1080p HD videos stutter, lag, freeze -totally unwatchable on all browsers!

[Ransome]

I REALLY NEED HELP!!! Please read patiently and assist if you can !!

I have been desperately seeking a solution for this issue for many weeks and months. I can't watch videos at 1080p HD quality - like a normal person in 2015.

1080p HD videos 60fps or 30fps are simply un-watchable:
The videos are very jerky, have massive stuttering, lag badly, judder, jump, freeze up frequently, sometimes freezing totally for long periods and resume 30-60 seconds later.

The issue is the worst with 60fps videos such as gamespot's Reality Check:
http://www.gamespot.com/videos/reality-check-how-science-can-make-vr-better/2300-6422855/
But 30 fps 1080p videos are still totally un-watchable and run badly.
780p videos also not working flawlessly.

The issue appears in Chrome, in Firefox and less so in Internet Explorer (but I have heard that explorer doesn't show 60fps videos).

my specs:
Windows 7 Home 64 bit.
Asus GTX 670 DC2T GPU
Intel Core2 Extreme X9650 CPU
4 GB of DDR2 RAM

I have previously posted a topic here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2507388/google-chrome-stutter-lag-low-framerate-1080p-videos-youtube.html
But none of the few solutions mentioned there helped. And I am out of ideas as to how to fix this. I have tried everything:
Disabled Hardware Acceleration in Chrome
Disabled Hardware Acceleration in Firefox.
Disabling Hardware Acceleration in Flash settings when right-clicking on the video itself.
Resting Chrome to it's default.
Deleting all history, cookies and cache on both browsers.
Removing many softwares and apps that aren't 100% necessary.
Checking to see if there are extra plugins and removing them (no extra plugins).
Removing and re-installing Adblock Plus.
Disabling un-needed network adapaters.
Resetting my main network adapter and router.
Checking internet speed: running solid at 100mbps. No issues.
Using SuperAntiSpyware to full scan at maximum boost and remove spyware and tracking cookies.
Using Malwarebytes as well as Microsoft Security Essential fully updated to scan for malware, viruses or spyware: none found.
Used CCleaner several times to clean pc, and fix registry.
Defragged the hard-drive.
Uninstalled my Nvidia drivers, using manual uninstall.
Used DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) of the latest version, to totally remove any driver remains of Nvidia, AMD (my previous card), and Intel (Motherboard drivers) drivers.
Re-installed the latest Nvidia Drivers.
Checking the disable hardware in chrome://gpu, as well as checking the flash plugin in Chrome://plugins.
Set my PC to HIGH PERFORMANCE in power options.
Ran Windows Update.
Ran a windows memory diagnostic and found no issues.


For most users online, disabling Hardware Acceleration in Chrome or Firefox helps. But for me it doesn't. It only makes things lag even worse.
Also worth mentioning, my CPU usage rise up to 90% and ram between 30% to 60%.

I never pirate, don't use torrents or any sharing softwares, or some other potentially slowing and harmful illegal junk.
My PC is a secondry gaming rig (albeit older than my main PC), it is still very powerful, and its 100% clean of viruses, malware and spyware. It can run many games at maximum settings, so there is no reason in hell why it wouldn't be able to run pre-recorded videos smoothly at 1080p.

I thought going with FireFox will fix it, but I was wrong....
Please help... I will be grateful.

 

[Ransome]

I just posted a similar thread / question.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2633857/video-playback-gpu-cpu-load-youtube-local-playback-win-home-prem.html

I also posted GPU and CPU loads.

The thing is that the browser doesn't use the GPU when in 1080p @60fps
In all other modes, it does.

Goes for flash/html5, IEX, Mozz, Chrome, Opera.

I've had HW acc on and off.

Beats me.

I'm not getting it.

So you still found no solution?
My main problem is that some sites, including Gamespot which I visit regularly, have started to use 60fps as their standard video player settings. So if I want to watch anything HD or HIGH it would be 1080p60fps or 720p60fps respectively, and I will have severe stutters. Some youtubers are uploading in 60fps as well... so it gets worse.

