h264 Encoding is completely broken across my entire computer

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

A while back I upgraded my computer and only recently discovered that I've got problems with encoding in x264 format and it's variants in ALL methods of video conversion. Attempting to convert ANY format to a h264-encoded format results in whatever program I'm using for conversion crashing or halting conversion after just a few seconds, be it Any Video Converter, Handbrake, or VLC Media Player's convert/save feature. However conversion is slightly possible, as if a video is converted quickly (e.g. by lowering the output's resolution) then the video can play normally however it has very heavy artefacts. While I can use Sony Vegas to simply import a video and then render it in a format that uses a h264 codec without it crashing, the end result still has heavy artefacts.
I know the problem isn't to do with my files or any kind of media player as I have I have h264-encoded videos that I've downloaded and saved before I upgraded and they play perfectly fine without any artefacting or problems.
I'm using both Windows 7 and Windows 10, both on separate SSDs, and the exact same problem persists across both OS's. I've also tried fully updating both of them to no avail (however it did fix a small AVI problem Win7 had with Vegas)
The problem is unlikely to do with any additional codec packs I may have stupidly installed in the past as the problem persisted even when I did a clean install of Windows 7 and attempted conversion the problem was exactly the same.
The only thing I've really noticed is that my CPU fans spin faster when it tries to convert and then go back to normal when it fails. I'm using an old Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo with an additional Arctic F9 attached. Even though it's not a great fan it still works fine for gaming.
I've also attached an example of what happens when I "successfully" convert a video into h264. It's just a snippet of old Dark Souls 2 footage I was using for sound effects a long time ago.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvP3x-ry-ao"][/video]

Specs:
Asus Maximus VIII Hero Motherboard
Corsair 16gb DDR4 3000Mhz RAM
Intel i7-6700k CPU (has not yet been OC'd)
MSI Gtx 980 ti
Corsair RM850i PSU
Windows 7 + Windows 10

And for the record, I'm looking for a solution, not an alternative.

Thanks.

ko888 · Feb 20, 2016

What does the CPU temperature reach before it fails and the CPU cooler fan returns back to normal?

What is the source storage drive and what is the destination storage drive and what SATA ports are they connected to on the motherboard?

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

ko888 :

My CPU seems to average at about 30°C (no idea if that's bad or not) and whenever I try and convert it shoots up to beyond 70°C before it fails converting. The temperature also increases past 70 when rendering in Sony Vegas but it does not crash, instead just producing a video with heavy artefacts when it's done.
I generally convert from my WD Black 3tb drive to my 1tb WD Blue drive. I use the Black drive to store my video editing resources and games and the Blue drive to store files and documents that are shared between both OS's, however I have tried various different sources and destinations during conversions including from and to my SSDs that my OS's are on and the results are always the same.
As for the ports, I'll have to get back to you on that.
Edit: My Win7 and Win10 are in P1 and P2 respectively. P3 and P4 are taken up by my disk drives and my WD black seems to be in E1 and Blue in E2. I'm not prepared to change them around just yet because the position of my graphics card and the SATA ports make it an extremely fiddly and ordeal.

ko888 · Feb 20, 2016

Encoding is extremely compute intensive so CPU cooling is very important.

The CPU temperature spiking beyond 70°C is not a good sign. Thermal throttling may be kicking in causing the artifacting.

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

ko888 :

Well alright then. I have heard that Skylake CPU's do rely a lot on cooling, so I guess I'll stop putting off buying a new Cpu cooler now. I've got some spare money now and I was thinking of getting this one, would it be a good choice or is the price too steep for what it is?

ko888 · Feb 20, 2016

souperzombie :

The Noctua NH-D15 has better cooling performance and is quieter than the Cooler Master V8.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhd15

What is the brand and model of the computer case? You need to make sure that the cooler will be able to fit inside the computer case when it's mounted.

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

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ko888 :

My case is a Zalman Z-11 Plus. My current CPU fan is a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo with an additional Arctic Cooler F9 fan attached. It's fairly large but there's still quite a lot of room to spare. Also how does the Noctua NH-D15 compare to the NH-D14?

ko888 · Feb 20, 2016

souperzombie :

There will be no problem fitting the Noctua NH-D14 or the Noctua NH-D15 in that computer case.

CPU cooler performance at stock CPU clock:
http://geektech.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Noctua-NH-D15-stock-chart.png

CPU cooler performance when CPU is overclocked:
http://geektech.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Noctua-NH-D15-overclock-chart.png

junkeymonkey · Feb 20, 2016

could it be a bug in the driver ?? have you tried a older or what ever driver to see ?

thing is aint the 900 cards except the 960 /950 software supported where the 960/950 if full hardware ?? '' Maxwell GM206 GPU supports full fixed function HEVC hardware decoding''

''However, H.265 is not supported for full hardware decoding, relying on a mix of hardware and software decoding'' [in witch I think was added on newer gm206 aka gtx 960/950 ]

this guy did not seem happy ?

