Does computer quality affect watching videos and streams?

[Chickat]

So if I have a crappy computer from 2003 will videos on youtube and streams run slower and appear to be laggy even though the video isnt? Any time i turn a videos resolution above 360p its near unwatchable. Is that on my computer, my internet, or a mix of both?

[chazus]

Pretty much, yeah. I had problems running WoW and 1080p video on youtube at the same time with my Core 2 Duo and GeForce 460. Upgrading both has made it so I can run just about everything (WoW + Deadspace 2 + Youtube 1080p + 2 Minecraft servers + everything else) flawlessly.

I don't know the exact "You need X to run Y" but better power definitely improves video playback of all kinds.

[Samfisher]

It will. 2003, I would be thinking a Pentium 4? That will definitely lag on streams and very possibly Youtube as well.

[Xuvial]

Lagging at 360p huh? I know some old work computers which lag like shit on Youtube, but their problem is less hardware-related and more software-related because they're loaded with a million billion unnecessary programs on top of running an older version of Internet Explorer.

You know if it's your internet because the video will keep pausing to load due to lagging behind the stream...big difference from when the actual video has completely loaded but still looking choppy, Youtube supports up to 30fps which is quite smooth for videos.

My best suggestion which DOESN'T involve buying a new PC is this:
> Install Chrome if you haven't already, it's basically built for Youtube. Google owns Youtube and they made Chrome which has an inbuilt flash engine which doesn't require you to install Adobe Flash (don't ask how), it works hand-in-hand with Youtube.
> Disable unnecessary services
> Uninstall unused programs

Best thing IMO is to do a clean OS install if your computer is really that old and cluttered, after 12 years if it has never been re-formatted then it's going to be VERY slow.

[Milkshake86]

Few key notes that not only Youtube but live streamers have to apply when making videos or allowing them. You can stream your full resolution say 2560x1600 but do you have the upload to allow the bitrate needed for quality picture? Secondly does your audience have the download to accept such a bitrate? So really in the youtube situation, if your pc can't even handle the image bitrate then yes it can severely impact quality.