Computer help please

[Jimaroid]

Another test. Does the same thing happen if using a different browser without any ad block or similar extensions and plugins enabled? Do the same tests using Edge and Chrome. Also try running Firefox in safe or troubleshoot mode - there’s a menu option somewhere to restart itself in that mode.

I also suspect the PC is throttling/constraining and likely it’s something dumb in software causing it rather than anything truely intensive. It’s not unheard of for Firefox etc. plugins to max out the CPU in a busy loop.

Lastly are you running either display in native 4K resolution? Drop the resolution and try running at 1080p instead.

Lastly last thought however! A “cheap” HDMI2.0 cable has caused me no end of grief like this in the past, but that’s the the last thing to try unless you’ve got a known good HDMI2.1 cable knocking about. It probably isn’t the cable but thinking it wasn’t the cable is exactly what caused me a lot of grief.

I know it’s a lot but the only way to diagnose is to methodically try different things and eliminate.

 

[Neilds]

I might be asking a really stupid question here, but why are you watching YT whilst surfing the web? You can’t watch / do two things simultaneously- you are a bloke!

 

[SocketRocket]

Apologies if this is simplistic. I had bad buffering issues watching YouTube on my TV due to its memory limitations. I purchased an Amazon Firestick which has it's own inbuilt memory and now it never buffers.

 

[bobmac]

Despite the fact that the PC about 2 feet from the router, the ethernet cable was 5m long.
I've swapped it for a shorter cable so I'll see if that helps.
Thanks for all the advice

 

[bobmac]

I might be asking a really stupid question here, but why are you watching YT whilst surfing the web? You can’t watch / do two things simultaneously- you are a bloke!

I got in touch with my feminine side after watching Smiffy play golf

 

[GreiginFife]

Apologies if this is simplistic. I had bad buffering issues watching YouTube on my TV due to its memory limitations. I purchased an Amazon Firestick which has it's own inbuilt memory and now it never buffers.

A firestick has 1-2Gb of memory, Bob’s PC has 32Gb so I don’t think that’s going to be the issue.

I’m still in the “mobility APU throttling under load” camp.

 

[bobmac]

I’m still in the “mobility APU throttling under load” camp.

I'm using Firefox to browse Amazon, Edge to watch youtube at 1080p but when I turn on my outdoor camera, the CPU peaks at 91 degrees.
I'm guessing that's too high?

 

[GreiginFife]

I'm using Firefox to browse Amazon, Edge to watch youtube at 1080p but when I turn on my outdoor camera, the CPU peaks at 91 degrees.
I'm guessing that's too high?

That's high for such little load. In theory it shouldn't throttle at 91 degrees as a spike but if it stays at or around that then it's going to reduce performance to accommodate. As it's an integrated graphics unit then it takes a hit too.

It's just one of the drawbacks of using mobility chips in small containers. As I said above, my laptop does the same with the 5800U, goes from 40-50 degrees to 80 odd in a second with just a few browser tabs open. Conversely, my desktop with an overclocked Ryzen 7 5800X3D rarely spikes above 60 degrees, even under heavy load, with a 360mm All in One cooler, that's the massive difference a proper cooling solution makes.

 

[Mudball]

I'm using Firefox to browse Amazon, Edge to watch youtube at 1080p but when I turn on my outdoor camera, the CPU peaks at 91 degrees.
I'm guessing that's too high?

does firefox still exists? try a proper browser like Chrome and see if it changes anything.

 

[bobmac]

does firefox still exists? try a proper browser like Chrome and see if it changes anything.

I tend to switch between Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
It depends largely on which browser will show You Tube channels without adverts.

This looks interesting...

Amazon.co.uk

 

[GreiginFife]

I tend to switch between Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
It depends largely on which browser will show You Tube channels without adverts.

This looks interesting...