Same issue here on a new laptop. Pretty frustrating. It only happened when using 1080p 60 (and above) html5 regardless of the browser used. Switching over to flash would alleviate the problem completely, but I'd prefer not using flash as it has its own set of issues. I found a fix for now, which got rid of most of the stuttering. Using Firefox, go into about config (type about:config into the address bar), then search for the following two lines and change the values of both to false:

media.windows-media-foundation.enabled

and

media.windows-media-foundation.use-dxva

Should you run into any problems, change the value of media.windows-media-foundation.enabled back to true and leave the other line on false. Hope this helps somewhat.

Greets.

Thanks for you reply.
Unfortunately I am using mostly Chrome, especially because I sync everything with my mobile Galaxy S5 and two pcs.
However that doesn't mean I won't start using Firefox if need be. I will need to test it when I have time. Are you sure that FireFox has 1080p 60fps even? previously it was only a Chrome thing (the 60fps ability).
Anyway.. if it helps, that's great.. still a deeply rooted problem. I watch a lot of shows in Gamespot and I can't put on HD because of these annoying stutters.
Wonder if there is an equivalent settings in chrome, I doubt it though.

 

[RobCrezz]

Try this chrome extension on youtube
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/disable-youtube-html5-pla/enmofgaijnbjpblfljopnpdogpldapoc?utm_source=chrome-app-launcher-info-dialog

 

[EBsessed]

Did you find a solution Ransome? I'm having the same trouble you're having and nobody anywhere can figure it out. It's maddening. Please, if you fixed it, share your solution.

 

[Ransome]

Did you find a solution Ransome? I'm having the same trouble you're having and nobody anywhere can figure it out. It's maddening. Please, if you fixed it, share your solution.

Hey! Quite unfortunately... NO!
None of the advised methods or fixes above provided any solid apparent solution.
Even 2 windows formats and re-installs, first Win7 and later a clean-install of Windows 10 64 bit, did nothing to help.

However with Windows 10 came a minor blessing, and a solid temporary fix:
Microsoft Edge.
Even on my older machine, I have zero stutters and lag while watching HD 1080p and 1080p 60fps videos! Even on sites like Gamespot which have notorious video players.
I was even able to watch 1080p60 fps videos on YouTube that are impossible to watch on Chrome or Firefox - with Microsoft Edge. It runs smoothly at high quality.
I recommend you to do the same:
Whenever you encounter problematic videos or websites - switch to Edge (copy and paste the link directly to the URL bar). It can be bothersome at times, but that's better than nothing right?

If only Edge had extensions - specifically ADD BLOCK PLUS!

Anyone knows when would Edge get extensions support? And will we get Addblock Plus for Edge (or something similar).
The biggest minus now is not having the option to block adds. As soon as that's possible, Edge would become my primary browser (outside of work).

But aside form using Edge, I found no fix what-so-ever for the video stutters.
Please tell me if Edge works stutter-free for you.

 

[MrHGB]

Did you ever fix this? I'm getting the same on my new tablet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ejiiSTHwV8

And as you said, offline and Edge works perfectly, it's just Firefox and Chrome that run so poorly.

 

[Ransome]

Did you ever fix this? I'm getting the same on my new tablet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ejiiSTHwV8

And as you said, offline and Edge works perfectly, it's just Firefox and Chrome that run so poorly.

Unfortunately no. Never found a fix for this.
Even after cleanly installing Windows 10 1511 version (with format) - it didn't help.

Only way to view the bad videos is using the latest Edge. Still no ABP for Edge though and I can't use Edge for work (I use Chrome most of the time) since it is not support. So since this is my workstation, it is very disappointing and frustrating.

 

[MrHGB]

I honestly think it's just the Atom Z3745 not being strong enough for the CPU hungry browsers. Firefox and Chrome could fix the issue by massively improving their product but it's not going to happen any time soon so I have sent the tablet back and requested a full refund. I will wait and see what 2016 brings. After using the Yoga 2 my Nexus 7 feels so small though, I think 10" is absolutely perfect for a tablet.

