YouTube Question

[KyCatFan]

Does anyone have issues with YouTube buffering on one of your devices? Both of my tv's stream flawlessly using it at 4k, my older laptop streams fine, and my Fold 4 streams fine. My newer computer I built last year buffers all of the time regardless of quality. The higher the quality the worse it gets. I tried streaming a 4k test video from another site and it works flawlessly. Any ideas what might be causing it when my internet speed is good and all my other devices have no issues and the one that does (this PC) works fine with other sites? This is using Chrome. Same exact thing happens using Edge. Plays sample video on the other site in 4k but keeps buffering on YouTube.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

the ads all work great! Past that I dunno

 

[bbonds]

Hard wired or wireless?

 

[funKYcat75]

Did you try to PLEX your NAS?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

YouTube sometimes will glitch out and mess with the video quality, sometimes capping it at a resolution, even if the video (and bandwidth) offers higher. Check the settings kn the YouTube player. If other websites play videos fine then I'm thinking it's not the laptop or the wireless.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Oh and the requisite "stop downloading porn" reply, as well.

 

[KyCatFan]

Hard wired or wireless?

I've tried both.

YouTube sometimes will glitch out and mess with the video quality, sometimes capping it at a resolution, even if the video (and bandwidth) offers higher. Check the settings kn the YouTube player. If other websites play videos fine then I'm thinking it's not the laptop or the wireless.

I've set it to different quality levels and no luck. It gets worse the higher I go in quality. Just makes no sense with it working on every other device using high quality settings. It acts like my Internet speed is to slow and it won't show it loading ahead fast enough to keep up with the video. I did a speed test and it kept saying at least 120Mbps down and like 20 up.

Oh and the requisite "stop downloading porn" reply, as well.

No porn on there. So it's not that. I'd blame something in my computer if not for other sites working fine.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Could your browser need an update? Maybe clearing cache and cookies? This is an odd one, becsuse we can rule out your wireless, your laptop, the NIC, other websites.

Almost sounds like your browser, or something, is throttling your playback. Which sort of makes sense as the higher in quality you go (larger files being transmittied), the worse it gets.

I will say 120 down isn't great. But I also think it would be fine for streaming. And other streaming works you said.

 

[KyCatFan]

Updated and cleared everything already. It just doesn't make sense to me that I can wirelessly stream on any TV, my laptop, and my phone and never buffer regardless of quality. Yet I'm plugged directly into my router with my PC and get buffering. The 120 down works fine for me since I'm the only one using it. I just did another test and I got 161 and 36. Sometimes I get up in the 200's.

This is the 4k stream that works great for me. It starts off at a lower quality and bumps it up until it gets to 4k. I'm not sure what is the difference in this one and one from YouTube. I'm not as technically savvy as I used to be.

https://www.theoplayer.com/theoplayer-demo-4k-streaming

There's not a lot of sites to get 4k streaming on without purchasing something to be able to run a test besides YouTube. So I tried a 4k adult video for science. It played perfectly. I might take my PC into a shop somewhere and have someone look it over if I can't figure things out.

 

[CondorCat]

0

Does anyone have issues with YouTube buffering on one of your devices? Both of my tv's stream flawlessly using it at 4k, my older laptop streams fine, and my Fold 4 streams fine. My newer computer I built last year buffers all of the time regardless of quality. The higher the quality the worse it gets. I tried streaming a 4k test video from another site and it works flawlessly. Any ideas what might be causing it when my internet speed is good and all my other devices have no issues and the one that does (this PC) works fine with other sites? This is using Chrome. Same exact thing happens using Edge. Plays sample video on the other site in 4k but keeps buffering on YouTube.

Not sure. Sounds like it could be a PC browser issue. Are you using any Chrome extensions?

Google has been transitioning to a new Manifest V3 specification for extensions. It affects all Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave, etc). Manifest V3 deprecates V2 extensions, like Ublock Origin, that block YouTube ads.

