Poor MPEG-4/ITunes video performance. Is this typical? (1 Viewer)

[Todd Hochard]

All,

I've got a PC that I put together about two years ago, and I'm having a heck of a time getting it to play Itunes video smoothly.

Here's the setup-

Athlon XP2600+, Abit AN7 mobo, 1GB Crucial PC3200, Geforce 6200 8xAGP, 160GB hard drive, less than half full.

I've been trying to get ITunes downloads to play (Handy Manny

) but the CPU utilization is in the high 70s to near 100%. Similarly, I can't even get the 480p Quicktime HD trailers to play smooth- 100% load pegged.

I've done the latest drivers. I installed Nvidia's PureVideo download, that was supposed to add MPEG-4 Hardware acceleration, but seems to have done nothing for CPU load.

I can play WMV9 HD files at 720p with no issue- roughly 45-50% CPU load.

By comparison, my wife's laptop (Core Duo 1.6Ghz, 1GB RAM, Intel 945 integrated graphics) can play the 480p trailers with under 40% CPU load. Hers plays the 720p Quicktime trailers lickety split! On the battery, over a wireless connection. Oh, the shame!

Am I doomed to being forced to upgrade the CPU/Mobo? I didn't really want to right now, but this is driving me insane.

Thanks,

Todd

 

[Ted Todorov]

Keep in mind that iTunes Store video isn't MPEG4 -- it is H.264 which is a more CPU intensive codec. I would think also that iTunes is optimized for Intel's Core processors, as Core 2 Duos are in current Apple MacBooks & iMacs.

Ted

 

[MarkHastings]

Well, it is MPEG4 video. It's just that it's part 10 - kinda like MPEG 4.10 (if you will).

 

[Todd Hochard]

Well, I solved the problem. The 2600+ disappeared and a Core 2 Duo 1.86Ghz showed up in its place. I'm under 50% load in nearly all cases now- some of the really intensive 720p stuff from Apple's HD gallery pushes above 70%, but no problems.

Still not getting Nvidia's PureVideo (supposed H.264 acceleration) to have any effect on CPU load. None, nada. Oh, well.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

A 2600+ is a lot less than 2 real GHz, so I don't wonder at all that your computer was choking.

Getting H.264 acceleration working is difficult, and I'm not sure how effective your card will be at it even if you do.

 

[Todd Hochard]

The Athlon was running at 1.92Ghz, IIRC. I was underwhelmed from the time I bought it, to be honest.

If you have any pointers on H.264 acceleration, I'd be glad to have them.

Todd

 

[Ken Chan]

Reading around, PureVideo functions are exposed generically through DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA), but unlike MPEG-2, H.264 support is defined starting with DXVA 2.0, and 2.0 is in Vista. There is also a specific API that programs can use, and there are at least three that do, from Cyberlink, InterVideo, and Nero. Also, Cyberlink then makes its decoder available through DirectShow, meaning that a program like Windows Media Player can then play H.264 with PureVideo.

The QuickTime Player, perhaps because of its cross-platform nature, does not use DXVA, and is a pure software decoder (at least on Windows). However, there are better software decoders. Check out this comparo.