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macjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 3, 2003
366
0
Hi,

Is there any way to improve the video performance on my iBook G3 (600mhz, 640MB RAM, 16MB VRAM)? I find that besides not being able to play any of the HD trailers at Apple's website (even 480p), it can't even seem to play a standard trailer without stutterring. Is there anything I can do to improve the video performance?

Would downgrading from Tiger to Panther help?

Thanks.
 

Leareth

macrumors 68000
Nov 11, 2004
1,569
6
Vancouver
upgrading to at least a G4 ibook will help :D

but seriously - panther downgrade is a good option, when I had my 700MHZ G3 it ran the fastest under 10.3.8

oh and make sure you have at least 15% of hard drive free
 

dpaanlka

macrumors 601
Nov 16, 2004
4,868
30
Illinois
macjay said:
Is there anything I can do to improve the video performance?

Besides make sure nothing else is running... no.

macjay said:
Would downgrading from Tiger to Panther help?

No.

Leareth said:
panther downgrade is a good option, when I had my 700MHZ G3 it ran the fastest under 10.3.8

He didn't say the computer was slow, he said playing Apple's high resolution trailers is slow.
 

Leareth

macrumors 68000
Nov 11, 2004
1,569
6
Vancouver
I should have phrased it better, I had no problems running trailers and DVD's under 10.3.8 where as there was noticable stuttering under tiger.
as for High res trailers they always ran buggy but then again I havent had the iBook for over year and half.
 

macjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 3, 2003
366
0
Thank you both for your input.

Do you think using VLC (or some other video player) might provide better performance than Quicktime?

Cheers.
 

EHUnlucky7x9@ao

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2006
312
1
New Jersey
macjay said:
Hey Leareth,

What was the VRAM and RAM on your G3?

Thanks.

His iBook has a 16mb VRAM chip in it, as he stated. It's an ATI Rage Mobility chip. There's no way to fix it because the video card is soldered to the motherboard. As the first poster said, you'd have to upgrade yourself to a new machine. Or, just not watch HD videos on your iBook.

VLC won't help watching movies that are streamed either because your limited to your graphics processor on your iBook. High Def wasn't really out and about on the web when that iBook was made.

Downgrading your iBook from Tiger to Panther would only speed up your computer because the OS wouldn't be too demanding from the CPU. The closer you get your OS to the original OS the iBook was made for, the faster your machine will become.
 

macjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 3, 2003
366
0
EHUnlucky7x9@ao said:
His iBook has a 16mb VRAM chip in it, as he stated.
No, that was me, the OP.

Do you think the bottleneck is at the graphics card, the CPU, or perhaps both?

For example, when I try to watch the following trailer for "Borat" which is NOT HD, I get stuttering and pausing:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/borat/trailerg/

EHUnlucky7x9@ao said:
Downgrading your iBook from Tiger to Panther would only speed up your computer because the OS wouldn't be too demanding from the CPU. The closer you get your OS to the original OS the iBook was made for, the faster your machine will become.
Which OS do you think would be ideal for an iBook 600, especially with regard to video performance? It came with 10.1, but I'm not sure that that would be the fastest OS...

Cheers.
 

CubeHacker

macrumors 65816
Apr 22, 2003
1,243
251
Your bottleneck is your CPU. Although the standard trailers shouldn't be stuttering (at least, I don't think they should be), there is nothing you can do short of buying a new computer to get faster speeds with your video's.
 

EHUnlucky7x9@ao

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2006
312
1
New Jersey
Well, I'm just basing logic here. The closer your version of the OS to the original, would free up CPU usage. The G3 platform isn't too great for more current versions of OSX or use of video.


If the video is stuttering...is it a streaming video or is it fully downloaded and your watching it. If it's the first, its your online connection speed. If its the other, then its undoubtably your video card.

As Cubehacker said, 600mhz G3 isn't fast enough. I owned a 600mhz iBook G3. I do remember the stop and go when watching trailers at Quicktime.com.... that's why I sold it and tried to get a faster CPU with at least 32mb VRAM ibook...but ended up with buying a Powerbook G4 667mhz. I think your problem would be solved if you managed to get your hands on a G4 equipped laptop. I owned a 400mhz Tibook and even though it only had 8mb VRAM....the video was still smooth. I believe it's the CPU and the G4 has Altivec...so check it out if u can get your hands on one.
 

CubeHacker

macrumors 65816
Apr 22, 2003
1,243
251
EHUnlucky7x9@ao said:
Well, I'm just basing logic here. The closer your version of the OS to the original, would free up CPU usage. The G3 platform isn't too great for more current versions of OSX or use of video.


If the video is stuttering...is it a streaming video or is it fully downloaded and your watching it. If it's the first, its your online connection speed. If its the other, then its undoubtably your video card.

As Cubehacker said, 600mhz G3 isn't fast enough. I owned a 600mhz iBook G3. I do remember the stop and go when watching trailers at Quicktime.com.... that's why I sold it and tried to get a faster CPU with at least 32mb VRAM ibook...but ended up with buying a Powerbook G4 667mhz. I think your problem would be solved if you managed to get your hands on a G4 equipped laptop. I owned a 400mhz Tibook and even though it only had 8mb VRAM....the video was still smooth. I believe it's the CPU and the G4 has Altivec...so check it out if u can get your hands on one.

Yep, a G4 helps a LOT. My ancient 600mhz G4 can not only play the trailers fine, it can play all Divx's fine, and can even play H264 480p trailers 95% perfect (only a few frames dropped here and there).
 
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