue--it pulls 90Mbps down. KMPlayer had given me great playback at 1080p on my old TV, but it fails miserably along with the default Windows 10 movies app and VLC. I've never particularly cared for VLC's beastly resource consumption anyway, but it's still useful for troubleshooting. I'm completely stumped there.

L is designed purely to push 1080p video to the TV that Ikaros was pulled off of. He's a refurbished and slightly tweaked Dell Optiplex 745 SFF. His stats are as follows:

Windows 10 64-bit

Core 2 Duo E6600

8GB DDR2-667

Dell OEM GT 730, 2GB DDR3

Seagate Barracuda 1TB

My big changes were the C2D, the 8G of RAM (up from 2), the GT 730 and the Barracuda. I know a GT 730, even a DDR3 version, can push 1080p playback. Wifi is on a cheapo but surprisingly solid Coredy USB wifi, pulling 85Mbps down. I've tried KMPlayer, VLC, MPC-HC (32-bit and 64-bit) and the Windows 10 movies app. 32-bit MPC-HC is the closest I've gotten to 100% smooth playback, but it still stutters and suffers from inexplicable frame drops.

Drivers are current on both PCs. I'm wondering if the CPU might be my problem on L, and if a Q6600 would solve it. Ikaros has me completely baffled. She's better than that. Any ideas?