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Hi i recently bought the AcePC GK3v with Intel Celeron J4125 an 8GB Ram.
My use-case is for streaming videos (e.g. youtube, Shadow cloud pc gaming) which leads to stuttering and frame jumps even at only 1080p.
I have a stable 500 Mbit/s internet connection (https://www.speedtest.net/result/10860193206.png).
The product is advertised for streaming 4k at 60Hz so I would like to know if there is some kind of issue.
Also text appears blurry and pixelated and changes to scaling or monitor resolution does not fix (tested with various monitors).
To make sure that the issue is NOT related to my peripherals and/or internet connection a tested the same configuration with a desktop PC with a dedicated GPU which runs everything smoothly.

If this problem can not be solved, I will need to return the product.

What I tried so far on the MIniPC:

• updated windows and drivers
  update intel drivers
  set windows to high performance
  use various resolution and framerates (FullHD, 2k, 4k / 30,40,60 Hz)
  use various monitors: Acer FullHd monitor, Samsung 4k TV, Acer HD monitor

In the attachements, you will find screenshots i took while streaming at 1080p 60Hz.
The show CPU temperature and the windows resource monitor. Note how the Intel UHD graphics is under heavy load while the rest of the hardware is rather idle.
Here is the first part of the DxDiag output (i could not include the full txt file):

Report Date: Monday, 01 February 2021
Report Time [hh:mm:ss]: 07:21:54 PM
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19042
IGCC Version: 1.100.3282.0
Language: de-LU
Physical Memory: 7.84 GB
Current Resolution: 1920x1080

Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) J4125 CPU @ 2.00GHz
Processor Speed: 2001 MHz
GFX Driver Name: Intel® UHD Graphics 600
Shader Version: 5.1
OpenCL* Version: 3.0
* Microsoft DirectX* *
Runtime Version: 12
Hardware-Supported Version: 12
Vulkan* Version: 1.2.162
Vendor ID: 8086
Device ID: 3185
Device Revision: 06
GFX Driver Version: 27.20.100.9168
Dedicated RAM: 0 GB
Shared RAM: 4 GB
Max Supported Displays: 3
GFX Vulcan: 1.2.162
GFX Video BIOS: 1005

Hello there,
Thank you for your feedback and hard work. We hope you can provide a picture with blurred text. You can take a picture with your phone and upload it to the forum. We will find the problem based on your blurred picture.

In the attachments I provide screenshots taken of your reply in 100% and 150% scaling (windows setting), as you can see the edges of text are "pixelated"
Note however that the major problem is the stuttering when streaming videos.
The stuttering occurs even for 1080p videos although the product is advertised for 4k 60Hz streaming.

I only mentioned the blurry text as i hoped it might provide additional inside to the stuttering problem.

Something additional I noticed while testing further.
If I stream in windowed mode AND drag the window-size down the stuttering becomes noticeably less and also the load on the GPU goes below 50%.
Enlarging the window size pushes the GPU load up and leads to stuttering.
To illustrate please have a look at the attached screenshots, I took while streaming a youtube video and streaming a video game using a cloud PC (shadow). Note that in both cases (small window vs large window) I run the same application on the same 4k TV and also under the same settings (4k at 60HZ).
To add to this, I noticed that in the case of shadow the load on the ethernet card is in opposite proportion (higher on small window, low on large window).
Might it be that the device can not handle high ehternet + video display load at the same time?

Hi! I am experiencing the same issue on YouTube, too many frames are dropped. Even in 1080p, I'm quite disappointed. Tried on WIFI also ethernet. On a speed test it shows 750-850Mbps download/upload. I have 1000Mbps optic fiber. I hope it's just related to software, but my win10 is fresh installed tough. I'm still looking for a solution... I don't want to upgrade it. Anyone ideas?

