New Win7 computer, jerky video, help?

[Larry G]

Hey everyone,

Recently, my old beloved computer with WinXP Home died on me, so I bought a new inexpensive computer until I can get something better. An eMachines el1333g-0w. Granted I KNOW this isn't a top of the computer by any means, and I'm didn't get it for something high end like gaming. but I was hoping to AT LEAST enjoy the same quality of video and sound as I had on my cheapy previous WinXP eMachines. I've also owned other brands like Compaq and Acer, btw.

What I'm finding is jerky video, mostly flash (.flvs and .mp4s), but .avis seem to be ok. Also videos are out of sync. I assumed this was a streaming problem, but the same occurs on videos on the computer itself. Again, AVIs seem ok. So far.

So I installed new drivers but all this did was remove my nVidia controls and didn't solve the jerky video problem, so I rolled back, thankfully.

On the RealTek "3D" system, on my old computer, I could leave the speaker volume at less than 50% and that was more than adequate. On this one, I have it maxed out to 100% and it's...ok. I think that's just off. I've tweaked and tweaked it. There's no sound AT ALL on a game I tried.

Plus, the computer seems to use 100% of the CPU all too often, which COULD be giving me some of the vid problems I'm experiencing, BUT the vid problems remain even if it isn't at 100%. Mostly this happens when I use a browser or IM at the same time.

This particular model did not come with a hard drive flicker light making it impossible to tell when the hard drive is being accessed.

Other than these "minor" details, I am happy with Win7, I like how it just shuts down when you want it to, period, and doesn't stall out, but I am EXTREMELY unhappy with the video performance. Can anyone give me any guidance. I know it's probably mostly choice of computer and a hardware issue, but I would like to solve this problem before I sink any more money into a different computer.

I wasn't expecting perfection, but AT LEAST as good of performance as my 2003 w3050 eMachines model. Here are my specs:

CPU1 : AMD Athlon™ Processor 2850e
(1.8GHz, 512KB L2 cache) Operating System2 : Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit Chipset : NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 SE Memory3 : 2GB DDR2 dual-channel (2 × 1GB)
Expandable to 4GB
2 DDR2 slots total, 0 DDR2 slots available Hard Drive4 : 320GB 7200rpm SATA Optical Drive : 16x DVD±R/RW SuperMulti drive
Write max: 16x DVD±R, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+RW, 8x DVD±R DL, 5x DVD-RAM, 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW
Read max: 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-ROM Media Reader5 : Multi-in-one digital media card reader
CompactFlash® I & II, CF+™ Microdrive, SecureDigital™ (SD) Card, MultiMediaCard™ (MMC), Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard™ (RS-MMC), Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick Pro®™ (MS Pro), xD-Picure Card™ (xD) Video3 : Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 SE graphics Audio : 6-channel (5.1) high-definition audio
USB Speakers Network : 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port) Peripherals : eMachines® PS/2 keyboard and mouse Ports : 9 - USB 2.0 (5 front, 4 rear)
2 - PS/2 (keyboard and mouse)
1 - VGA
5 - Audio jacks
1 - Headphone jack (front)
1 - Microphone jack (front)
1 - RJ-45 Ethernet Dimensions : 10.4" H x 3.9" W x 14.6" D Weight : 12 lbs. (system unit only) Warranty6 : 1-year parts and labor limited warranty with toll-free tech support Software :

• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Microsoft® Works
• Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 Trial7
• Norton Internet Security™ 2009 Trial8
• eMachines® Recovery Management
• Adobe® Flash® Player
• Adobe® Reader®
• Google Toolbar™
• Nero® 9 Essentials
• WildTangent® Demo Games9

Larry

 

[Jonathan_King]

Welcome!

I recommend starting off by cleaning off your computer. Go into Programs and Features and uninstall everything you don't use.

Google the programs you are unsure of.

 

[Product FRED]

Welcome!

I recommend starting off by cleaning off your computer. Go into Programs and Features and uninstall everything you don't use.

Google the programs you are unsure of.

Rather than doing that, use this to remove programs that come with the computer. It's freeware and it's made for what you're suggesting. Welcome | The PC Decrapifier

 

[Zomby88]

How would removing programs help his issue ?

I suggest seeing what else is running, run your video and open task mgr and see what else is going on.
How long ago did you purchase the pc ? Is the option to return it still there ?

 

[Desslok]

I'm guessing you want to invest in a cheap video card to offload the video overhead on the machine and the shared RAM. You can pick one up for that setup for $30 or less.

 

[Larry G]

How would removing programs help his issue ?

I suggest seeing what else is running, run your video and open task mgr and see what else is going on.
How long ago did you purchase the pc ? Is the option to return it still there ?

Only a few weeks ago. I could return it, but really just need the internet access right now, don't really wanna go through all the hassle.

I don't think that removing programs would necessarily help the jerky video issue either. My old computer ran just fine on the factory installed programs, so I'm thinking it's something else, though in general, yeah removing excess is probably a good idea, but not with this issue.

On another forum, someone suggested it could be the processor. On the old computer, the processor was an AMD Sempron running at just over 2.0 GHZ. This one is an AMD Athlon running on 1.6 GHZ.

That peeves me off right there knowing that possibly I'm running on less power requiring more power. On the other hand, I dunno much about processor architecture so know if a 1.6 Athlon has in fact more or less power than a 2.0 sempron. The video card idea is probably another one I should go with.

At any rate, thanks, everyone, I shall just suffer through it until I can take care of these issues.

Larry