Flash games lag in 64bit Windows 8.1 Desktop (Firefox)

[deusdominor]

I have firefox, its plugin container and adobe flash player set to use my hardware video (NVidia GeForce GT 650M), although I've also tried other combinations of that and the integrated graphics. I have 8gb of RAM, and an 8 core Intel core-i7 (2.4ghz), so the performance issues I experience make no sense to me. I've kept my drivers up to date, and I've tried modifying priorities in my task manager, although I revert to normal priority afterward. I also experience very little lag and high a framerate in direct x, openGL and most other applications.

What occurs is as follows:

I'm running a flash game (or even watching a flash embedded video, such as youtube) within firefox, very often with no other applications running.

Sound will continue, uninterupted, but framerate will drop to 0 for ~500-3000 ms, and keyboard input will not be accepted during this time.

This is obviously a huge distraction, and I cannot play flash games or enjoy online videos with this issue. I also experienced this problem in windows 8.0 before upgrading to 8.1.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Running:
Flash v. 11.9.900.170

Firfox v26.0

[Guest]

I think all you can do is wait for adobe to release a better flash version. Recent versions have been a bit prone to choppiness especially 11.9 ... releases. I run windows 7 not 8 but see similar to you. Switching from dedicated gpu to integrated gpu also makes no difference.

[deusdominor]

I have a windows 7 PC with updated flash and drivers with almost the same system specs that does not lag at all. So I'm surprised to find out that someone with Windows 7 has the same problem. There has to be something else our computers have in common that my other PC doesn't.

[Guest]

Yeah maybe your right but I see choppiness on enough machines to think later flash versions are not upto scratch. Granted some machines seem fine but adobe have updated and fiddled too much. Too much change greatly enhanced potential to introduce problems on something a few releases back worked superbly!

[TenshiTec]

I have the same problem with Windows 8.1: http://forums.adobe.com/message/5923443

[Guest]

Interesting that you have similar problem to the OP. Although mine is not quite the same and affects windows 7 it does point to a common denominator of Flash 11.6 and upwards. Like you, rolling back to Flash 11.5 makes my videos run smooth. Something was injected circa 11.6 which has caused quite a number of people issues - not everyone is getting affected but I really think the differences between versions 11.5 and 11.6 (and upwards) need analysing by Adobe.

[Guest]

I think you may be onto something funkybrewster. My system is a sandy bridge, so it's basically a laptop i7 equivalent.  And I get same choppiness / stutter issues regardless of whether gpu acceleration is on or off and regardless of running on dedicated or integrated gpu. Pre 11.6 the issues were not there. So blatant bug by adobe that needs addressing! Very diss spouting that like so many software giants these days they are not QA testing to the requisite depth.

[Guest]

Hi,

We would appreciate it if you could provide the following infomation:

Could you please provide the video or game URL?

Can you confirm this problem occurs with 11.6.602.167 and it works fine with 11.5.502.149?

You can get the old Flash Player from here: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions. html

Thanks,

Ting

[Guest]

For me the problem occurs with 11.6.602.167 and then works fine with 11.5.502.149. I get more of an overall choppiness with 11.6.602.167 and beyond. Difficult to specify a URL as it seems to occur on virtually all flash videos. Especially noticeable watching sports. maybe others can have specific URLs where they only notice the issues. Watching video in a window embedded in the browser as opposed to full screen seems to be worst of all. Higher res videos are slightly worse than lower res ones.

I haven't tried the 64 bit browser method as I only use 32 bit browsers as they are the more commonly used and work with virtually all add ons.

I think Funky Brewster in another post may be onto something with core i7 processors being prone to this glitch. I have a sandybridge 2830QM which is basically the laptop variant of an i7.

Thanks,

Wayne

[TenshiTec]

I have a Core i7-3770K Processor. Windows 7 is installed on another Harddisk - no problems. Previously i have Windows 8.0 installed - no problems. The problem occurs only under Windows 8.1 and a 32bit Browser (Firefox, IE). Flash runs only with Chrome or a 64bit Browser or Flash 11.5/11.6 smoothly under Windows 8.1.

[Guest]

God knows what's going on. It seems whatever Adobe has done with Flash post 11.5 has caused issues in various different ways and various configurations. Suspect it has something do with hooking up more closely with Microsoft. Ever since the abomination of Windows 8 things seem to have gone downhill. Was that roughly when 11.6 surfaced? There is something within 11.6 that doesn't play nice (whether it be lag stutter or choppiness) and has sustained itself in all subsequent releases (11.9 has been particulary bad) and it is now upto Adobe to figure out what they have done.

All I know is across 5 machines I have seen problems on three.

My Alienware Sandybridge 2820 QM (Windows 7) - choppy performance post 11.5 (everything else including HTML5 runs beautifully)

My wife's weak Dell Inspiron (Windows 7) running a Pentium M (I think) runs flash pretty much fine right upto current 11.9

My old Dell XPS laptop (Vista) running an old core duo cpu - seems to run flash fine right upto current 11.9

Work computer (windows 7) with i7 - choppy performance with latest flash

My brother's laptop (windows 7) with 2860QM - choppy performance with flash 11.6 and beyond

Maybe Sandybridge CPUs are exhibiting the issue only?

[TenshiTec]

In a 64bit Browser (Waterfox - http://www.waterfoxproject.org/, Firefox 29 Nightly - 64bit - http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/firefox-29.0a1.en-US.win64-x86_6...) the problem seems to be gone. I use now Firefox 29 Nightly and all running smooth but not all addons are compatible with this version.

[deusdominor]

The lag mysteriously disappeared for a few months, but has reared its ugly head yet again. Same exact issue, same symptoms, different flash version: 14.0.0.145

I'm so glad that Microsoft and Intel are such reliable companies with reliable products. /sarcasm

[alexs20]

It is crazy, but for 3 years nothing was changed.

Just bought new laptop for my daughter, CPU: i3-4005U, RAM: 8GB, Win 8.1 ... The problem is the same as was 3 years ago. Lags and freezes.

Tried to run Xubuntu live - flash games flying! Installed empty HD and then Windows 7 - everything is also perfect. Went back to Win 8.1 - flash is laggy, and not only in games but also in video, it is freezing for second or too.

I presume that this is not a Adobe's problem but Microsoft. They introduced new threads to cores schedulers in Win 8.1 kernel, which is probably is broken and untested properly. By trying to enter into mobile marked MS completely abandoned desktop area. And I do not believe that Win10 will change something. Shame to MS.

[jeromiec83223024]

It's hard to provide people with personalized advice in threads like this, and given the age, it's not a particularly useful thread.  If you're still experiencing problems, please start a new thread and we'll be happy to try and help you resolve any issues you're encountering.