Bupp wrote: ↑Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:13 pm Something additional I noticed while testing further.
If I stream in windowed mode AND drag the window-size down the stuttering becomes noticeably less and also the load on the GPU goes below 50%.
Enlarging the window size pushes the GPU load up and leads to stuttering.
To illustrate please have a look at the attached screenshots, I took while streaming a youtube video and streaming a video game using a cloud PC (shadow). Note that in both cases (small window vs large window) I run the same application on the same 4k TV and also under the same settings (4k at 60HZ).
To add to this, I noticed that in the case of shadow the load on the ethernet card is in opposite proportion (higher on small window, low on large window).
Might it be that the device can not handle high ehternet + video display load at the same time?

I just ran some tests to compare my results to yours... My monitor is a recent 4K LG monitor, NOT a TV.

With my desktop resolution set to 4k (3840x2160) at 100% scaling, I found that 1080p streaming from YouTube was fine with no dropped frames and did not feel "choppy" so long as I was not actively moving my mouse over top of the video stream viewing area itself. I could also perform other tasks without issue.

Setting YouTube to stream at 4k resolution on a 4k desktop at 100% scaling results in dropped frames as the buffer is initially filled then no additional frames being dropped while watching the video in 4k, whether windowed OR full screen, SO LONG AS YOU ARE NOT DOING ANY OTHER TASKS IN PARALLEL. If I move the mouse over top of the video as it is being streamed it freezes and starts dropping frames pretty much instantly...

One major note however, is that even after the 4k buffer initially filled and stopped dropping frames (according to YouTube's "stats for nerds") while not touching or doing anything but watching the video in 4k stream resolution on a 4k 100% scaled monitor, the playback still felt "choppy" despite YouTube indicating no additional frames were being dropped in that moment.

When moving the mouse about the desktop and NOT over top of the 4k video being streamed, you have to move the mouse much more before the 4k video starts dropping frames again, but it will continue to drop and freeze, just not quite as bad as when moving the mouse over top of the video viewing area itself. I also ran a speed test while streaming the 4k video and it did not cause dropped frames when the window size was small, but would cause dropped frames when the window (w/4k stream playing) size was larger (like 1080p+ window size).

Moving to a 1080p desktop resolution (1920x1080) I still found the 4k YouTube stream playback to "feel choppy" despite the "stats for nerds" indicating no frames being dropped while streaming (the indicator only showed dropped frames while actively changing window size / going between full screen and windowed / etc). A 1080p stream on a 1080p desktop resolution resulted in no dropped frames and smooth playback both in windowed AND fullscreen modes but again, with a MAJOR caveat. Moving the mouse over top of the video stream results in choppy playback of the 1080p stream despite the "stats for nerds" indicating no frames being dropped. If you look at the CPU usage while moving the mouse over top the viewing area of the video, moving the mouse causes CPU usage to spike to 100% and stay there, despite the Intel UHD 600 Graphics only experiencing ~40% usage. However, if you move the mouse about the desktop and NOT over top of the 1080p video's viewing area, playback of the 1080p video stream remains smooth. BUT if you look at CPU usage while moving the mouse about the desktop, in my case it jumps up about 15-25%, with a total CPU usage around 70+%. Stop moving the mouse and CPU usage drops into the 50-60% range.

So in conclusion, this behavior has nothing to do with any quirks in the hardware of the GKV3 in particular but rather it's processing abilities being at their limits, which is to be expected for a low-spec, low-powered machine not intended for gaming.

I should also note, that all of this testing is with 2 game launchers idling (B.net & Steam), Windows PowerToys, ShareX, FindEverything, ThrottleStop, MSI Afterburner w/Riva Statistics Tuner & HWiNFO, AND Logitech Gaming Software with a 1000HZ polling rate for my G400s mouse. I also have an upgraded cooling solution which may be helping me out a tiny bit too.

