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Posted by Geena Phillips on 08/23/06 17:25
Freewheeling wrote:
> Hi folks. I've got some problems watching video and DVDs on my system
> and I'm wondering what I need to do to get watchable performance? I
> like to use the system to watch DVDs because of the high resolution of
> the digital screen, and because I have the computer set up so I can see
> the screen when I do my indoor rowing. What had originally been some
> minor problems have lately become severe... though I'm not sure why. The
> video was never stunning, but it used to at least be watchable. I'll
> describe the problems below, but first here's how my system is composed:
>
> System parameters:
>
> Motherboard: ASUS A7M266
> Processor: AMD Athlon 1400 MHz
> RAM: 2GB
> Video Card: ASUS AGP-V7100 DVI SDRAM v44.03 (GeForce2 MX Chipset - no
> memory)
> Sound Device: CM18738/C3DX PCI Audio Device (this is the onboard audio)
> DVD Player: Toshiba DVD-ROM SD-M1502
> Monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 205BW (Digital 1024 x 768)
>
> (Note: Video, audio, USB, and wireless card all use IRQ 9. I have
> replaced all of the fans on the inside as well as the heatsink and the
> power supply, within the last year. Processor runs at about 47C. )
>
> Symptoms: When listening to sound alone it tends to periodically
> "stutter". This appeared to get worse after I installed the Belkin N1
> wireless card. Video, especially when using DVD (and to some extent in
> general) is irritatingly jerky. The jerkiness when watching a DVD movie
> on the Toshiba isn't just mild, but can make some movies nearly
> impossible to watch. And the jerkiness corresponds to sound
> interruptions that make it all but impossible to hear what's being said.
> I use Cyberlink PowerDVD software to watch DVDs. Whether I use Version
> 4 or Version 7 doesn't seem to make any difference to performance. As
> soon as the DVD starts to run and there's something on the screen
> besides a still image, I notice that the hard drive is accessed
> continuously, and the access seems directly related to the sound and
> video faltering.
>
> I normally run in 32-bit color mode, but switching to 16 doesn't smooth
> anything out. Just as jerky and stuttery either way.
>
> Question: Short of buying a completely new system, which changes would
> tend to produce adequate video/DVD performance? New sound and/or video
> card? Video memory? New DVD Player? Some adjustment to things
> assigned to IRQ9? Is there some way I can use that 2GB RAM to
> substitute for the hard drive access? Any other ideas?
>
> BTW, is it possible to upgrade the processor in this system, and would
> that help?
I'm no expert by any means, but a couple things stand out for me:
Is your DVD playback using software or hardware decoding? Hardware
decoding would be preferable, and would use less of your system's
resources. If your video card has no onboard memory, that would increase
the burden on the rest of your computer to process the video data.
What processes are running? Hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and see what Task Manager
shows you. You'd be amazed how many programs that aren't active will
still have processes taking up resources. If you're unsure about the
nature of a particular process, just type the complete name of the
process into Google, and it will almost always point you to a
description on the first page of results.
Are you routinely checking your computer for adware/malware using Spybot
Search&Destroy and Ad-Aware? Both programs are free, and can find and
eliminate the vast majority of nasties that might have installed
themselves on your system. Given the recent increase in the severity of
your problem, I suspect this might be part of it.
--
--
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