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/809510/what-is-going-on-with-the-980s-hevc-h-265-encoder-and-hardware-acceleration-decoder-for-hevc-/

''Also, the GTX 960 has one exclusive new feature: full hardware support for decoding H.265 video. Hardware acceleration of H.265 decoding should make 4K video playback smoother and more power-efficient. This feature didn't make the cut for the GM204, so only the GTX 960 has it. ''
http://techreport.com/review/27702/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-graphics-card-reviewed/2

may look in to some of that ??

good luck

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

junkeymonkey :

That might explain a bit. Before I upgraded I had a Gtx 970 which worked fine when converting and rendering with x264 codecs. I'm probably going to try and get a new CPU cooler first and hope that works. If it doesn't, I don't know what I'll do.

junkeymonkey · Feb 20, 2016

ok . just seems to me comes down to a driver issue ?? that's cheaper to try another one out to see ? its not like NVidia is having great luck these days .

like one guy at evga forums said ''seems like NVidia brakes more then they fix lately '' lol.... and seems they got a new driver or hot fix out every 5 days ???

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

junkeymonkey :

Well I'll try uninstalling my graphics drivers and Geforce Experience and then install older ones from disk and see how that goes. I might just buy a new CPU fan anyway because I do need an upgrade.

junkeymonkey · Feb 20, 2016

you could go to NVidia andf get all you want ? fill out this page with your info and should list all previous/older drivers

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

and get this [for example]
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 361.91 February 15, 2016

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 361.75 January 27, 2016

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 361.43 December 21, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 359.06 December 1, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 359.00 November 19, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 358.91 November 9, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 358.87 November 4, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 358.50 October 7, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 355.98 September 22, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 355.82 August 31, 2

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 355.60 August 13, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 353.62 July 29, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 353.30 June 22, 2015

GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL 353.06 May 31, 2015

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

I'll take a look at that after I've downloaded the drivers. As it turns out the drivers aren't actually on the disk so I'm getting them through Windows update as opposed to GeForce Experience.

junkeymonkey · Feb 20, 2016

I guess ?? good luck

I se you talk about your cpu cooler fans have you checked the temps when all this occurs ?? may try just to reseat the cooler with new paste just a simple mismounting of it can cause a overheat issue if that's still the case it a fine line between getting the cooler right or wrong at times [to me its the hardest part of a build to mount the cooler right the first time and have no issues ]

one more thing I sen is the reports on how easy it is to damage the lid of the cpu on skylake ??

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/skylake-cpus-damaged-by-coolers,30690.html

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/218918-thinner-intel-skylake-cpus-are-breaking-because-of-third-party-cpu-coolers

get hwmonitor so you can log the temps as your running to see if its overheating or not [past any safe max] seeing you did not show any temps above ?

http://www.hwinfo.com/

souperzombie · Feb 20, 2016

Just tried out hwinfo but I've no idea where I should be looking so it hasn't been much help.
Now that I think about it one of my CPU cooler's clips is finicky and doesn't attach completely to the mobo, so I probably should get a new cooler.
But now I've got a new problem. For some reason my WD drives (both the 1tb blue and 3tb black) randomly stop being detected while my system is in use. Don't exactly know what's going on but I'm going to buy the Noctua NH-D15 and see if I can fix this.
Edit: Apparently using hwinfo causes my WD drives to disconnect, as well as prevent me from shutting my computer down normally. Very strange.

junkeymonkey · Feb 21, 2016

''Apparently using hwinfo causes my WD drives to disconnect, as well as prevent me from shutting my computer down normally'' I doubt that highly unlikely unless its a windows 10 or skylake thing in some way ? way too well used and popular for years ...

then seeing that statement on your cooler install no telling what else you may of done with your build as well and a properly mounted cpu cooler is key

my haswells get up to 74 or so c and don't throttle or cause crashes under high load / stress use

looks like a decent cooler ? don't see why it would not work ? I don't guess mounting between haswell and skylake has changed as far as the board goes ?

http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/hyper-tx3-evo/

as they claim here

http://www.coolermaster.com/company/newsDetail-M1507210001dcf7-20150721.html?page=1

anyway between skylake - and 10 no telling and then how they don't want you to use 7 on it as well ??? may just come down to another great skylake build ??

