How much CPU power is needed to surf the internet? With flash becoming evermore ubiquitous in this age of high speed multimedia, can a single core CPU still keep up? Based on my experiences with one up-and-coming free TV website, Hulu.com, I have my doubts:

It's amazing to see that flash video can be so cpu intensive. Full screen flash video over at hulu.com uses on average 90% of both cores on a Pentium D 805 at 3.1 GHz. Resolution is 1280x1024. At stock 2.66 GHz the video is jittery all the time. The D 805 may be slow compared to modern CPUs, but it's still a little crazy to think that overclocking any dual core is necessary just to play fullscreen flash video over the internet. Even at 3.1 GHz, there is still occasional lag/dropped frames/fuzzy frames during scenes with very fast action shots. Firefox 2.0 was the browser used.

I would like others to try Hulu (it's free to the public now). Play a video fullscreen and post what your CPU usage and how the video looked (smooth or choppy, occasional dropped frame, etc.). I hope to get enough people responding for a good comparison. I especially want to know if any single core CPUs can keep up. I think the screen resolution is a big factor, so be sure to post your screen res, and also state what browser you're using, to see if there may be a difference between firefox and IE.

On a final note, we see benchmarks on this site all the time. How many frames in a game, how many 3Dmark points, how fast can it encode, etc., but this test of CPU strength is based in reality. After all, if a CPU can't even handle the internet, what's the point of all the other benchmarks? Flash video may not be a problem for most of us on this board, being enthusiasts we like to run some of the latest and greatest hardware, but what about our parents, siblings, and friends? Can their computers handle it? If you were to build someone you know an entry level system, how much CPU would they need to ensure a rich internet experience? Please, post up your results people. The forums are getting boring. Thanks.

Anyone old enough to have seen dragnet should be more careful of what they watch. You only get one heart you know.

The joy of reruns. Dragnet is also on Hulu. You need to check it out and post back your results.

My "emachine" is a P4 3000 prescott. Wait till I'm at least on one of my amd machines.

Video not available in your region...BOOOOOO

Ohhh well MCE recorded it for me

Hey nuke do you get the yellow toolbar when you try to download windows update?

You mean the MS update Active X? if so the first time, yes....but i normally get my updates from the auto updates.

My image is from 2005....i only did see that once.

For some reason my PC won't play YouTube videos full-screen.
IT just puts up a screen that's half black, half white, with a diagonal divide.

It is something to do with the drivers for ATI. After 8.0 and up I have had the same problem(have a HD2900Pro 1GB). To fix this simply right click on the YouTube video or flash video and select settings. Then uncheck "Enable Hardware Decoding". This should do it as it has worked for me. Hope they get it fixed soon though.

I went wo Hulu.com and watched the latest Famil Guy at full screen in IE7 on Vista @ 1280x1024 and my CPU would peak at 13% when loading then stay around 7% and was nice and smooth. This all on a Q6600 @ 3GHz but it had SpeedStep enabled and never got busy enough to go above the 2GHz SpeedStep mark. So it never went to 3GHz during that time.

This would also include Steam as it usually utilizes 3-4% of the CPU every now and then when it checks for updates and Windows update and Live One Care. But overall my Q6600 streamed that video like a champ .

Cheers Jimmy, wasn't even after a fix! lol

come on people. It only takes a minute to try this.

My HTPC at 640x480 res can play full screen video without any stuttering or visual problems using a Pentium 4 2.4C. CPU usage is in the 90% range though.

I checked but I have a Q6600 @ 3G, not really useful information. X1950pro @ full screen with no stutter and a ridiculously small usage 4%-8% if memory serves.

My sigrig play full screen (12 x 10) with no stuttering and bright deep colors. I have no idea what percentage of the CPU usage is in effect. My BUS is 333MHz stock.

I will check my old PC today. Couldn't as its my fiances and she is on it from when she gets home from work till she goes to bed. But its a Pentium 4 EE 3.4GHz with a X850XT PE so that might be interesting to see what it can do.