q6600, VGA, 1080p youtube playback.

[Heesleemer]

so been messing around with an Old HP pc. 

tried to use it as an HTPC, but seems to have choppy 1080p playback from youtube while on full screen. Smaller screen at "1080" is fine, along with files already on the system. could it be an issue of the VGA cable? or is the q6600 not able to do fluid 1080p streaming online. However, it is only when it is on full screen. 

[SLAYR]

Could also be the internet connection, or whatever gpu is in the system, the q6600 isn't likely the culprit unless you are at 100% usage.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

8 minutes ago, Heesleemer said:

so been messing around with an Old HP pc. 

tried to use it as an HTPC, but seems to have choppy 1080p playback from youtube while on full screen. Smaller screen at "1080" is fine, along with files already on the system. could it be an issue of the VGA cable? or is the q6600 not able to do fluid 1080p streaming online. However, it is only when it is on full screen. 

It should be enough. I watch full-screen 1080p youtube videos on a laptop with 1920x1200 native resolution, powered by a Core 2 P8400 and a mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics card. However, i do have problems if some background process kicks in (99% of the time, some form of windows update), so you make want to check nothing else is running in the background. If not, it's either GPU or internet connection. 

[Frosty]

What sort of video card do you have in that system? I have a q6600 in my htpc with a gt610 and it does 1080p playback just fine. Even 1080p60 videos.

[Curufinwe_wins]

4 minutes ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

snip

 

17 minutes ago, Heesleemer said:

snip

What gpu do you have in there? Core 2 desktop processors do NOT have integrated graphic solution. 

 

This combined with it's relatively low cpu strength may be why you are having issues playing back 1080p video.

 

If you are not using a pcie gpu, you are probably relying on your motherboards onboard graphics (a common thing at the time.) These things are awful. They will stutter like crazy watching 1080p video (In fact, in june I reworked a q6600 desktop from my grandparents who's gpu died and I do seem to remember it struggling with youtube videos, even as it worked for everything else. OBV no games.)

 

I would recommend checking out a cheap used gpu (say a 610/730 or something) and seeing if that solves the issue.

[Quinnbeast]

Try running the task manager (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+Del in Win 7, then 'Processes' tab) while you've got the full screen video up and running. If you're hitting 100% CPU usage, that's your answer.

 

I had an old e4400 that would really struggle with 1080p streaming; a cheap upgrade to an e8500 helped a lot, but it's still not quite as buttery smooth as a modern CPU. The GPU is largely irrelevant if you're playing a stream that is software decoded (CPU intensive) rather than hardware (GPU).

 

Try a few different browsers to see if their implementation makes any difference, some people have better luck through IE rather than chrome, for example.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

Just now, Quinnbeast said:

Try a few different browsers to see if their implementation makes any difference, some people have better luck through IE rather than chrome, for example.

I must say Chrome makes things harder for my P8400, as it tends to load my CPU more for no apparent reason compared to other browsers. Still, when nothing else gets in the way I can watch 1080p youtube in Chrome too.

[Heesleemer]

33 minutes ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

 

What gpu do you have in there? Core 2 desktop processors do NOT have integrated graphic solution. 

 

This combined with it's relatively low cpu strength may be why you are having issues playing back 1080p video.

 

If you are not using a pcie gpu, you are probably relying on your motherboards onboard graphics (a common thing at the time.) These things are awful. They will stutter like crazy watching 1080p video (In fact, in june I reworked a q6600 desktop from my grandparents who's gpu died and I do seem to remember it struggling with youtube videos, even as it worked for everything else. OBV no games.)

 

I would recommend checking out a cheap used gpu (say a 610/730 or something) and seeing if that solves the issue.

this, got it, thanks! @Curufinwe_wins I guess the issue is finding a gpu for a 250w psu... tfx...

[Heesleemer]

1 hour ago, Quinnbeast said:

Try running the task manager (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+Del in Win 7, then 'Processes' tab) while you've got the full screen video up and running. If you're hitting 100% CPU usage, that's your answer.

 

I had an old e4400 that would really struggle with 1080p streaming; a cheap upgrade to an e8500 helped a lot, but it's still not quite as buttery smooth as a modern CPU. The GPU is largely irrelevant if you're playing a stream that is software decoded (CPU intensive) rather than hardware (GPU).

 

Try a few different browsers to see if their implementation makes any difference, some people have better luck through IE rather than chrome, for example.

Hitting 80-90%. It's an HP OEM motherboard (Asus), would the e8500 be compatible? 

With that said... its cheap, something to get me over until zen apus

[demonix00]

If memory serves the q6600 and the e8500 are the same socket type, but what would the point be in going from a quad core to a dual core processor unless there's some performance gains (however, you should check all the info HP has as they might have to set up to only accept certain processors, but I'm not an expert in those things).

 

As others have stated, on board graphics in those era motherboards are unlikely to hold their own when it comes to 1080p video and something like a GT610 or GT710 should work with your current power setup (the lower end cards draw their power directly from the PCI-E slot).

[Heesleemer]

46 minutes ago, demonix00 said:

If memory serves the q6600 and the e8500 are the same socket type, but what would the point be in going from a quad core to a dual core processor unless there's some performance gains (however, you should check all the info HP has as they might have to set up to only accept certain processors, but I'm not an expert in those things).

 

As others have stated, on board graphics in those era motherboards are unlikely to hold their own when it comes to 1080p video and something like a GT610 or GT710 should work with your current power setup (the lower end cards draw their power directly from the PCI-E slot).

I'll probably end up getting my 750ti from my buddy, and try to pick up a 400w tfx psu... or just wait till zen apus... with that said 75w from pcie slot + 115w for the q6600 + 25 head room for ssd & dvd drive... it should still technically be good.

[SLAYR]

2 minutes ago, Heesleemer said:

I'll probably end up getting my 750ti from my buddy, and try to pick up a 400w tfx psu... or just wait till zen apus... with that said 75w from pcie slot + 115w for the q6600 + 25 head room for ssd & dvd drive... it should still technically be good.

You will be waiting a while for zen probabbly q3 next year for when all of zen will be out, neglecting how long the backorders will be, or even how good it will actually even be.

[Heesleemer]

Just now, SLAYR said:

You will be waiting a while for zen probabbly q3 next year for when all of zen will be out, neglecting how long the backorders will be, or even how good it will actually even be.

eh, its a htpc, no rush... although having something to mess with is always nice. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

3 minutes ago, Heesleemer said:

I'll probably end up getting my 750ti from my buddy, and try to pick up a 400w tfx psu... or just wait till zen apus... with that said 75w from pcie slot + 115w for the q6600 + 25 head room for ssd & dvd drive... it should still technically be good.

I wouldn't worry about total power consumption of that set up, but I would worry about the ability of the PSU to deliver the right amount of power to each lane (for example, if your CPU  and GPU exceed its 12v limit, it won't help to have spare capacity on the 5v line). You may want to check your PSU for a wattage breakdown table (something like like this)

[Heesleemer]

Just now, SpaceGhostC2C said:

I wouldn't worry about total power consumption of that set up, but I would worry about the ability of the PSU to deliver the right amount of power to each lane (for example, if your CPU  and GPU exceed its 12v limit, it won't help to have spare capacity on the 5v line). You may want to check your PSU for a wattage breakdown table (something like like this)

Will do! It's a silverstone unit from a while back, so I have high hopes, but i shall double check.