The Little PCIe Card that Could
Posted on November 16, 2009 by Kristina
Filed Under New Products, Product-Related
Broadcom BCM970012 Hardware Decoder
For all those people who have been disappointed by the Intel Atom platform’s lack of reliable support for high definition video content, the perfect solution has arrived—and it’s not the NVIDIA ION (although it certainly could be; however, for the sake of this article, the NVIDIA ION will not hold the spotlight this time). The Broadcom Hardware Decoder BCM970012 is a PCI Express Mini Card that enables support for H.264 video compression and for playback of 1080p high definition multimedia content. This means that Mini-ITX motherboards like the Intel D945GSEJT “Johnstown,” which uses the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom (single core) N270 CPU and embedded 945GSE chipset, can actually drive HD multimedia content while still drawing minimal power. [The TDP of the N270 and 945GSE chipset combination is 11.8 watts and the Broadcom Hardware Decoder has a TDP of ~2 watts. The Intel Atom 330 and NVIDIA ION have a combined TDP of 20 watts.]
What’s really exciting about the Broadcom BCM970012 is that you have a little bit more versatility in the kind of motherboard/enclosure you want to use for the foundation of a digital media player. If the mainboard or system has a PCIe Mini Card slot, all it takes is less than $70 $50 to add in support for HD content. And, you don’t need a tall enclosure to accommodate a humongous CPU cooler, either. If you opt for the Intel Johnstown Mini-ITX motherboard, then you can go with an enclosure like the Morex T-1610 (which is less than 2 inches thick) and mount the entire system to the back of an LCD display or even discreetly tuck it vertically into a corner. And, did I mention the resulting system would be fanless?
Now, the Broadcom BCM970012 is not a GPU, so it’s not meant for 3D rendering. That means gamers are out of luck. But, the hardware decoder does significantly cut CPU load, which helps the overall performance of the system.
It also requires software that is able to utilize DirectShow Filters. Currently, Cyberlink PowerDVD and Arcsoft Total Media Theater allow Blu-ray playback; Media Player Classic is a free player that is compatible with most other formats. And, one other drawback is the device currently cannot support Linux operating systems (drivers are in alpha testing status). However, despite some minor kinks, the Broadcom BCM970012 is a lower power, more flexible alternative to the NVIDIA ION platform.
Update: Thanks to Scott Davilla and the crew over at XBMC, Linux support is well on its way. Broadcom have now released the Linux driver source code, and XBMC is hard at work implementing it in the next release. More information is available at XBMC.org and Anandtech.com.
Jarod Wilson has added some good context and information on developments for other Linux distros on his blog.
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14 Responses to “The Little PCIe Card that Could”
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If it accelerates flash video, I’d be interested… Virtually all of the video I view on my HTPC anymore is delivered via flash. Everything else is handled by the PS3.
I’ve been thinking about a low power video-playing box, so this is interesting. However I’ve only seen boards with a single mini-pcie slot, and I was already debating whether I would want to use it for a wifi adapter or a SSD, so this makes for another tradeoff.
Hi Edward,
Yeah, unfortunately, if the board only has one PCIe slot, then you’ll definitely have to make a trade-off. The MSI MS-9A25 WindBOXII barebone has two PCIe slots, one for wireless or an SSD and the other for a hardware decoder. This is certainly advantageous, but limiting in platform flexibility because you’re locked into the design and feature set of MSI’s full barebone system. The Intel Johnstown board has a connector for a USB SSD that mounts horizontally, so that is certainly an option there. We’ll be offering USB SSDs from ATP very shortly to pair with this board.
Qhartman: You’re in luck – Adobe just released Flash 10.1 with support for hardware acceleration, and the BCM70012 is specifically targeted. We haven’t had time to test in-house yet, but the release notes look promising. For more info, please see Adobe’s website.
As we have time to test this, we will be incorporating the decoder card into several systems; we have started with the T1610/Johnstown combination already
Hi, I send an email to info@logicsupply.com, must have got lost.
We are working with Broadcom to open source the driver/libs for Linux and OSX usage. Thing are moving along nicely. Support for the Crystal HD hardware as already been added to XBMC (a media center app) in the crystalhd branch and will be merged to svn trunk in a few weeks. All three platfroms, OSX, linux and Windows are targeted.
Does anyone know if this mini PCIe card can be build into the new Dell Zino HD. This would make a great combination to run XBMC on!
Do you know if there an mini PCIE to PCIE adaptor for this card ?
Cheers
Scott: Fantastic work on the XBMC integration! As you know, we’re testing this internally right now with hopes of offering a turnkey fanless system very soon. In the meantime, we hope to have an updated blog post with step-by-step directions for DIY folks.
Matthijs: Sorry, I can’t help you there. We do have some fairly similar systems that could be build for a comparable cost. If you see something you like on our site and the Broadcom is not offered as a standard option, please call our Sales department for a custom configuration.
Baba: I think this is what you’re looking for: http://www.adexelec.com/pciexp.htm#PEX1IX-MINI
No luck on the Dell Zino with the BCM970012. While the Zino does have a minipcie slot open, it will only take half length cards. The BCM970012 is around 1″ to long and will hit usb and network ports. Would work if you wanted to use the zino mb outside of its case. Found this out the hard way after ordering a BCM970012.
Thanks for the update, Abigail; sorry it didn’t work out. I’ve heard rumors of a possible half-height version later this year, but nothing concrete.
It’s really a cool~
Is there any chance that you will be carrying the ExpressCard® 34 version of this card?
I have seen it on all the press releases, but have not been able to find a single supplyer who carries it, let alone has it in stock.
Pretty annoying since a press release dated several months ago calls it out and says “all versions are currently in production…”
Thanks!
What about the “soon to be released” update to the BCM970012… the new and “improved” BCM970015? It is difficult to find what is different. What is the timeframe for release? I *am* going to get one, but I just need to know if I should wait for the BCM970015.
Zack – We won’t be carrying the ExpressCard version for two reasons:
1. We can’t find anyone making the full card either – I’ve looked. I can only assume Broadcom’s press release is implying that the chip is in production and that an ExpressCard version could be produced at this time.
2. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t support our core markets and customers – we don’t sell anything that it could be used in, so we would leave it to a laptop retailer to carry.
Kevin – The next-gen will be compatible with a broader range of file formats and use <1W; cost will be comparable. The chip is in production and cards are in prototyping phase right now. We won’t see production units until mid-April at the absolute earliest. If the current version supports all of the media formats you tend to use, there probably isn’t much benefit in waiting for the 15, especially if you’re looking to use it with a Linux distro.