The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

[CanwllCorfe]

No, it is my system RAM. Had no clue how to find out, but just Googled it.

Total available graphics memory: 1.05 GB
Dedicated video memory: 64 MB (doesn't look very good)
System video memory: 0 MB (neither does this)
Shared system memory: 1.05 GB

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by CanwllCorfe

No, it is my system RAM. Had no clue how to find out, but just Googled it.

Total available graphics memory: 1.05 GB
Dedicated video memory: 64 MB (doesn't look very good)
System video memory: 0 MB (neither does this)
Shared system memory: 1.05 GB

Hrmmm... I'm not sure how it works in your system (Mac, I'm supposing), but I know that dedicated video memory is pretty important in a PC scenario, as it's the only memory available to the GPU for rendering. I'm assuming your GPU is mounted to your motherboard, and those aren't really gaming scenarios, but if your system is telling you that you have 1.05 GB of available graphics memory, then I'd just go with that, which is more than adequate for playing a video fullscreen without any problems.

Now, when you say "freezes", do you mean the entire computer freezes, or just the video? I wonder if there may be something else going on. Either way, if you're on a Mac, I can only go so far with this.

[CanwllCorfe]

Nope! PC. It's a Dell. I can post the system info if that's relevant. Yeah that's right, I know how to find system info. I can PM you the instructions if you'd like. And yeah the whole computer freezes. The "busy" light, as I like to call it, lights up and stays lit until it finally unfreezes. Then it just comes on and off sporadically.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by CanwllCorfe

Nope! PC. It's a Dell. I can post the system info if that's relevant. Yeah that's right, I know how to find system info. I can PM you the instructions if you'd like. And yeah the whole computer freezes. The "busy" light, as I like to call it, lights up and stays lit until it finally unfreezes. Then it just comes on and off sporadically.

Yea, complete system specs would be awesome. Just post here.

[CanwllCorfe]

Dell Inspiron 531S
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
Memory (RAM): 3.00 GB
32-Bit Operating System

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by CanwllCorfe

Dell Inspiron 531S
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30 GHz
Memory (RAM): 3.00 GB
32-Bit Operating System

Hmmm... I went to Dell's spec sheet for that model, and it doesn't even list the graphics memory. But it does say that it's an integrated chip, which I suspected. If it really is only a 64MB capacity, then that could very well be your issue... but it begs the question... is this problem a recent thing, or has it always been this way with your computer?

If it's only recent, it's not because of your video memory. But if it has always been this way, then I'd be inclined to say it is. Especially if you have a large monitor with high resolution.

[CanwllCorfe]

I do have a large monitor, but it's only happened recently. Well I wouldn't say recently, but maybe for the last year.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by CanwllCorfe

I do have a large monitor, but it's only happened recently. Well I wouldn't say recently, but maybe for the last year.

It's really hard to test which component is the culprit without being able to change them out. I mean, a component can simply be going bad, or it could be a software issue. Have you, just for the sake of it, tried doing the normal clean-up type stuff like defragging, making sure you have adequate storage space, cleaning up all the temp files and cleaning out the registry, virus scanning, etc?

In Windows, the cause of 90 percent of its problems are simply due to how susceptible it is to being used as a cesspool. Standard, every-day users are usually the ones who have the most problems with this, because they ordinarily don't know what to look out for. But the remaining 10 percent could very well be hardware issues. They're a lot more rare, but all hardware issues are inevitable after a certain point.

To me, it just seems like you don't really have enough video RAM to run the video, and if your integrated graphics card really does share resources with the system, then I'm inclined to think that you simply have too much other crap trying to utilize that system simultaneously. I would be willing to eat the hats of my entire neighborhood if a fresh install of the OS and all the relevant drivers didn't solve your problem.

And if it didn't, then it would be obvious that the issue is in the hardware.
I'm not suggesting that wiping should be the first choice... but maybe it would be wise to try and get your computer back to the way it was before you started having the issue. At the very least, you'll then have an idea about what's causing it... software, or hardware.

[Freebase Dali]

Oh, and also try changing your resolution in windows to the lowest setting, and trying out a video in full screen. Try this first and see if there's any difference.

[s_k]

I was discussing this via PM. Seems like K-lite codec pack is causing troubles when playing video on the PC and Flash is causing troubles when playing video's through a browser.

I just got a PM from cawl... thingy telling me his PC keeps sounding like it's loading.
Reading the information above I figure it's not like the PC is too old or there's not enough memory in it.
The only thing I can think now is: It's really time for a reinstall, this PC's ****ed.

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

To me, it just seems like you don't really have enough video RAM to run the video, and if your integrated graphics card really does share resources with the system, then I'm inclined to think that you simply have too much other crap trying to utilize that system simultaneously. I would be willing to eat the hats of my entire neighborhood if a fresh install of the OS and all the relevant drivers didn't solve your problem.

Nah man, I run video's on an old P4 with 1,5gb of ram and 32mb onboard video. 3 gigs of ram and onboard video is more than enough to play video smoothly. As far as the other specs go, it should be a piece of cake for that PC to run video smoothly.

As I said, there are some probs with codecs and flash player, but I am afraid you're right in saying this PC is running a lot of stuff at the same time.
I think that a quick view of the task manager will be very interesting