"Manifest V3, the new standard for Chrome extensions, can indirectly affect YouTube buffering, particularly for users relying on ad-blocking extensions, as it restricts the capabilities of these extensions, potentially leading to issues with ad-blocking effectiveness and, consequently, YouTube's ad-detection mechanisms."

This probably isn't your problem, but it's something to check. Try disabling extensions. Try using Firefox to verify Chrome isn't causing the buffering.

 

[KyCatFan]

The only thing I can figure is it is something to do with my internet service or my PC has an issue with the Ethernet. It usually works good for the most part but having a 120+ down on the low end just seems to still not be enough. I am running a 4k 60fps video right now on my TV and it's keeping just ahead and no buffering. I also have my PS5 on with an online game running. My speed dropped to 87 down and 22 up I guess because of the 4k video but still worked. I might buy one of those USB wifi adapters and see if that does anything. If not then it might just be something going on with my internet service.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

And the PC can play other videos on 4k just fine? Like, if you go to Vimeo or stream Netflix.. no problems on the highest quality? Any chance it doesnt slow down at any other time of day.

You know, now that I see it's Ethernet.. I won't if its that. Bad Cat5e cable? Maybe running too long of a cable? Maybe the NIC on either the PC or the router? But that still would not explain why other streaming works fine.

Id chaos test. Id find some other streaming services.. 1080. 4k. Really put it to the test just to see. Because working in IT, you try to rule things out.. and this one doesn't make sense. Granted we can't see your setup but usually something sticks out.

 

[KyCatFan]

Usually I'm on there late at night when things are slowing down with the dayshifters going to bed. So it shouldn't be a congestion thing I wouldn't think. I'm going to look into that USB wireless adapter and at least that will possibly eliminate 1 thing it could be. If it won't play it with one of those then my PC Ethernet shouldn't be the issue. Doesn't seem like it should regardless with better luck on other sites.

The video I was playing on my TV wouldn't have made it 5 seconds on the PC before it buffered and that's with a slow start as well. Might give it a try with that same video now just to see what happens. If it doesn't play then I'll move on to the next possibility.

 

[CondorCat]

Your 120 Mbps should be OK. Minimum bandwidth needed for 4K/60 streaming is ~25 Mbps. Recommended 50 Mbps.

No other connected devices stealing bandwidth? Browser cache cleared and extensions OK? No excessive open tabs using memory. Maybe check your router settings to be sure QoS (Quality of Service) is set to prioritize network bandwidth traffic to your PC ethernet IP address.

 

[FusterCluck]

I had the exact same issue, but my solution was expensive.

Built first PC last year. I'm listing specs to see if anything matches in your build.
-MSI MAG B760m MB
-i7-12700k CPU (Wasn't building for an external GPU and this proc has internal Intel UHD 770 graphics)
-2TB SN850x NVMe SSD
-32GB 5600 DDR5
-MSI 750 Gold

Internet speed is a steady ~850Mbps at this PC via ethernet. No way this is the issue for me.

It wouldn't post to windows from bios no matter what I did, but I got it to boot from a Win11 boot/install disc. Runs just fine since, but I had the exact same issue with video buffering, especially YouTube 4K vids. I tweaked everything I could find in the bios to no avail. I eventually became convinced that it is some kind of Win11 video cache issue b/c it would start playing fine, then 5 minutes into a graphic-heavy video, it would start to buffer and rarely recover. And it would play lower quality video with no issues. I researched and messed around with RAM allocation for a couple of weeks and never really fixed it.

An RTX 4060 fixed it but good. But, I suspect you don't need that much card to fix the problem of just video cache. An older card will probably do the same job, or you could just figure out how video cache works and how to manipulate it. I don't know enough about Windows to even know what to search for and what I did find wasn't much help.

Good luck.

 

[FusterCluck]

Not sure. Sounds like it could be a PC browser issue. Are you using any Chrome extensions?

This probably isn't your problem, but it's something to check. Try disabling extensions. Try using Firefox to verify Chrome isn't causing the buffering.

FWIW- I use FF exclusively and I still had the buffering issue. I disabled all extensions/themes/add-ons with no luck.

