Gaming Optimizing my video card?

[GeekyGuy]

I've got a decent midrange card (HIS ATI 4670), and for games, it seems to work great. Only thing is, whenever I play videos on Gametrailers or similar sites, my PC seems to chug and the video stutters. Is there a way to optimize my card so that it takes on more of the workload when watching videos, rather than making my CPU heave the load?

 

[Cermage]

videos rely more on your processor instead of your graphics card.

 

[JonthanD]

Make sure you have the latest version of Flash, I believe it helps accelerate video playback now on the newer cards.

Make sure your hard drive defraged sometimes that can help.


To be honest unless you have a really old machine, around 1Ghz and less then 512MB's of RAM its probably not your PC. My bet is that your connection from the Internet to your PC is slow.

If its your connection then the best solution is to pause the video when it starts and let it buffer for a minute. You might be able to achieve the same effect by increasing the buffer size for your video's but thats a little more complex and might not be possible depending on the site and what video player they use.

If you pause your video for a minute and its still stuttering then it is on your end.


Another thing to try is make sure you have the latest drivers from ATI, and make sure Windows is up to date.

 

[GeekyGuy]

Thanks, guys. Nah, it's definitely not the connection. I'm using broadband with a wired connection to my router. You can see the stream line fill up almost immediately when watching a video, but the video still stutters. I'll try updating the flash and drivers -- see if that helps. The PC's not ancient, but it's not a gaming system -- that's for sure. It's got a single-core 3.2 ghz CPU with 1.5 gigs of RAM. I'm running XP, so I wouldn't think video would be an issue.

 

[myuusmeow]

Thanks, guys. Nah, it's definitely not the connection. I'm using broadband with a wired connection to my router. You can see the stream line fill up almost immediately when watching a video, but the video still stutters. I'll try updating the flash and drivers -- see if that helps. The PC's not ancient, but it's not a gaming system -- that's for sure. It's got a single-core 3.2 ghz CPU with 1.5 gigs of RAM. I'm running XP, so I wouldn't think video would be an issue.

What single core processor? A high clocked single core sounds like a Pentium 4, which to be honest are quite old these days.

I can't really figure out how to use GPU acceleration myself. I have it enabled, and when I watch a video on YouTube my CPU usage goes up about 10%, and my GPU usage goes to 5%.

 

[GeekyGuy]

Says it's a Celeron® D 3.2 ghz.

Youtube videos give me no trouble whatsoever. It's the stuff on other sites, such as Gametrailers that, for some reason, stutter badly and cause my CPU to chug.

 

[Deleted member 35947]

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[Jamstruth]

Made me wonder if there's any way to get my 7900GS to help out more on videos etc. Blip videos put my 2.8GHz Pentium D's usage up to 60-70%. Sorry to hijack the topic and all but its the same question for a different make of card.

 

[Deleted member 35947]

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[Jamstruth]

Any hacks that will do it? I'm not upgrading my card since my PC is so crap there's no point.

 

[GeekyGuy]

Wow, what a drastic difference updating the drivers made. Just got back from Gametrailers, and even with the HD versions of videos, the framerate runs steady. Watching it with the task manager opened, the CPU is peaking in terms of usage, but somehow the video still runs really well.

Thanks for the help, guys.

 

[JonthanD]

Wow, what a drastic difference updating the drivers made. Just got back from Gametrailers, and even with the HD versions of videos, the framerate runs steady. Watching it with the task manager opened, the CPU is peaking in terms of usage, but somehow the video still runs really well.

Thanks for the help, guys.

Good to see something helped!!!

Your machine is fine for playing video, should be able to handle even playing BluRay HD to be honest (the graphics card would handle the decode with the right codecs)

 

[Rydian]

Any hacks that will do it? I'm not upgrading my card since my PC is so crap there's no point.

No, your card lacks the hardware.