Amazon.co.uk

TBH Bob, I think you'd be no better off looking at it's build. And at that price, better USFF systems can be built from scratch using non-mobility chips, with proper active cooling systems and better quality RAM.

Problems with using mobility chips is what pretty much put the big system builders off the USFF market, and now it's all just small Chinese Amazon based companies that sell them.

 

[Mudball]

I tend to switch between Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
It depends largely on which browser will show You Tube channels without adverts.

This looks interesting...

Amazon.co.uk

instead of this, any chance to get a smart tv with built in YT app. I have a Samsung which has a YT app - never used it.
Instead, my iphone pairs with my Samsung TV using bluetooth. I can simply cast my phone YT onto my TV. The TV itself is wired to my router via ethernet, so gets the full pace
Never had any buffering

 

[Jimaroid]

Greigs correct but I still also think there’s software issue. Video playback, a browser and a webcam should be well within the performance reach of that system without it constraining peformance.

Stick to one browser using multiple windows and tabs - it’s more memory efficient than running two different browsers.

What’s the webcam manufacturer and software like? So many of those connected devices come with awful device drivers and client software and generally not well optimised or memory efficient.

 

[GreiginFife]

Greigs correct but I still also think there’s software issue. Video playback, a browser and a webcam should be well within the performance reach of that system without it constraining peformance.

Stick to one browser using multiple windows and tabs - it’s more memory efficient than running two different browsers.

What’s the webcam manufacturer and software like? So many of those connected devices come with awful device drivers and client software and generally not well optimised or memory efficient.

Thing is Jim, with these H and HX chips, they heat up so fast, don't get cooled properly and start throttling. iGPU is heavily affected. I don't doubt that a software issue will be adding to it. But 91 degrees with so little load is asking for bother. Would be interested in what the BIOS is set to for memory, might not even be running in dual channel and don't even know if XMP is an option so the 3200Mhz memory could quite easily be running 2133 JEDEC default.

All of that, combined with any software/bloatware issues is just heaping load on to the APU and upping the power draw.

 

[bobmac]

Greigs correct but I still also think there’s software issue. Video playback, a browser and a webcam should be well within the performance reach of that system without it constraining peformance.

Stick to one browser using multiple windows and tabs - it’s more memory efficient than running two different browsers.

What’s the webcam manufacturer and software like? So many of those connected devices come with awful device drivers and client software and generally not well optimised or memory efficient.

I'm learning a lot from that HWMonitor about what's power hungry.
The edge browser seems ok but will try Chrome again.
The one thing I do know is how much I don't know

Would be interested in what the BIOS is set to for memory, might not even be running in dual channel and don't even know if XMP is an option so the 3200Mhz memory could quite easily be running 2133 JEDEC default.

Well, obviously, any fool knows that

 

[GreiginFife]

I'm learning a lot from that HWMonitor about what's power hungry.
The edge browser seems ok but will try Chrome again.
The one thing I do know is how much I don't know

Well, obviously, any fool knows that

HWMonitor and its sister app CPUID are brilliant for trouble shooting performance drops.

Try an app called Ryzen Master it lets you manage the processor a bit more. Plenty of Youtube vids on it (if you can watch one without buffering ).

The BIOS thing was more a musing as seen loads of mini systems touting dual channel, fast memory where in reality its running singe channel default speeds because it hasn’t been configured properly.

 

[bobmac]

I know where the bios is but about 25 years ago a friend told me to steer clear of it...so I did

 

[GreiginFife]

I know where the bios is but about 25 years ago a friend told me to steer clear of it...so I did

I think that was god advice, about 25 years ago , back then there wasn't much in there to fiddle with. Nowadays so much of the motherboard's config is done in BIOS like memory speed and timing settings, CPU clock settings and boost, shared resources and more.

On my own system, albeit a desktop, there is around 20% performance gains locked away in default BIOS settings.

 

[bobmac]

I think that was god advice, about 25 years ago

No, I'm sure his name was Mally