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Sudden decrease in video playback performance (YouTube 4k stutters)

AOgle
Novice
8,305 Views

I have a NUC6i7KYK with the latest version of Windows 10 Home all fully updated. I am using the new Edge on Chrome browser from Microsoft.

Up until this weekend, I could happily stream 4k YouTube videos on my computer with the only issue being the fairly high CPU and GPU usage meant the fan would spin up fairly loudly.

This weekend my computer suddenly dropped Bluetooth connections and Device Manager told me that my in-built Bluetooth device wasn't reporting its ID properly.

The answer to that (after quite a bit of searching online) was to cut all power to the computer, hold the power key for a few seconds to clear any states on the motherboard. When applying power and restarting, the Bluetooth device was found again and has worked since.

However, now, when playing 4k videos, my CPU and GPU use shoot up to very nearly 100% and the video stutters. Leaving the video playing for a few seconds causes the UI to slow down and there to be rendering errors on windows. I have to kill the browser and start again telling it to stay away from the 4k stream.

My device drivers are all up-to-date from the Intel Driver Manager Assistant (I always keep those as up-to-date as I can).

 

Can anyone suggest what might have gone wrong and whether I can address it?

I can watch 1080p videos, but my TV is 4k and the system is set up to use that. Everything was fine up to this weekend and then it just went wrong.

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39 Replies
AOgle
Novice
1,557 Views

Bugger. Your forum has taken away all the spaces and i can't create a table to space the data out.

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AOgle
Novice
1,558 Views

If I turn off hardware acceleration where available, the video does a much better job of keeping up (but still drops a large number of frames). CPU shoots up to 100% and the Video Processing stays at 0% with 3D around 30%.

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
1,559 Views

Hello AOgle, Thank you very much for providing those details.

 

As soon as I get any updates about the results from our Intel® lab, I will post the results on this thread.

 

Regards,

 

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
1,559 Views

Hello AOgle, I just received an update on this matter.

 

I just wanted to let you know that we are still working on this case, however, there is a new Intel® Graphics driver version validated for the Intel® NUC Kit NUC6i7KYK, it is version 26.20.100.7529, please install it and let us know if the issue persists:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/28973/Intel-HD-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-10-for-NUC6i7KYK?product=89187

 

If the problem remains then please provide the SSU report after installing the driver:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility

 

To attach the report, once you choose "reply" select the "clip" icon on the lower-left corner.

 

Regards,

 

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

 

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AOgle
Novice
1,559 Views

Hello Albert,

I am going to have to ask for some advice here.

When I created this thread, I was still using the legacy graphics drivers.

During it, I managed to find instructions to change to the DCH drivers.

The current installed version is 26.20.100.7755, dated Jan 9, 2020.

Your suggestion is 26.20.100.7529, albeit dated Jan 25, 2020.

When I go to install them, I am warned that my current drivers are newer.

Are you sure these are the ones for me?

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AOgle
Novice
1,559 Views

Never mind, I decided to just trust it was all pukka and pushed ahead.

No change.

the performance figures are precisely the same as I uploaded previously.

Attached is the SSU output.

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
1,559 Views

Hello AOgle, Thank you very much for providing those details and the report.

 

We will continue with our research on this matter, as soon as I get any results I will post all the details on this thread.

 

Regards,

 

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
1,559 Views

Hello AOgle, Thank you very much for your patience.

 

I just wanted to let you know that we are still working on this case, as soon as I get a possible resolution I will post all the updates on this thread.

 

Regards,

 

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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AOgle
Novice
1,559 Views

No problem.

1080p is still working fine and it appears you are able to reproduce the issue, so plainly there is something to be investigated.

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
1,559 Views

Hello AOgle, Thank you very much for your response.

 

Once I get any results, I will let you know on this thread.

 

Regards,

 

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
1,559 Views

Hello AOgle, I just received an update on this matter.

 

In order to continue with our research on this scenario, we just wanted to confirm:

What is the model of the 4K TV?