When I was testing the tablet it was using 100% CPU usage in Firefox and Chrome while watching a 60fps video, whereas the same video in Edge only used 30%.

 

[Hellion_1]

Try adding this extension to your chrome: h264ify It seems to have worked for me. I was so frustrated with this for a long time and I fond it by chance on a comment in youtube.

 

[Saucy Jack]

Hey dude/dudette,

Do you know if you can try running html5 video instead of flash? Sometimes html5 supercedes the flash player on firefox's newer versions, meaning that you can tweak the flash settings and versions all you want, but you're not changing a thing. I went through this myself, and it turned out that I had to use "About:config" in firefox to disable html5 and run flash videos again. Debatable on the 60fps, but I'm running 1080p video as fast and clear as the human eye could want. Try running youtube videos in firefox first and right click the video. This should let you know if you're running flash or html5. My advice is to run whatever one you're not using now. It did the trick for me. Let me know if you have any questions or if this doesn't do it.

 

[TheYellowPeril]

This is not a solution to stopping 1080p 60fps from stuttering, lagging and freezing as, like you, I've done everything I can to work around it. Done all the fixes, tried all the magic spells, did a couple of sacrifices to the gods, but nothing worked.

I'm using a MSI laptop CX61 2PF with GeForce840M graphics, Intel i7 and it STILL doesn't play YT vids at 1080 60fps. Standard 1080p is fine, but it just doesn't like 1080 60fps. I can render videos in 1080/60 and watch them back on the machine, but YT/streaming is a no go.

My solution is to watch at 720/60. Not ideal, and I am frustrated, but at least it's watchable.


**********UPDATE*************

Nope. Didn't fix it. The issue seems to soley be 60fps.

 

[Ransome]

This is not a solution to stopping 1080p 60fps from stuttering, lagging and freezing as, like you, I've done everything I can to work around it. Done all the fixes, tried all the magic spells, did a couple of sacrifices to the gods, but nothing worked.

I'm using a MSI laptop CX61 2PF with GeForce840M graphics, Intel i7 and it STILL doesn't play YT vids at 1080 60fps. Standard 1080p is fine, but it just doesn't like 1080 60fps. I can render videos in 1080/60 and watch them back on the machine, but YT/streaming is a no go.

My solution is to watch at 720/60. Not ideal, and I am frustrated, but at least it's watchable.


**********UPDATE*************

Nope. Didn't fix it. The issue seems to soley be 60fps.

Unfortunately, I have never found a proper fix.
But I will still recommend the alternative, if you haven't already.
Try switching into Microsoft Edge whenever you watch videos especially YouTube Videos.
Try this link:
https://youtu.be/gtgNUFSoHv8?t=520
Switch to 1080p 60fps, give it a few seconds to buffer.

Tell me if it works, on my old system, Edge can run 1080p 60fps videos - very smoothly!
Only downside is the lack of extension support for Edge - so I can't install ABP (Ad Block Plus). But ABP's page says Edge support is coming soon (it has been saying that for months - but I will stay cautiously optimistic.

For now, MS Edge is the best solution.
Tell me if it helps.

 

[Ticy]

Hi Ransome,

i had the exact same problem as you. I was about to give up, when i stumbled across my (and hopefully your) solution.
In my case it was a "faulty" driver for my network adapter. Steam was trying to make a game update, when my pc completely froze up.
Everytime i made a speedtest on speedtest.net my pc laged like crazy.

The solution im my case:
Uninstall your current drivers for your network adapter and use the windows default drivers. In my case the lags went away completely.

I wish you the best of luck,
Ticy

 

[Ransome]

Hi Ransome,

i had the exact same problem as you. I was about to give up, when i stumbled across my (and hopefully your) solution.
In my case it was a "faulty" driver for my network adapter. Steam was trying to make a game update, when my pc completely froze up.
Everytime i made a speedtest on speedtest.net my pc laged like crazy.

