My video looks like a slide show, processor speed or video card?

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M

mm

My video, even when it's downloaded already, sometimes looks like a
slide show. Is that the processor speed or video card?

Sometimes when I watch a video, like youtube, it looks like a series
of still pictures. Even if I have fully downloaded the file in
advance, and even if I am playing it the second or third time without
having to redownload it.

Sometimes each picture will last for 20 or 30 seconds before it
finally changes. I know it's not the entire video because if I play
it again, I get shots/scenes I didnt' see the first time through! And
don't see shots/scenes, I *did* see the first time through!

Once the same news video worked better on one website than it did on
the other!

I figure it's either my cpu
or my video card.


I have 800MHz but I'm moving to a newer computer with a 2.4GHz cpu.

I have an ATI Radeon 7000 video card, 64MB, AGP. The new computer
also has only an AGP slot (and PCI, but no PCI-e). I could transfer
the current card to the new computer, but if a better AGP card would
make my videos like videos and not slide-shows, I'd buy something new.

More RAM? Different version of AGP? (not sure what I have now) More
bits? More expensive? Different brand?

(I'm trying to keep my costs down.)

Thanks.
 
The AGP slot is going to severly limit a new video card choice and speed.
Another issue that is of concern on slower P/C's is the number of
applications and services running besides the application playing the
video.
Click to expand...

Let's assume the same number of applications and services as I run on
my currrent PC.
You also did not mention the sound system installed on the new or
old computer.
Click to expand...

They both have on-board sound. Asus and now Dell. But if need be, I
would buy a sound card.
The sound drivers and so forth also impact the playing
process. A new P/C with a 2.4Ghz cpu should have a PCI-e Motherboard and
likely not have an AGP slot at all.
Click to expand...

Ah, but it's not a new PC. It's a "newer PC" and it only has AGP.
I do have an older single core 2Ghz
P/C with an AGP video card, running XP. It will play videos reasonably
well. As I recall, the video card is somewhat faster than your 7000. The
system works, but has largely been supplanted.
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying, but I don't think you quite addressed my
question. Is the problem I have now more likely my CPU speed,
800MHz, or my ATI Radeon 7000 video card, 64MB?

If it's the video card, even if my choices are severly limited, would
it be possible to get something substantially better than what I have
for an AGP slot?

Thanks.
 
My video, even when it's downloaded already, sometimes looks like a
slide show. Is that the processor speed or video card?

Sometimes when I watch a video, like youtube, it looks like a series
of still pictures. Even if I have fully downloaded the file in
advance, and even if I am playing it the second or third time without
having to redownload it.

Sometimes each picture will last for 20 or 30 seconds before it
finally changes. I know it's not the entire video because if I play
it again, I get shots/scenes I didnt' see the first time through! And
don't see shots/scenes, I *did* see the first time through!

Once the same news video worked better on one website than it did on
the other!

I figure it's either my cpu
or my video card.


I have 800MHz but I'm moving to a newer computer with a 2.4GHz cpu.

I have an ATI Radeon 7000 video card, 64MB, AGP. The new computer
also has only an AGP slot (and PCI, but no PCI-e). I could transfer
the current card to the new computer, but if a better AGP card would
make my videos like videos and not slide-shows, I'd buy something new.

More RAM? Different version of AGP? (not sure what I have now) More
bits? More expensive? Different brand?
Click to expand...

For example, what about this?

http://www.amazon.com/Brand-RADEON-Graphics-Adapter-S-Video/dp/B0042A1QKC

Brand in BOX 256MB 256 MB ATI RADEON 9200 AGP 8X Video Graphics Card
Adapter VGA DVI S-Video/TV Out

It's AGP and it's got S-Video that I need, and it's 256MB, 4 times
what I have now.

Will that make it more likely to play videos correctly, all things
being equal>

Currently, my 800 MHz computer plays some videos properly but others
are like slide shows, even after they've been dl'd. I don't know what
makes the difference, or if there is a setting somewhere that might
make a difference.

Thanks again.
 
For example, what about this?

http://www.amazon.com/Brand-RADEON-Graphics-Adapter-S-Video/dp/B0042A1QKC

Brand in BOX 256MB 256 MB ATI RADEON 9200 AGP 8X Video Graphics Card
Adapter VGA DVI S-Video/TV Out
Click to expand...

I posted too soon, or at least incompletely. There are several
questions about compatibility with my mobo that need to be answered.

I see the 8X in the card name means something, an 8x AGP interface.
The Dell manual doesn't give that much detail. :( Is it possible to
tell just from looking at the slot whether it is 8x?

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agp 8X is either AGP 3.0 or
3.5 and the voltage is 0.8v. but that doesn't help *me* much either,
except that the url goes on about the difference in slots between 1.5
and 3.3v but says no more about 0.8.

Except, this one is both 4x and 8x
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042A5MD4...e=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B0042A5MD4
nVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 256 MB 256MB AGP 4X 8X Video Card Vga Adapter
and it can't be running on two voltages, can it? Or maybe the Wikip
page is wrong. It says AGP 2.0, 4x, is 1.5 volts and 8x is 0.8 volts.

