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Power Mac G5 2.3Ghz Dual-Core: HiDef (Hulu) Video Support?

B

bugzrrad

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 17, 2008
6
0
I have a Power Mac G5 2.3Ghz dual-core system (M9591LL/A) with 2.5GBs of RAM and an Nvidia 6600 PCIe graphics card with 256MBs of RAM.

I tried playing a full-screen HD episode of "The Office" on Hulu.com and it was extremely choppy (like 0.5fps). The sound was fine. It's still quite choppy (~2fps) in a normal browser window (not full-screen)

Is this normal? Does this video card not support it? What is the most powerful card that can be installed in this machine? I'm not opposed to buying a PC card and flashing the ROM if need-be.

TIA,

bugzrrad@hotmail.com
 
It has a lot more to do with processing power than anything else. I don't know exactly which video codec Hulu uses, but the G4/G5 platforms have trouble with HD streaming media encoded with H.264.

Does the standard-def content on Hulu play fine for you?
 
Yes, everything else seems to play fine. That's a real damn shame to hear.
 
From the front page of Hulu's HD section:

Minimum System Requirements:

Macintosh: Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz or faster processor, 256MB of RAM, 64MB of VRAM
 
Do you have the processors set to highest? Go to System Preferences->Energy Saver

I see no reason for it to be running choppy like that. A Dual 2.0 Ghz G5 can playback 1080p video in Quicktime, there is no reason for yours not to be able to.

EDIT-I just tried playing a video in Hulu on my PowerBook (1.67 G4), and it completely sucks at playing 480p. I think it's a mixture of flash or something because this PowerBook can play 720p in Quicktime.

I'm kinda clueless at the moment.
 
It should be able to play 720p video without a problem no matter the codec. 1080p can be played nicely as long as its MOV, AVI or MPG (Sometimes WMV). The resource hog MKV junk format takes too much CPU power to play 1080p video.
 
FF_productions said:
Do you have the processors set to highest? Go to System Preferences->Energy Saver

I see no reason for it to be running choppy like that. A Dual 2.0 Ghz G5 can playback 1080p video in Quicktime, there is no reason for yours not to be able to.

EDIT-I just tried playing a video in Hulu on my PowerBook (1.67 G4), and it completely sucks at playing 480p. I think it's a mixture of flash or something because this PowerBook can play 720p in Quicktime.

I'm kinda clueless at the moment.
Click to expand...

disconap said:
From the front page of Hulu's HD section:

Minimum System Requirements:

Macintosh: Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz or faster processor, 256MB of RAM, 64MB of VRAM
Click to expand...

:)
 
FF_productions said:
Do you have the processors set to highest? Go to System Preferences->Energy Saver

I see no reason for it to be running choppy like that. A Dual 2.0 Ghz G5 can playback 1080p video in Quicktime, there is no reason for yours not to be able to.

I'm kinda clueless at the moment.
Click to expand...

Hell no a G5 can't play 1080P h.264 content. I had just this system a few years ago and it studdered like crazy. Try playing HD content in flash and you will get the experience described by the OP.
 
My 2.0 G5 can play h264 @ 1680x1050 with VLC. Quicktime chokes for some reason. Oh, and its video decoding is CPU dependent so that should give you the idea that your 2.3 isn't dead yet.
 
California said:
Actually yes. That's the computer I really want.
Click to expand...

I'm currently asking $1000 obo. not sure how much shipping will be; usps is usually pretty reasonable for big/heavy items though.

I have the factory box + styrofoam it came in. (no keyboard/mouse though)

craigslist - seattle

I can accept PayPal, but add 3% to cover their fee(s)
 
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