The solution im my case:
Uninstall your current drivers for your network adapter and use the windows default drivers. In my case the lags went away completely.

I wish you the best of luck,
Ticy

Thank you for the attempt, but it didn't help. I uninstalled them both through device manager and restarted my system (letting Windows 10 re-install and enable both Network Adapters - I have 2).
Tried to run the video I linked above (Metal Gear Solid V E3 2015 1080p 60fps) and it stutters and lags with sync problems.

My internet speed was and is fine. I am afraid the issue you had was totally different than the issue myself and others here on the thread are suffering from.

Like I said, best alternative-fix for me is switching to Microsoft Edge (which remarkably runs flawlessly even on 1080p 60fps!!!) every-time you watch a video. Why wouldn't they release extension support already! I want to use Edge with Adblock Plus!

 

[krang]

Hey! I was having the same exact problem.

I fixed it by disabling my firewall in Bitdefender.

Somehow it was causing youtube to lag out of control.

Hope this helps you.. I was having this problem for the past few weeks and it was driving me crazy...

 

[jvanzalen]

Hey! I was having the same exact problem.

I fixed it by disabling my firewall in Bitdefender.

Somehow it was causing youtube to lag out of control.

Hope this helps you.. I was having this problem for the past few weeks and it was driving me crazy...

Krang, you're my hero right now. Loading videos on my browser wasn't just causing that video, page, or even that broswer to lag/stutter, it was causing everything to lag/stutter, including any videos on my drive (or any media playback for that matter like music) and even my mouse.

Do you have any idea why the bitdefender firewall is causing this? Is the only workaround to disable it? I'm not terribly uncomfortable using just the windows firewall, but I'd rather fix the problem if I can.

And Ransome, this definitely worked for me, even if you don't use bitdefender, you should try disabling your antivirus's firewall (leaving windows firewall on) if it has one and see how it goes for you.

 

[krang]

Hey! I was having the same exact problem.

I fixed it by disabling my firewall in Bitdefender.

Somehow it was causing youtube to lag out of control.

Hope this helps you.. I was having this problem for the past few weeks and it was driving me crazy...

Krang, you're my hero right now. Loading videos on my browser wasn't just causing that video, page, or even that broswer to lag/stutter, it was causing everything to lag/stutter, including any videos on my drive (or any media playback for that matter like music) and even my mouse.

Do you have any idea why the bitdefender firewall is causing this? Is the only workaround to disable it? I'm not terribly uncomfortable using just the windows firewall, but I'd rather fix the problem if I can.

And Ransome, this definitely worked for me, even if you don't use bitdefender, you should try disabling your antivirus's firewall (leaving windows firewall on) if it has one and see how it goes for you.

Glad to hear it helped you.
I cannot say why this is the cause but I am assuming an update to their Firewall software is now seeing requests from YouTube and other streaming sites of the like as threats when they shouldn't be.
i am at work right now so I can't validate but there might be an option to only disable it on YouTube and not other websites... I willl have to check.

 

[Quinny898]

Hey! I was having the same exact problem.

I fixed it by disabling my firewall in Bitdefender.

Somehow it was causing youtube to lag out of control.

Hope this helps you.. I was having this problem for the past few weeks and it was driving me crazy...

This fixed it for me too, instantly removed the lag, amazing

Either a bitdefender or Windows update caused this, it didn't do it when I installed it but it seems to be the root cause as it's happening on both of my machines with it on. Time to report the bug to bitdefender then

Specs just in case they matter:
Laptop: i7-4720U, GTX 950M, 12GB RAM, Windows 10 Home, Bitdefender Total Security '16
Desktop: i7-3770, GTX 970, 16GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro, Bitdefender Total Security '16

They also both have MBAM on them, I wonder if they clash?

 

[jvanzalen]

Hey! I was having the same exact problem.

I fixed it by disabling my firewall in Bitdefender.

Somehow it was causing youtube to lag out of control.

