Why can't my 6950 view 1080P video without unwatchable stuttering?

NathanP2007

[H]ard|Gawd
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Dec 17, 2007
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When I watch YouTube or Twitch in 720P it's smooth but when I crank it up to 1080P I get stuttering so bad it's unwatchable. (Q6660, 8Gb RAM).

Hell, even my old laptop (Intel HD Graphics 4000) can view 1080P YouTube and twitch videos (just tested and it viewed 1080P @ 60fps YouTube vid perfectly while Twitch is open in another tab). It's just really hard for me to believe the 6950 can't handle 1080P video.
 
If Wikipedia is correct the 6950 has Universal Video Decoder (UVD) 3.0 support which appears to have acceleration capability for H.264 video. Do you have hardware decoding turned on for your browser?
 
I get the feeling it's because of your CPU, more than anything. You say that even your old HD 4000 laptop can do it, but you're forgetting that even that old clunker is still lightyears ahead of your Core2Quad system, what with it being an Ivy Bridge-based CPU (a whole 5 generations newer).

I actually still have an old P8700 Core 2 Duo laptop laying around, and after testing it out, it's in exactly the same situation. Despite having a dedicated GPU that is much faster than Intel graphics (a GT240M), the lack of CPU power makes it totally inadequate for trying to view 1080p video, unlike my Sandy Bridge-based i5 2520M laptop with HD 3000 iGPU.
 
Check your CPU usage when watching videos. Also is your Q6600 overclocked?
 
I just upgraded from a [email protected] and never had any trouble with 1080p video from youtube or Amazon. At least not with regards to my PC. Considering I'm also running an even older and less powerful GPU I'd think the issue isn't the hardware. I also never noticed high CPU usage anytime I was running streams at that resolution.
 
I've got an X5460 and HD5770 upstairs that I can try 1080p youtube videos on to see if my faster CPU and lower model GPU can do it.
 
No trouble here on C2Q (OC Q9400) and even older GPU (8800GT).

Do you have real drivers for your GPU. I Tried my setup on Windows 10 and the video with the included basic drivers.
 
is your Q6600 overclocked?

That's a great question. IIRC stock speed on the Q6600 is 2.4Ghz. Most can handle overclocks in the 3.3-3.6Ghz range and that should be a significant improvement. My HTPC is still using a C2Q, a Q9550 @ 3.8Ghz, which is a bit faster than a Q6600 even if it's overclocked but not too far off. The only thing that the CPU has issues with at this point is 4K x265, which still mostly works but will have occasional stuttering and audio-sync issues as a result of the processor being basically maxed out. Anything 1080P, x264 or x265, is never an issue though.
 
Try this:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/h264ify/aleakchihdccplidncghkekgioiakgal?hl=en

YouTube has started defaulting to VP9 video playback, and only Maxwell 2.0 (or later) and Kaby Lake (or later) has full hardware acceleration for it.

YouTube defaults to VP9 because it save s them bandwidth over old AVC, and they don't have to bother width licensing HEVC. They don't give a shit that nobody on he PC side has hardware support, since you can decode VP9 1080p smoothly with an ancient 8-year--old Sandy Bridge Core i3 2100.

The Q6600 is not fast-enough to beat that Sandy Bridge Core i3, unless you overclock it to over 3 ghz. It's bandwidth and processing-limited running at 1066 mhz bus.

Or you can buy a newer Nvidia video card?
 
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Try this:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/h264ify/aleakchihdccplidncghkekgioiakgal?hl=en

YouTube has started defaulting to VP9 video playback, and only Maxwell 2.0 (or later) and Kaby Lake (or later) has full hardware acceleration for it.

YouTube defaults to VP9 because it save s them bandwidth over old AVC, and they don't have to bother width licensing HEVC. They don't give a shit that nobody on he PC side has hardware support, since you can decode VP9 1080p smoothly with an ancient 8-year--old Sandy Bridge Core i3 2100.

The Q6600 is not fast-enough to beat that Sandy Bridge Core i3, unless you overclock it to over 3 ghz. It's bandwidth and processing-limited running at 1066 mhz bus.

Or you can buy a newer Nvidia video card?

Is there a way to force youtube VP9 to test my tired old CPU/GPU on it?
 
Is there a way to force youtube VP9 to test my tired old CPU/GPU on it?

They are defaulting to VP9.

Just find any recent demanding video on YouTube (lots of motion, lots of detail), right, click "stats for Nerds", and if it says VP09 under codec, and it says 60fps optimal resolution, then you have your test case.
 
Ok, yeah, it would be a problem on a stock Q6600. My Q9400 at 3.2GHz is just enough. Averaging about 75% CPU on 1080p VP9, peaking in 90%+ range.
 
Plays nearly perfect on my system,
youtube-test.jpg
 
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