TLDR; basically it comes down to the Intel UHD Graphics 600 being at its limit when handling 4k streams. YES, it can technically stream in 4K, but barely, and the experience isn't great despite it having support for YouTube's video streaming codecs. Also, the J4125 being as low powered as it is struggles with processing multiple tasks concurrently, especially when high polling rate mice and gaming is involved. If the Intel UHD 600 graphics aren't at their limit, the CPU likely is and vice versa, resulting in sub-par performance in the scenarios you are attempting to use the GKV3 in.

In all of my testing, despite temperature being well within their limits, we are also unfortunately power-limited thanks to Intel's 10W limit baked into the CPU. Clearly there is plenty of headroom remaining temperature-wise, so if we were able to configure the J4125 in a TDP-up mode to allow for 15+W of power consumption and/or overclocking, there could be a tiny bit more to gain in keeping the clock speeds higher, more consistently, more of the time, but the integrated Intel GPU (Intel UHD Graphics 600) would still be at its limits when trying to handle 4k streams.

HERE ARE SOME SCREENSHOTS OF MY TESTING TO SHARE:

1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM_FULLSCREEN: https://snipboard.io/wYZNdp.jpg
1080pDESKTOP_4kSTREAM: https://snipboard.io/4XzCAK.jpg
4kDESKTOP_1080pSTREAM_2560x1280WINDOW: https://snipboard.io/YEM1xd.jpg
4kDESKTOP_4kSTREAM: https://snipboard.io/plfGat.jpg
*** EDIT ***:

Also, regarding your blurry text complaint. That is likely because you are using a TV with Intel UHD Graphics 600. Could be a bit depth issue and/or your TV's pixel layout and processing style causing fringing / blurry text. Everything looks fine on my monitor whether 4k or 1080p. I did notice you said you tried both TV and monitors though, so I am not sure what to tell you there.

I have used this tool in the past and it worked well for me: http://windows10-dpi-fix.xpexplorer.com/

Let us know if it works for you.

Also, here are the full specs for the Celeron J4125 that specifies Intel's official video resolution output specs too:

Thank you, maleko48! Please tell us some details about the win 10 installed on yours. Is it stock and downloaded from this forum? Stock drivers or updated using windows update or other ways? As I can see your GK3V behaviour in 1080p-4k playback is much better than mine. Also, do you have USB connected mouse and keyboard or Bluetooth? Mine are both Bluetooth and sometimes on different quite easy tasks are running choppy, annoying of course. Cheers bro!

mr_flm wrote: ↑Sun Apr 18, 2021 2:58 pm Thank you, maleko48! Please tell us some details about the win 10 installed on yours. Is it stock and downloaded from this forum? Stock drivers or updated using windows update or other ways? As I can see your GK3V behaviour in 1080p-4k playback is much better than mine. Also, do you have USB connected mouse and keyboard or Bluetooth? Mine are both Bluetooth and sometimes on different quite easy tasks are running choppy, annoying of course. Cheers bro!

The first thing I do on any machine I buy is download the Microsoft Media Creation Tool, create a bootable ISO of the current Win10x64 end-user retail release, and do a clean vanilla install. I let Windows Update run until no more updates are found once booted into the desktop, then manually install the OEM drivers ( in our case, the GK series drivers found here: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1ONlU8X6 ... t=download ). After that I might also run something like Intel's Driver & Support Assistant to see if it catches anything else... but keep in mind it is not always 100% accurate and will sometimes suggest downgraded driver version numbers.

My mouse and keyboard are both wired, as is the internet connection to my machine currently. (I just now thought about that actually... may have to do a few additional tests on WiFi, but I am confident my conclusion will remain unchanged.) I do play some RetroArch with a bluetooth game controller though and have not experienced any negative side effects while doing so.

If you intend to keep your GKV3 long term or are using it as your main machine and do not want to risk hardware failure or data loss, I would suggest modding the cooling system slightly to keep SSD temperatures down and also get a little more consistent performance out of your CPU. You can check out my post on how I upgraded my cooling system here: http://iacepc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f ... f7614f36d5

Another thing I will say, is to try running a few of these tests with MSI Afterburner / HWiNFO graphing and logging your stats. The graphs/numbers should tell you everything you need to know about how your machine is performing under load.

