YouTube and NRK: flash-intensive applications w/ Core Duo

[noranalyst]

I am considering upgrading at least my CPU in my T60. On YouTube, and especially in our public broadcasting's television player, the CPU frequently goes to 100 % and the video does not run smoothly.

I invite owners of T60 to report their results on YouTube and their processor specifications (I assume RAM, RPM/SSD and anything else hardware-related to be close to irrelevant). I have Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo) 1,83 GHz. When considering a CPU upgrade, I wonder if
a) even an upgrade to the best possible CPU
i) without a motherboard replacement: Core 2 Duo, 2.33 GHz
ii) with a motherboard replacement / Frankenpad operation: X9000, 2.8 GHz, or
b) a seemingly reasonable prize / performance / emissions / power consumption (though the last two factors can perhaps be fine-tuned with some third-party application to a higher degree than in the in-built Power Control?) CPU, such as T9300,

will make a difference with regards to the tests presented below.

I consider NRK's television player a potentially better test than YouTube as there exists fewer workarounds for it, and I use it a lot more than YouTube as I do not own a television myself. Try this, and see if you get a stable high quality. It should be 3500 kbps by default. If you don't get a stable quality with this, try 1266 kbps. Often, you will see the decline in quality within one minute if there is such. This can happen on modern computers as well (due to poor programming on NRK's part?), but then it should only last for a few seconds at a time, as opposed to what is usually the case on my computer. My CPU average in the performance monitor (Run->perfmon) seems to stabilize around 70-85 in full screen, a little dependent on the quality and the number of programs running. It might be more difficult to identify a decrease in quality; I did consistently not get a quality decrease with the best settings when I tested it for the last time now. Perhaps this issue is more evident when livestreaming (not available for foreign IPs).

Thus, YouTube might be a better test after all. Here, it seems that I consistently can view up to 720p when few other applications are running, while 1080p is impossible to get running smoothly. Obviously, I don't need the latter, but I believe I can assume a correlation between the possibility to play this smoothly and the possibility to play especially live streams on tv.nrk.no smoothly, which I failed to do earlier today at 1266 kbps. So, I will be interested in the CPU (and possibly other pieces of relevant hardware) of those able to run this video smoothly on 1080p in flash-mode on their T60, T60F, or T61.

[Medessec]

The latest Flash apps and YouTube player are pretty heavy on resources... it doesn't surprise me that the early Core Duo T60 is nearly in the toilet when it comes to web apps.

Core Duos are noticeably less powerful than the Core 2 Duos that came right after, I always HIGHLY recommend everyone upgrade to at least a T7200, which usually means updating the BIOS... but it does work, and the amount of extra go-go is just phenomenal.

For the longest time, I used a 15" UXGA T7600(2.33 GHz) T60p as my school computer, it played YouTube extremely smooth, only struggling when I asked for it to play full HD, or some 720p videos, depending on the content and what else I was doing. I use Zune software for my music, and that tends to bog down the machine quite a bit. But it still fights it off.

I haven't had any settled experiences with a T61 yet, but I can tell you that Penryns, especially the 1066 MHz FSBs found in the T400/T500/W500, handle YouTube as it is now like it's nothing.

RAM I'd imagine plays a huge factor in this... any less than 2GB in your machine and you're in trouble.

I wasn't able to load the links you posted... but I'd have to get around yanking my T60s out anyway. I suppose I can report back.

[noranalyst]

Thank you, I will take the experience you share into account when deciding the processor.

As for the links, they should work. Are you sure you saw them all? I have put them all in bold now.

One more thing: I notice that the difference between buying, say, T9300 new from a Norwegian store and (used) from Ebay is quite large, nearly a factor of 10. Can anyone here recommend or advice against Ebay for such purchases?

[Dos3.1]

My T60's (I have several models) all work flawlessly and fast with videos on YouTube, etc., with Linux Mint 13 as the OS. They even work well running XP with YouTube. No problems.

I have an X60 running 7 that is fine with YouTube, too.

Of course, on my Windows installs I use CCleaner to keep everything in top shape and it makes a huge difference in performance.

[noranalyst]

What are your CPUs for the respective laptops? (I take for granted that you have 2 GB RAM or more. I have 2 GB.)

[Dos3.1]

What are your CPUs for the respective laptops? (I take for granted that you have 2 GB RAM or more. I have 2 GB.)

The one in front of me I can check: it is a T60 T2500 @2GHZ x2 and 3 gig of RAM. It runs XP, sp3.

[Shredder11]

I have three Thinkpad Z61p machines which are identical to the T60p. I have no problems with any YouTube videos at 1080p, although they are not perfectly smooth but then YT videos are affected by their encoding methods. All my Z61p have Core2 Duo T7600 CPUs and 3GB RAM and good quality thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. I even find it can playback files encoded at 50fps 720p HD totally smooth. As others have said here the Core Duo T2500 CPU also works really well. I bought my T7600 CPUs for approx £40 to £50 each from Ebay.

One thing I will say is that I only get good performance from online video if I use Microsoft Internet Explorer. When I use Google Chrome or FireFox things become very choppy and laggy, with CPU and GPU load and temps going through the roof. All my computers are well optimised and clean of any junk.

Even on my old Thinkpad G40 with Pentrium 4 2.8GHz, I can play 720p video files but only 480p with online streamed video. With my Thinkpad X60s I can do 720p for both when I use Windows XP, but on Win 7 things are more choppy and laggy in comparison. Those two computers have 2GB and 3GB of RAM respectively.

[Norway Pad]

Noranalyst: I have a T7200 CPU / 2 x 2Gb RAM sticks in my T60 , and I watch NRK online sometimes. Unless something has changed lately, I haven't experienced any problems. I don't have the T60 available right now, but if I remember, I will test the links you posted.

Anyway, I upgraded the CPU from a 1.83GHz one, probably the same CPU as you have, and it was a noticeable difference in how the computer behaved and responded. Basically it seems like a recommended upgrade. Don't know how the even faster > 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo CPUs are seen when it comes to performance/thermal balance, but I might want to try an even faster CPU in my other T60.

[Dos3.1]

I also have found that video playback stability varies with the Internet connection, with wired giving better results over wireless, usually. And that RAM does makes a large difference. Simple things, but easily overlooked.

[Cigarguy]

I have a few X1400 T60 upgrade with at least a T7200, 3 GB RAM and a SSD. Will do most 1080p mkv files and never had any problem with youtube.

[Worzyl]

I tried the NRK on my T60p (see specs below) and it seemed to play fine, but I did wonder about the quality of the video itself. There were some instances when the camera would pan and it looked a little choppy, like a Spectrum 48k video game scroll. It was hard to see if it was my computer or the video endocding itself.

[sktn77a]

Had a T60 with 1.83 Core Duo, 2Gb RAM, Intel graphics. Never had a problem with YouTube/Flash videos. I did have some issues with CPU usage that were unrelated to video, however. Open task manage and under CPU utilization, see what is hogging your CPP. You'll probably find the culprit is MsMpEng.exe.

[farmall]

I just got a T60 with those specs and don't have any problem with Youtube.

It's next to me running Knoppix DVD install off a USB stick. (Nice way to try many Linux apps. Boot live DVD, select install to your USB stick and automagic happiness ensues.)

For a forty-dollar notebook I can't complain.