I have an old Pentium 3 clocked up CPU at 1.1GHz, 512MB of RAM and a nVidia Ge force2 Ti 64MB video card that i recently installed. I use to have a really old video card but i tossed it. When the old video card was installed in the computer, it couldn't play any video's on YouTube or Netflix or any other video sites similar to the one's i've mentioned. Although it did play YouTube videos ONLY under 360p, when i changed it from 360p to the lowest setting 240p it would play the video (my old video card would play the video at 240p as well) but it would be horrible quality, all pixilated but it would play and it would be in sync with the sound. But as soon as i changed it to 360p or higher it would get way out of sync with the sound and it would freeze then play and be very choppy. So i figured changing the video card would do the trick. But unfortunately that didn't help much, it kind of made my computer a little faster and the graphics look better as well but that's about it. Even with the 64MB card it still wouldn't play any thing higher then 240p on YouTube. I went on YouTube and looked up the system requirements that you need to have to watch videos and i meet the minimum requirements by far. (500MHz CPU, 128MB of RAM and a minimum of 64MB video card) So if any would could please help me with this problem i would very much appreciate it.
Video card related problem, need help.
- Thread starter M325i
- Start date
claptonman
New Member
Pretty much, your system is terribly out of date. Your processor is weak and you have very little RAM. I have trouble watching youtube with my old P4 1.4GHZ and 512mb RAM laptop. It's most likely a CPU and RAM issue. That minimum requirement is probably for 240p videos. Sorry to say, you'll probably have to upgrade to get good quality youtube videos. Even a $300 laptop would do.
My old video card was a 16MB ATI Rage 128 and it still played videos at 240p. 16MB is no where near the minimum requirement to watch YouTube videos but it still played them. That's why i though upgrading the video card to 64 or 128MB would at least let me watch videos in 360p (that's all i'm looking for nothing more than 360p as i'm aware that the system is old) So i'm not entirely convicned that it's a CPU or RAM issue. (more RAM could help though i'm working on getting some DDR2 RAM) Would it help if i got a 128MB video card? And can i upgrade my CPU only? I have SD RAM now maybe some DDR2 RAM would do it? I know this system is super old but i though it would be able to play YouTube videos at the least you know what i mean? lol. I can't upgrade my system at this time that's why i'm trying to work with what i got, i use it for the internet mostly, and i was planing to use it for watching videos but apparently i can't. YouTube also say that you must have windows higher then 2000 (i have XP) and the most recent updates must be installed, i disabled the automatic updates, should i install the most recent updates? I got this computer for free a few years back from a friend, at that time i had a HP Pavillion DV9700 but those had a video card defect themselves something about them over heating and melting the solders right off the motherboard, so i didn't even touch this desktop from about 2007 till now so i think the Windows probably need up dating right? Is there any thing else you can suggest that might help play at least 360p? Other than CPU GHz and RAM Anything?!!
Last edited:
bm23
Active Member
i dont think there's much you can do. there's no upgrading because you'd have to change everything (motherboard, CPU, RAM), ie buying a new computer. you could try cleaning your computer of junk data, unused programs and possible spyware/viruses though i'd think the increase in performance is very minimal.
i already cleaned up the computer deleting programs i don't need, installing virus protection and physically cleaning the computer from the inside, but no video improvement, although it made the PC run about 5 times faster no joke.
jonnyp11
New Member
the thing is even my igpu if i set it to run at like 64mb's can run 1080 probably, it's not as much the amount it's processing but for you the speed, those are so dated and slow it can't do anything to todays tech, oyur only bet would be to look for a pci video card on ebay, i doubt that thing even has an AGP slot in it, but i don't know how long those have been around.
No there is no AGP slot on the motherboard only PCI, (i know my system is out dated lol) so are you saying that the nVidia Geforce 2 Ti is too slow to keep up with today's tech? So it would help if i got a better, newer, more current video card?
I thought the Geforce 2 Ti was a huge upgrade, guess i was wrong lol well it kind of was for me because my old video card was a crappy 16MB ATI rage 128.Just an update... installing the latest drivers for the video card really helped with the video playback LOL now i can play 360p. BUT it still plays kind of slow, it's watchable though and it's a HUGE improvement from before HUGE!! Before it would freeze for a few seconds then the image would change now it flows much better. It's still not playing completely smooth though. And the CPU usage isn't at a 100% like before when the video is playing it's at about 80 to mid 90%. I figured out half of the problem, what should i do to make it play totally smooth? (like you're watching TV) can i make adjustments in the Google chrome setting? (i use Google Chrome it faster for me) or any thing like that?