Which is the video port that you are using?

Are you using a single display? If you are using more than one monitor/TV, please provide the model of it as well.

Are you using adapters or converters?

 

Regards,

 

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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AOgle
Novice
1,559 Views

Hello Albert,

The video path is as follows:

HDMI port from rear of NUC6i7KYK to Marantz NR1609 to Panasonic TC-65FZ950C.

It is the only video path.

There is no adapter or converter.

 

I did once experiment with a USB-C to HDMI converter to try to troubleshoot an audio glitch with WinDVD Pro 12, but that didn't help (this unrelated problem: https://forums.intel.com/s/feed/0D50P0000490Q08SAE).

The video path, as I have described it is unchanged from when 4k YouTube used to work.

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
1,559 Views

Hi AOgle, Thank you very much for sharing that information.

 

We just wanted to confirm those details in order to continue with our research, as soon as I get more updates I will let you know on this thread.

 

Regards,

 

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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Ronny_G_Intel
Community Manager
1,559 Views

Hi AOgie,

 

We have been looking into this report and it seems that this is a "known issue" with the Chrome* browser when playing 4K videos on YouTube*. There are similar reports in the Chrome Communities, see here: https://support.google.com/chrome/forum/AAAAP1KN0B0vNg1a9yaqfk and please check on the suggestions regarding the optimization of the settings and the extension recommendations.

 

One of the recommendations which seem to be helpful is to install the extension h264ify: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/h264ify/aleakchihdccplidncghkekgioiakgal?hl=en

We tested it and we are not seeing the stuttering.

 

I would also recommend that you reach out to Google* for further support on this issue.

 

Regards,

Ronny G

 

 

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AOgle
Novice
1,559 Views

Thank you Ronny,

Installing that extension has changed the behaviour. The CPU no longer is so busy and the computer doesn't lock up entirely. However, the GPU still shoots up to 100% and the video still stutters.

I think you've shown that this is a Google thing but, before we close this topic, could you confirm that it is just the sixth generation CPU/GPU in my NUC that is struggling because it doesn't support VP8 & VP9? Would a later chipset play without issue because it has the proper hardware acceleration (and which chipset would that be)?

Plainly Firefox is cleverer than Chromium, but it may also be relying on older codecs. If those codecs are no longer supported then I'll need to know my options. It appears that Google doesn't care about the issue as the thread you copied is from October 2016.

I am looking at using more 4k content and don't want to have to be fighting performance bottlenecks with things like UHD Blu-Ray discs, etc.

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Ronny_G_Intel
Community Manager
1,559 Views

Hello AOgle,

 

I am not really an expert in video codec and also most of the information codec related is available via forums so it is difficult to find accurate data about it but we do have some of it very well documented, see for example the 8th and 9th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor Families Datasheet, Volume 1 of 2 and go to page #35, table 2-14. We have VP9 listed under 2160 (4K) resolution for video decoding.

When reading this documentation please pay attention that one section is for video decoding and the following section is for video encoding, there could little differences in hardware support depending on what you are doing.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Regards,

Ronny G

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AOgle
Novice
1,559 Views

Thanks Ronny.

I have been reading around the topic a bit and have seen some possibilities and some pitfalls. I can muddle through for now. This can be closed.

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Ronny_G_Intel
Community Manager
1,559 Views

Hi AOgle,

 

We are here to help, feel free to contact us back if you need anything else and thanks for confirming that we can close this ticket.

 

Regards,

Ronny G

 

 

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AOgle
Novice
1,559 Views

I don't know if this will be seen after the ticket has been closed. but my computer recently changed itself to DCH Graphics driver 26.20.100.8141 and soon after I had an upgrade to the 2004 Windows 10 version. Edge (on Chrome) is on version 83.0.478.45.

With all that, my NUC6i7KYK is back to performance.

I can watch VP9 streams on YouTube in 4k (2160p) with a reasonable CPU (~30%) and GPU (~30%) load. With my fan settings, the noise is as expected.

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