Benefit of Hardware Acceleration

[JoeyG]

As can be seen in my signature, I have an older, but reasonably powerful, Lenovo workstation.

For reasons I won't go into here, I've decided to upgrade from my Matrox C420 graphics adapter with 2gb of ram to one with 4gb.

With the new card, would you expect to see any difference in PaleMoon's performance compared to the old one - either with or without browser hardware acceleration on (or off)?

And generally speaking, all other things being equal, is there a "magic number" to indicate how much hardware acceleration can improve things, assuming it doesn't cause any concomitant problems?

Thank you.

[back2themoon]

I'm no expert but "Hardware Acceleration" isn't a single "feature". It is not simply extra speed, as in CPU power or even additional memory. It much depends on the video card's specific features and capabilities. Its driver, too. For example, you can use the video decoding capabilities of the GPU to easily play resource-demanding online videos on a PC with a weak CPU. You can use the video encoding capabilities of the GPU, to more quickly convert videos on a PC with a weak CPU.

From a very quick look (i.e. I could be wrong) it seems your Matrox is primarily meant for multiple-monitor output, so if that is its only feature then you will get zero benefit with Pale Moon. The only exception would be being able to open Pale Moon in four monitors simultaneously, but I doubt that's what you had in mind. I don't know if the extra 2GB alone can improve anything.

[Moonchild]

generally speaking, all other things being equal, is there a "magic number" to indicate how much hardware acceleration can improve things, assuming it doesn't cause any concomitant problems?

No, because it depends entirely on what the website in question is trying to do. There can be no noticeable difference, and there can be a factor 10 or easily more difference between no hardware acceleration and having it.
In general though having it will always improve rendering and scrolling speed/smoothness, barring any issues that would create a bottleneck in the GPU (by fault of a driver)

[JoeyG]

No, because it depends entirely on what the website in question is trying to do. ...

Thank you. Could you please give an example of what a website might try to do that would lead to a big difference? Thanks again.

[JoeyG]

@ back2themoon

Based on Moonchild's and your replies, I see the issue is more complex than I understood.

[Moonchild]

Could you please give an example of what a website might try to do that would lead to a big difference? Thanks again.

As an example: Highly-graphical sites with visual effects like large background images with transparency and scrolling effects will be severely impacted by not having hardware acceleration enabled. Many game sites are like that. Computer hardware manufacturers also tend to have graphics-intensive websites.

[JoeyG]

As an example: Highly-graphical sites with visual effects like large background images with transparency and scrolling effects ...

OK, thank you very much. What about YouTube, please?

[Moonchild]

Youtube just sucks in terms of what's -around- the videos (and the player takes processing power because of MSE as well).
Video playback acceleration will be enabled whenever possible, regardless of user settings. If it can't use that it will decode with the CPU which may make for a noisy system or choppy playback.

[JoeyG]

... Video playback acceleration will be enabled whenever possible, regardless of user settings. If it can't use that it will decode with the CPU which may make for a noisy system or choppy playback.

I sincerely apologize for monopolizing your time, but, if possible, just one more question: Do you think this type of performance hit would occur in my computer (Lenovo S20, Xeon X5670*, 12gb RAM. Matrox C420 graphics card with 4gb ram)?

Thank you again very much.

*https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/47920/intel-xeon-processor-x5670-12m-cache-2-93-ghz-6-40-gt-s-intel-qpi.html

[Moonchild]

No idea. check your troubleshooting information for "Hardware H264 Decoding"

[JoeyG]

No idea. check your troubleshooting information for "Hardware H264 Decoding"

Thank you for your reply.

Ummmmmm, it says "Hardware H264 Decoding/ Yes; Using D3D9 API". I did a web search for D3D9 API, but the hits were aimed at developers.

Please excuse me, but I don't understand the relevance of this to my question.

Thanks again.

[Admin]

it says "Hardware H264 Decoding/ Yes

This means hardware decoding is in use, so your video playback won't be affected by slower CPU-decoding.

[JoeyG]

This means hardware decoding is in use, so your video playback won't be affected by slower CPU-decoding.

OK, thanks very much.

Within this context, do you think there'll be any perceptible difference between a GPU with 2GB ram and one with 4GB on graphics-intensive sites or pages?

Thanks again.

[New Tobin Paradigm]

Are you really that ignorant or are you actively trying to waste people's time with these "Latitude"-level questions that anyone who has used a computer in a serious manor should know.

[Moonchild]

Perceptible difference? Depends on your perception, but unless you're Data, probably none
Difference in video decoding? No, because it's not VRAM-intensive.
Difference in compositing speed? Depends on the site, but likely irrelevant.

"Latitude"-level questions that anyone who has used a computer in a serious manor should know.

Actually, not that simple -- you do need to have a decent understanding how our code base uses VRAM to provide the foundation for the answers.

[JoeyG]

Thank you for your contribution.

Are you really that ignorant

If you ask my wife, I'm pretty sure she'd answer in the affirmative, although perhaps not in the computer realm, in which she's even more "ignorant" than I. Having said this, she's - in general - an extremely intelligent, well-read person with a very broad knowledge base who's held numerous high-level professional positions.

However she, like I, has never found computer programming very interesting, an opinion we maintain down to the present. It seems there are always people around who produce the tools we need. I can't repair my car either.

or are you actively trying to waste people's time with these "Latitude"-level questions that anyone who has used a computer in a serious manor should know.

I guess it depends on your definition of a "serious manner". I'm sure your definition and mine overlap at some points, but diverge at many others. Our attitudes toward dealing with people certainly do, but this is part of what makes life interesting.

In any case, I'm not consciously trying to waste anyone's time. If you perceive it that way, it's certainly your right. From my side, I'm sincerely grateful to the people who have taken from their valuable time to try to help me.

[JoeyG]

Thank you very much.

Perceptible difference? Depends on your perception, but unless you're Data, probably none
Difference in video decoding? No, because it's not VRAM-intensive.
Difference in compositing speed? Depends on the site, but likely irrelevant.

"Latitude"-level questions that anyone who has used a computer in a serious manor should know.

Actually, not that simple -- you do need to have a decent understanding how our code base uses VRAM to provide the foundation for the answers.

Here I confess, to quote Mr. Tobin, that I am 100% ignorant. I'm not "proud" of this fact, but I have to be honest. I don't know squat about how your code base uses VRAM - or anything else, for that matter, about the real inner workings of your or any other browser.

Off-topic:
This is not to say, if I may, that I'm not interested in learning about computers. I'm almost 74 years years old, and just last month I "taught myself" (with the help of YouTube and some articles) how to clone my OS onto new SSDs and install the drives - which I did in three of my laptops and one of my desktop machines.

Of course this ain't Nobel Prize-winning computer science, and most of the young people on this Forum have probably been building computers from components since they were in diapers. For me, though, I felt it was a good step at a good time. I am, by the way, more interested in hardware than software, although even this interest is dilettantish at best.

Thank you again for your reply.