Using the CPU's internal GPU, this PC had trouble playing Blu-Ray at native resolution, but has no issues at all when using the better GPU.

The thing is, the 4060gpu is only 8 extra gigs of vram. But, you know, it's dedicated, so who knows.

 

[FusterCluck]

Forgot to add to original post that cleaning PC/clearing caches would allow 4K playback again, yo know, for 5 minutes or so. This is why I figured that it was aram allocation issue.

 

[KyCatFan]

I had the exact same issue, but my solution was expensive.

Built first PC last year. I'm listing specs to see if anything matches in your build.
-MSI MAG B760m MB
-i7-12700k CPU (Wasn't building for an external GPU and this proc has internal Intel UHD 770 graphics)
-2TB SN850x NVMe SSD
-32GB 5600 DDR5
-MSI 750 Gold

Internet speed is a steady ~850Mbps at this PC via ethernet. No way this is the issue for me.

It wouldn't post to windows from bios no matter what I did, but I got it to boot from a Win11 boot/install disc. Runs just fine since, but I had the exact same issue with video buffering, especially YouTube 4K vids. I tweaked everything I could find in the bios to no avail. I eventually became convinced that it is some kind of Win11 video cache issue b/c it would start playing fine, then 5 minutes into a graphic-heavy video, it would start to buffer and rarely recover. And it would play lower quality video with no issues. I researched and messed around with RAM allocation for a couple of weeks and never really fixed it.

An RTX 4060 fixed it but good. But, I suspect you don't need that much card to fix the problem of just video cache. An older card will probably do the same job, or you could just figure out how video cache works and how to manipulate it. I don't know enough about Windows to even know what to search for and what I did find wasn't much help.

Good luck.

Going from memory

Ryzen 5 7600X CPU
AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB GPU
32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM
Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX Motherboard
Crucial 2GB NVMe SSD
Thermaltake 850w Bronze modular PSU

This build was designed for playing 1440p games (I use it for various stuff). I looked up the CPU and GPU and both can supposedly run 4k. I'm starting to think T-Mobile is the issue. It doesn't make sense though that my TV runs 4k pretty well (it's a $500 Hisense 4k TV. Yet my $1200+ PC can't. I can't run really any type of hd stream hardly on my PC.

I just ran a speed test and got this 143 and 34. Here's a video clip showing about 10 seconds of my TV playing a 4k video and the same with the PC trying to play it as well. I could do anything below 720p but as soon as I selected 720p the buffering starts.

 

[FusterCluck]

Dang, man. If you already have a dedicated GPU, I'm out of suggestions. Might be time to take it to somebody.

When I ran into issues with my build, I called a local PC shop and just started asking questions. The guy I dealt with was extremely helpful, told me some stuff to try over the phone and didn't even want payment for his time. Then, months later I was at Computers Plus in Evansville and the guy there told me that a big portion of their business was solving gremlin issues on personal builds just like in our cases.

Again, good luck and sorry I couldn't help.

 

[FusterCluck]

Just had a random thought...

When I decided to get a GPU to try to fix my issue, before I installed it I watched several videos on how to do it. One of the things I learned was to use a DDU to uninstall the graphics drivers from the CPU so that the drivers for the dedicated GPU don't conflict with them and/or so that Windows doesn't have the option to default back to CPU's graphics. IDK about AMD cards, but the Nvidia interface even allows you to then block Windows from reinstalling or updating the deleted CPU drivers.

Might try wiping and reinstalling?

 

[LineSkiCat14]

It really shouldn't be your pc specs. The problem here is that other streams seem work (right?). If he can stream 4k or 1080 with no buffer issues on something like Vevo, then we can rule out hardware.

Unless maybe drivers like was mentioned above.

But also, now that we know this was a custom build.. it does make it more likely that it IS a weird issue within the build. Maybe some component is failing, or again, drivers. If this wss your store-bought Dell laptop, I'd feel more confident that it's not a limitation of the hardware.. but now that its a custom build, that does open the possibilities of other issues.