I feel between asus -skylake and 10 you got a lot against you right off the bat [oipinion]

souperzombie · Feb 22, 2016

Well my Noctua NH-D15 and as it turns out, thanks to either my motherboard or my case, it does not fit in my computer. The frame or whatever for the cooler has to go all the way through the motherboard but it gets blocked by the other side of my case.

Everything has been going horribly for me recently, especially since I need to be able to encode in x264 ASAP. Anyone have any other suggestions for different CPU coolers that might fit?

Some additional info: Whenever I try and convert into x264 or x265 Any Video Converter and VLC Media Player give me this error:

Handbrake, however, just finishes conversion early and leaves me with a broken, unplayable file.
Also only x264 and x265 is giving me issues. Rendering or converting in/to Xvid or Mpeg4 does not give me any problems AFAIK.

ko888 · Feb 22, 2016

You need to remove the motherboard from the motherboard tray to be able to attach the backplate. You'll need to do that with any decent third-party CPU cooler. Cheap lightweight coolers use weak push-pin mounts.

What application(s) did you install around the time the Visual C++ Runtime Library error began happening?

Are you using the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of the x264 or x265 encoder?

souperzombie · Feb 22, 2016

ko888 :

As far as I can remember the only things I installed were the various drivers that come with the motherboard.

For the encoders, I have no idea. Any Video Converter and VLC media player both have *32 next to their names in the task manager if that's any help. Sony Vegas and Handbrake don't, and those are the ones that don't give errors when converting/rendering.
I'll try installing the CPU cooler tomorrow.
And while I don't know if it's related or not, for some reason Sony Vegas has started putting a red circle in the middle of my video previews and I always have trouble getting rid of it.

junkeymonkey · Feb 22, 2016

I wonder if any C++ files are missing and you may need to get older / been removed from 10 files with a C++ runtime ?? just like guys running older games may need to get the dx9 runtime ???

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/search/result.aspx?q=Visual+C%2B%2B+Redistributable+&form=dlc

maybe some interest here on the this with adobe ??

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2021422?start=0&tstart=0

maybe look in to there deal?

http://www.winxdvd.com/windows-10/best-h265-hevc-video-converter.htm

souperzombie · Feb 22, 2016

junkeymonkey :

I tried installing those a while ago and it didn't make a difference. I might have missed a few but I'm pretty sure I installed all the ones that would.

junkeymonkey · Feb 22, 2016

im looking at thins but it still may come down to all was fine until you went 10 ??

''I have I have h264-encoded videos that I've downloaded and saved before I upgraded and they play perfectly fine without any artefacting or problems. ''

don't know if this could affect anything but you said it all was working with 7 and the skylake ?? or was it working on another platform with 7 [non skylake ]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2441458/intel-admits-to-skylake-bug-that-freezes-windows-and-linux-systems

souperzombie · Feb 22, 2016

junkeymonkey :

Before I upgraded I was using Sandy Bridge. I upgraded to Windows 10 and Skylake at the same time and pretty much everything works fine except for the aforementioned encoding and rendering.

junkeymonkey · Feb 22, 2016

well that's what folks find out with skylake and 10 , skylake is limited and proprietary as is 10 its all about you do as they want instead of you do what you want ..

I'd have to really dislike you to recommend any of that combination. I beleave intel and Microsoft planed this to insure they goit control over things - also if this is true how can you look at things ?

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/01/skylake-users-given-18-months-to-upgrade-to-windows-10/

see it all about anything now older just may not be supported or work fully at all like they removed some usb support ?

http://wccftech.com/intel-skylake-remove-support-usb-based-windows-7-installation-platform-specs/

now all intel and mirosoft has to do is keep removing until if it not fully windows 10 and skylake or newer approved it just may not work at all anymore ..

this relives all there costs in support instead of having to support 8 or 7 or what ever it 10 or nothing there way or no way [sad times ] lok at a haswell board and all chips supported

[example ]
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97%20Extreme6/?cat=CPU

lots to choose from and xeon as well

[skylake example ]
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z170%20Extreme6/?cat=CPU

not much and will not get xeon support on any 100 series [ you have to use a server C232 chipset board ]

then you see how many go 10 and find they wish they had not and try to ''roll back'' to there old os's cause nothing works right or some issue ??

you use to buy hardware that supported what you do , now you buy to support them and there needs ... its a trap and once they got you to step in they spring it and don't want to let you go and now you suffer with it ..

just to start look at all this mess?/

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-129.html

like I say you had no issues on your old build with 7 so why now , see??? shouls work better , right ??

don't know man, seems just you got a skylake and 10 combo and that's just life with it ??

good luck

h264 Encoding is completely broken across my entire computer

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