Weak HD Streaming. Upgrade my processor, or add graphics card?

[TimothyQ]

I made an HTPC back in 2013 with the following components:

Asrock FM2A88-ITX+
AMD A8-5600k w/ Radeon HD Graphics 3.60 GHz
8GB RAM
Running Windows 8

I find that this works perfectly fine for my original HTPC needs (playback of HD MKV files, lossless surround, ripping my blu-rays) but my internet streaming seems to suffer quite a bit. I have a consistent 50+ Mbps connection so I'm sure that is not the issue.

To improve this system for all around use (streaming, multitasking and efficiency), would you suggest a processor upgrade or the addition of a graphics card? I do not do any gaming at all, so I am not concerned with that.

Thanks!

 

[Robert Cook]

An APU, which you have, is not that great when it comes to graphics, are you streaming out to viewers, or watching stuff like netflix? either way, a GPU would most likely help your case, the questions waiting on your answer is how much to spend and what to get. because streaming netflix is a lot less demanding.

 

[Solandri]

mkv files streamed over your LAN are typically encoded with H.264 or MPEG4. These are decoded by specialized hardware in the GPU. Even your phone can do it because its GPU has that specialized decoding hardware.

Most internet streaming is done via flash or silverlight. Blame Hollywood - they don't want you capturing the stream as a H.264 or MPEG4 file, so they come up with elaborate encryption schemes using flash or silverlight. These videos must be decrypted and decoded entirely in software by the CPU (probably running inside encrypted virtual microcode).

So if you're having no problem streaming mkvs but Netflix and Amazon streamed videos stutter, then most likely your problem is a weak CPU.

 

[Robert Cook]

^Hmm, that sounds like a possibility, now all we need to know is whether or not it is video streaming to viewers, or streaming as you have listed it. however, A quad core AMD processor should not be too weak for that kind of stuff. especially a two year old one, if it were five years old, and dual core I might question it, but somehow it seems a bit odd.

 

[TimothyQ]

^Hmm, that sounds like a possibility, now all we need to know is whether or not it is video streaming to viewers, or streaming as you have listed it. however, A quad core AMD processor should not be too weak for that kind of stuff. especially a two year old one, if it were five years old, and dual core I might question it, but somehow it seems a bit odd.

Not streaming to viewers. I'm specifically talking about streaming services like Netflix, WWE Network (don't judge! haha) and Amazon Prime. Sometimes they cruise along alright, but most of the time they either stream at a lesser quality than HD or freeze for short periods of time.

My MKV files are all onboard via several HD's. No streaming involved at all. I also notice that the APU sometimes generates a bit more heat and has to crank up the fan when watching videos via Youtube so I assume it is working harder than it should be.

 

[TimothyQ]

Also, I would prefer not breaking the bank, but if I am going to crack the thing open I would like a solution that will be sufficient over the next few years. A sub-$200 solution would be ideal. If you really think something that is $250 is going to be a huge leap, I'm all ears.

 

[Robert Cook]

Ok, then just get a R9 270 non "x" it is great for gaming should you want to do that, and should be more than capable of streaming, if you just want streaming, then get a R7 260x

 

[RazerZ]

^ How would adding a GPU help with streaming?

 

[TimothyQ]

^ How would adding a GPU help with streaming?

What would do you suggest that conflicts with this?

 

[RazerZ]

Have you checked your APU temps while streaming? You said earlier the fans would rev up so it might be overheating.

Spec wise you're in the green.

 

[TimothyQ]

Generally, the fan does not rev up but it has happened on occasion specifically when using Youtube (on a warmer day of course). My fans are all unclogged and the space within my case is as good as it is going to get (pretty good), so I'm not really sure what the issue is. Even when the fan is quiet and there are no apparent issues with heat it still doesn't stream as smoothly and as high quality as I would expect.

It's a weird thing. I wish I had more info, but it is what it is.

 

[Solandri]

Generally, the fan does not rev up but it has happened on occasion specifically when using Youtube (on a warmer day of course).

If you're using Chrome, there's a setting you can change to make YouTube use video hardware decode.

http://superuser.com/questions/656687/confirm-correctly-working-of-hardware-acceleration-in-chrome-windows-7

My fans are all unclogged and the space within my case is as good as it is going to get (pretty good), so I'm not really sure what the issue is. Even when the fan is quiet and there are no apparent issues with heat it still doesn't stream as smoothly and as high quality as I would expect.

Researching it a bit more, I agree with RazerZ. The A8 shouldn't have a problem decoding 1080p streams (one Amazon review says the CPU hits about 10%-20% load with Netflix FHD). So you've got a different problem. As I said earlier, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu use flash or silverlight to decode the video stream on the CPU. So my guess would be you've got some cruft or malware which has latched onto those and is interfering with playback.

Do the easiest check first. Start up an incognito Chrome window (right-click Chrome in your task bar and select "new incognito window"). Unless you've changed it, Chrome disables all extensions in incognito mode. Try viewing a Netflix movie in that incognito window and see if it performs any better. If it does, then you know the culprit is one of your extensions.

If that didn't help, try the following

• 
  ■Install and run Malwarebytes.
  ■Make sure your anti-virus is up to date and run a deep scan.
  ■Update your network drivers. Make sure you have the right ones installed. Sometimes the wrong drivers can work, but with degraded performance (e.g. inconsistent speed aka jitter, which could have an adverse negative impact streams while minimally affecting max download speed).
  ■Optionally, run superantispyware and adwcleaner.
  ■Update your video drivers.
  ■Uninstall and reinstall flash and silverlight.
  ■Run msconfig and disable anything under Startup that doesn't seem crucial (like Java and Acrobat updater).

After each of these steps, reboot and re-try a Netflix streamed movie.

 

[TimothyQ]

I haven't tried everything yet, but incognito mode still did the same thing. I did utilize that link you attached. Apparently there are all kinds of issues. I'll copy and paste so you can take a look. I appreciate all of the help. It's all very useful information.

Graphics Feature Status
Canvas: Hardware accelerated
Flash: Hardware accelerated
Flash Stage3D: Hardware accelerated
Flash Stage3D Baseline profile: Hardware accelerated
Compositing: Hardware accelerated
Multiple Raster Threads: Disabled
Rasterization: Software only, hardware acceleration unavailable
Threaded Rasterization: Enabled
Video Decode: Hardware accelerated
Video Encode: Hardware accelerated
WebGL: Hardware accelerated

Driver Bug Workarounds
clear_uniforms_before_first_program_use
exit_on_context_lost
scalarize_vec_and_mat_constructor_args
texsubimage2d_faster_than_teximage2d

Problems Detected
GPU rasterization is blacklisted on non-Android: 362779
Disabled Features: gpu_rasterization
Some drivers are unable to reset the D3D device in the GPU process sandbox
Applied Workarounds: exit_on_context_lost
TexSubImage2D() is faster for full uploads on ANGLE
Applied Workarounds: texsubimage2d_faster_than_teximage2d
Clear uniforms before first program use on all platforms: 124764, 349137
Applied Workarounds: clear_uniforms_before_first_program_use
Always rewrite vec/mat constructors to be consistent: 398694
Applied Workarounds: scalarize_vec_and_mat_constructor_args
Raster is using a single thread.
Disabled Features: multiple_raster_threads