EDIT:

Also, as you can see from this Intel troubleshooting guide here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... ssors.html

what you are experiencing is not unheard of. Especially with the recent Windows updates being pushed out in the last couple of weeks, causing bluescreens, and performance degradations for Windows users across the spectrum. Also, I forgot to mention, as far as browser performance is concerned, you may possibly see better performance out of Chrome or Edge. I tested with FireFox because that's what I saw OP was using. I prefer Chrome/Edge myself.

I would also suggest using some utilities such as:

O&O ShutUp 10 -- https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
to better keep Windows' behavior under control and prevent things such as Windows Update from automatically-overwriting manually-installed drivers with generic ones.

Driver Store Explorer -- https://github.com/lostindark/DriverSto ... r/releases
to purge old driver versions and help prevent Windows from reinstalling unwanted drivers from its store cache.

I really appreciate your fast reply. I will try to reinstall all the stuff like you said, usually I do like that, but I was thinking that Win10 modified by ACEPC downloaded from this forum is the best one in terms of drivers and so on. Fortunately my main unit is an Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE, a crazy beast, GK3V is only used for Skype in 4K video calling (me and my family), powered on and administrated remotely, where it runs smooth only in Window mode, in full screen too choppy. Also YouTube playback problems like I mentioned above. I've already saw your post about cooling upgrade, very nice job. If something changes (good or bad) I will keep the thread updated. I just hope not to invest in another unit like Intel NUC's, I would be happy to stay on this little toy. Thank you very much for the useful links! All the best my friend!

mr_flm wrote: ↑Sun Apr 18, 2021 4:27 pm I really appreciate your fast reply. I will try to reinstall all the stuff like you said, usually I do like that, but I was thinking that Win10 modified by ACEPC downloaded from this forum is the best one in terms of drivers and so on. Fortunately my main unit is an Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE, a crazy beast, GK3V is only used for Skype in 4K video calling (me and my family), powered on and administrated remotely, where it runs smooth only in Window mode, in full screen too choppy. Also YouTube playback problems like I mentioned above. I've already saw your post about cooling upgrade, very nice job. If something changes (good or bad) I will keep the thread updated. I just hope not to invest in another unit like Intel NUC's, I would be happy to stay on this little toy. Thank you very much for the useful links! All the best my friend!

Cheers! Much appreciated.

I have been eyeballing some mods that are applicable to the Celeron N3450 "Apollo Lake" CPU architecture specifically but can likely be translated to the Celeron J3455 "Apollo Lake" and JCeleron 4125 "Gemini Lake" as well. In fact, it is more of a general Intel MSR workaround than anything, but it is not always 100% successful due to the numerous limiting mechanisms Intel bakes into their CPU architectures as well as the stock BIOS's limitations as well. They support my conclusion regarding headroom to increase performance at the cost of thermals, but as mentioned in the first link, the power delivery system also has to be able to support the mod too. Check out what I am talking about here (it even applies to CPUs in the Core i family as well):

https://techtablets.com/2017/08/increas ... rmance-80/

https://techtablets.com/forum/topic/goo ... any-n3450/

https://duploclique.pt/como-aumentar-o- ... ake-n4100/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads ... 09/page-28


I am no pro when it comes to this low level modding, but it is definitely where my heart lies. Unfortunately, I have already tried using ThrottleStop and Intel XTU utilities to make some of these changes, with no success, so using RWEverything is next on my radar.

I have also already played with the AMIBIOS flashing tool and tried turning on all the bells and whistles with a re-flash, but was met with mostly superficial results. Some additional options did in fact show up in the BIOS screen, but none of the good ones that I wanted and those that did show up I could not tell if they were actually doing anything or not. I also should probably get a BIOS flashing tool in case I screw something up since I have been YOLO'ing it so far.

I will definitely be making a post about it if I end up successfully modding my TDP.