I'm confused. :)
It's AGP and it's got S-Video that I need, and it's 256MB, 4 times
what I have now.
,,,>
Thanks again.
Click to expand...

http://www.esaitech.com/commerce/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=43283
The 98SE has these features.

# Asus Radeon 9200SE 128 MB DDR AGP Video Card

# General Features:
# ATi Radeon 9800SE GPU
# 8x AGP interface
# 128 MB DDR memory
# Quad-pipe Pixel Power
# High performance 3D
# SMOOTHVISION
# FULLSTREAM
# SMARTSHADER TECHNOLOGY
# HYDRAVISION
# Microsoft DirectX 8.1 support

# Connectors:
# 15-pin VGA
# TV-out S-Video
# Comp out
 
?
mm said:
I posted too soon, or at least incompletely. There are several
questions about compatibility with my mobo that need to be answered.

I see the 8X in the card name means something, an 8x AGP interface.
The Dell manual doesn't give that much detail. :( Is it possible to
tell just from looking at the slot whether it is 8x?

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agp 8X is either AGP 3.0 or
3.5 and the voltage is 0.8v. but that doesn't help *me* much either,
except that the url goes on about the difference in slots between 1.5
and 3.3v but says no more about 0.8.

Except, this one is both 4x and 8x
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042A5MD4...e=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B0042A5MD4
nVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 256 MB 256MB AGP 4X 8X Video Card Vga Adapter
and it can't be running on two voltages, can it? Or maybe the Wikip
page is wrong. It says AGP 2.0, 4x, is 1.5 volts and 8x is 0.8 volts.

I'm confused. :)


http://www.esaitech.com/commerce/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=43283
The 98SE has these features.

# Asus Radeon 9200SE 128 MB DDR AGP Video Card

# General Features:
# ATi Radeon 9800SE GPU
# 8x AGP interface
# 128 MB DDR memory
# Quad-pipe Pixel Power
# High performance 3D
# SMOOTHVISION
# FULLSTREAM
# SMARTSHADER TECHNOLOGY
# HYDRAVISION
# Microsoft DirectX 8.1 support

# Connectors:
# 15-pin VGA
# TV-out S-Video
# Comp out
Click to expand...

If you're upgrading to a 'newer' Dell machine, get it's service tag number,
which you can use at dell.com to find out more specifics of the machine.
 
?
Click to expand...

But maybe different pins provide different voltages, so wikip could be
right but still one card could have 1x, 4x, and 8x, I suppose.
If you're upgrading to a 'newer' Dell machine, get it's service tag number,
which you can use at dell.com to find out more specifics of the machine.
Click to expand...

I tried that. Because it came with no video card at all, just with
on-board video, the records for this specific machine say nothing
about the AGP slot.

Aha, but the manual does say AGP 1x, 4x, 8x. The last time I looked
at those specs was a yesterday, when 4x and 8x hadn't entered my mind
yet. Thanks for reminding me to look again.

So any of the three cards above should work, right?

And that they have 256Meg on-board RAM (instead of 64 that I have now)
should help me watch videos instead of slide-shows, right??
 
mm said:
But maybe different pins provide different voltages, so wikip could be
right but still one card could have 1x, 4x, and 8x, I suppose.

I tried that. Because it came with no video card at all, just with
on-board video, the records for this specific machine say nothing
about the AGP slot.

Aha, but the manual does say AGP 1x, 4x, 8x. The last time I looked
at those specs was a yesterday, when 4x and 8x hadn't entered my mind
yet. Thanks for reminding me to look again.

So any of the three cards above should work, right?

And that they have 256Meg on-board RAM (instead of 64 that I have now)
should help me watch videos instead of slide-shows, right??
Click to expand...

Try monitoring your CPU load when you're watching one of the videos that
look like a slide show.

If the CPU load is at 100% then your CPU is the bottleneck. If it's not at
100% then there is some other problem.
 
Try monitoring your CPU load when you're watching one of the videos that
look like a slide show.

If the CPU load is at 100% then your CPU is the bottleneck. If it's not at
100% then there is some other problem.
Click to expand...

Duh, that makes sense. Thanks. Why didn't I think of it? I think I
have something that does that graphically even. Ah, yes, System
Explorer, a free download. And it has a dropdown entry that calls
System Monitor/Performance, which comes with windows XP.

Each has an advantage. System Explorer (SE) changes the vertical
coordinate, so sometimes 40% will be all the way at the top. Maybe
there's a way to freeze it or max it, but I haven't looked yet.

SM/P seems to always show 100% at the top, so I won't get confused if
the scale changes.

But SE may have a big advantage, even on the graph it says which
program/process is using the CPU at the "moment", so maybe I'll be
able to figure out what process represents the video card, and maybe
that will show something too, as well as the total. And when
minimized to the systray, putting the cursor over the icon displays a
small box with the top 3 programs listed and how much CPU each uses.
So I don't have to hunt down the cntl-alt-delete list. It's a very
nice program.

Now I just have to find a video that acts like a slide show. I should
have noted the url when one did, but another will be along, I'm sure.

BTW, under Performance, SE also says which program is doing a) Reads
b) Writes, and c) other-IO. There used to be times when the hard
drive light was on a lot for a long time and I coudln't figure out
why. Of course that hasn't happened in the 3 months that I've had SE,
but it may again someday.
 
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