Audio lags video by a second or more

[burlmart]

I have a 2004 HP pavillion desktop

A while back I upgraded the RAM from 0.5 to 1.5 Gb on my trusty AMD athlon xp 3200+ w/ a Via SG3 Unichrome IGP video adapter.

maybe I had the problem before adding the 1 Gb RAM and never noticed, but now that my videos play better, the almost all have the audio lagging video problem.

Is rhere a windows XP setting I should check -- I know nothing about video settings and/or RAM interaction

[1492]

Most Flash streamed videos on the net today, are not actually Flash files, but are MP4 AVC. Flash is being used to stream MP4 using a common player. This is what YouTube streams by default. These newer graphics cards have embedded decoders to help take the burden away from the CPU.

[burlmart]

Thx, 1492 (and all)

When I sloppily typed this, "I also think ut is the old vid adapter tech," I should rather have said I agree w/ your assessmemt that my old graphics adapter is likely the pressing issue w/ poor HD streaming quality.

I should look inta a new card since it is a cheap test.

FWIW, when we were getting streaming Netflix a while back, it was a toss of the dice whether a movie would play on the HP until they started providing several video play quality levels. When set at a lower level, all the movies would stream fine, and I never noticed the lower quality difference.

[1492]

No, 64-bit is just referring to the type of memory on the graphics card.

You should take out the old graphics adapter. If it's integrated graphics, you could most likely disable it in your BIOS but not necessary. Just install the new graphics card in an available PC slot, and connect your monitor to it. Windows will boot into a compatible display mode, generally VGA, which is supported by all graphics adapters. Once in Windows Desktop, you can install the nVidia drivers which will give you full graphics support and performance.

You can use the video drivers that came with the CD, but I generally just download directly from the chipset manufacturer(nVidia) to get the most updated version.

[burlmart]

1492 wrote:
I don't think your performance issues are so much your CPU, but a severely outdated graphics adapter that's not suited for the latest Flash players. I would invest in an new graphics card, with updated technology, but you may be limited to what you can use due to the age of your desktop. Forgot AGP, and go for a newer PCI adapter such as the ZOTAC ZT-60604-10L GeForce GT 610 with at least 512K memory. I doubt your MB supports PCI Express(PCIe), so stay with standard PCI.

The link says 64 bit, but old PC is 32 bit. is this a prob?

I also think ut is the old vid adapter tech.

If I put a card in an open card slot, do I have to remove the old one *if, in fact, there is a video caed and not an AMD integrated graphics w/ cpu)

Will win xp see new card and automatically use it.


I am not married to the HP, but the 19" screen is a help to me. The old gateway laptop ('06) has a celeron M at 1.7 Ghz, Mobile Intel GMA 950 128 Mb memory graphics, winxp, 1 gig ram. Much less lag, and if not full screen, can even do CNET TV w/ no lag (not so w/ HP). I could plug Dell monitor into the laptop

[1492]

I don't think your performance issues are so much your CPU, but a severely outdated graphics adapter that's not suited for the latest Flash players. I would invest in an new graphics card, with updated technology, but you may be limited to what you can use due to the age of your desktop. Forgot AGP, and go for a newer PCI adapter such as the ZOTAC ZT-60604-10L GeForce GT 610 with at least 512K memory. I doubt your MB supports PCI Express(PCIe), so stay with standard PCI.

[burlmart]

wcjeep wrote:
Might be able to precache Youtube, then watch. It's a newer setting designed for 3g phones. Anything else running in the background? Adding the latest antivirus to an older computer will definitely slow other items.

Just MS Security Essemtials

The lag comes w/ HD streaming vids which push the cpu to 100%.

GuessI could turn MS Security off if it is continuously scanning a vid stream?

[MrWizard]

speaking of anti-virus
i have found that active scanning of ALL incoming files is a Major resource hog and slows things way down

[wcjeep]

Might be able to precache Youtube, then watch. It's a newer setting designed for 3g phones. Anything else running in the background? Adding the latest antivirus to an older computer will definitely slow other items.

[MrWizard]

Browser videos
if your streaming HD video this could be a problem for a PC with a slower cpu and older version of flash player
HD vids use higher data rates and more compression with 'codecs' that require more cpu to 'decompress' the video and display it on the screen
this can cause video stutter and audio syncing problems

[burlmart]

sometimes it pays to have low vision, I guess 🙂

[LittleBill]

need more cpu, nothing else will fix it, sorry op, time for a new laptop if it bothers you

[burlmart]

Looking at task manager, this takes 80-100% when the vid plays in small window and almost no lag. but in the full window form, cpu is 100% and lots of lag and some jumpy video

I see some old youtube vids do fine when cpu is under 100%

CNET TV is about the worst.

[burlmart]

DVDs are fine, its streaning internet vids like newsclips, youtube, etc

I cannot say for dure if it is all browser vids, or maybe HD types

[MrWizard]

are you using windows media player ?

check settings/ preferneces for an 'audio' delay
in the audio settings

i use VLC media player and there are settings you can adjust, IF you need to, because the video has a bad audio track that is out of sync

if everything on ALL videos is out of sync, its likely an adjustment problem, in wmp
not the new memory