Hope this helps you.. I was having this problem for the past few weeks and it was driving me crazy...

This fixed it for me too, instantly removed the lag, amazing

Either a bitdefender or Windows update caused this, it didn't do it when I installed it but it seems to be the root cause as it's happening on both of my machines with it on. Time to report the bug to bitdefender then

Specs just in case they matter:
Laptop: i7-4720U, GTX 950M, 12GB RAM, Windows 10 Home, Bitdefender Total Security '16
Desktop: i7-3770, GTX 970, 16GB RAM, Windows 10 Pro, Bitdefender Total Security '16

They also both have MBAM on them, I wonder if they clash?

If it helps, I didn't have MBAM on my system at all.

 

[Ransome]

Hey! I was having the same exact problem.

I fixed it by disabling my firewall in Bitdefender.

Somehow it was causing youtube to lag out of control.

Hope this helps you.. I was having this problem for the past few weeks and it was driving me crazy...

I don't even have bitdenfender 🙁 I never even heard of it. I'm using Windows Defender built-in and Windows Firewall. Also Malware-bytes trial as a scanner only.

 

[samwatkins]

I don't even have bitdenfender 🙁 I never even heard of it. I'm using Windows Defender built-in and Windows Firewall. Also Malware-bytes trial as a scanner only.

Did you try disabling windows "Aero" in "Change the Theme"? It might slow things down or interfere somehow. My system uses four times more CPU when playing video in Chrome, if "Aero" is enabled. Try the "windows 7 basic" or "windows 7 classic" theme under "Basic and High Contrast Themes". I'll bet this fixes the problem for you.

If not, did you try disabling all that firewall and anti-virus junk? Maybe that would help.

I'm not saying you should leave your firewall and anti-virus disabled forever, just try disabling it to see if it fixes the problem.

Also, did you try the solution described here? (for Firefox)

https://rejzor.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/improve-firefox-html5-video-playback-performance/

Good luck!

 

[Ransome]

I don't even have bitdenfender 🙁 I never even heard of it. I'm using Windows Defender built-in and Windows Firewall. Also Malware-bytes trial as a scanner only.

Did you try disabling windows "Aero" in "Change the Theme"? It might slow things down or interfere somehow. My system uses four times more CPU when playing video in Chrome, if "Aero" is enabled. Try the "windows 7 basic" or "windows 7 classic" theme under "Basic and High Contrast Themes". I'll bet this fixes the problem for you.

If not, did you try disabling all that firewall and anti-virus junk? Maybe that would help.

I'm not saying you should leave your firewall and anti-virus disabled forever, just try disabling it to see if it fixes the problem.

Also, did you try the solution described here? (for Firefox)

https://rejzor.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/improve-firefox-html5-video-playback-performance/

Good luck!

Hey!
I am using Windows 10 so Aero is non-exsitent anymore (Win7 feature)
I've tried installing Firefox again a few days ago, and I was surprised to find that - with Firefox - all videos are running smoothly now!! Even 1080p 60fps!!
And that's without doing that tweak you sent me. I didn't even removed the "OpenH264 Video Codec provided by Cisco Systems, Inc" extension (removing it is the same as doing the tweak only safer and less permanent).

Not sure what changed - but today Firefox run YouTube videos (and I believe other videos - need to test that) smoothly!

With that said, I have 2 issues:
1: Should I install the 64bit version ? (it is hidden in Firefox' download site - behind the "install for other platforms" section).
normal 32bit vs 64bit?

2. Firefox runs videos smoothly now - however the browser itself seems abnormally slow - and worse I get massive lag - INPUT-LAG and text delay.
I use Gmail Chat a lot at work, and when I chat with my co-workers, I can type 2 full words sometimes before they actually appear on screen. Browsing and loading pages, and doing back/forward also works very slowly.
I tried disabling Hardware Acceleration - but it seems to change nothing - and only cause some screen-tearing while scrolling.

Any idea how to fix the damn text/input/browsing delay/slowness? It is really hard to work and browse like that.