My results, very low-spec Linux client

[Cidus]

First of all, love streaming, it is a godsend for me with a low-spec linux HTPC hooked to my TV.

My config:

Server
Intel i5 750
12gb RAM
Radeon 5870 1gb DDR5
Windows 7
22' monitor, max res 1680x1050

Client
Zotac Zbox HD-ID11 (http://www.zotacusa.com/zbox-hd-id11.html)
Intel ATOM D510
Nvidia ION2 512mb
2gb RAM
Ubuntu 12.04
PS3 Sixaxis configured with SIXAD
46' Sony TV
Steam big picture interface runs, but is kinda laggy. The startup video doesn't even play at 720p.

Wired 1Gbps connection between them.

Games I have tested so far:

- Magicka - runs flawlessly. 30fps at 1050p, 60fps at 720p

- Mirror's Edge - Runs smoothly, 60fps at 720p while walking, jumping around. but 100% frame loss when making fast paced actions like wall run and roll over. Smells like a bug.
(BTW, Controller integration works perfectly, but the game's not listed as controller-friendly)

- Guacamelee - runs very badly at 1050p. Screen latency went to nearly 60000ms.
Changing the resolution to 720p on the server resolved the issue. Runs smoothly at 60fps.

Will post more results later.

[Cidus]

- Shank ran very well as well, 60fps at 720p

I've only tested light games so far. I'll try Skyrim later.

[Coatezy]

Interested to see how you get on!

I have just installed SteamOS on a Acer Revo 3700.

Client specs:

Intel Atom D525
2gb RAM
Nvidia ION2 512mb

Server specs:

Intel i7 2600k
16gb RAM
2x GTX 580
Monitors Max res is 1080p

Wired gigabit connection.

I'm not seeing great performance at all. Tested a few games such as Bioshock Infinite, Portal 2 and F1 2013. All but portal 2 are pretty much unplayable at 720p. I might try it with Windows tomorrow to see if it is just a driver issue.

[tragicmaestro]

I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 as well but on a Intel E5200 CPU. Comparing the performance and the working games with another client I have running windows Intel CULV Processor, there is no difference.

[TheFuga]

I have a similar setup and i tried only Grid 2 so far but is impossible to play. The server runs at 15fps even in the lowest resolution avaliable. I don't have all that loss not even recording with fraps.
This feature is very promissing but Steam have a long way to go yet.

[borg_7_of_9]

Originally posted by TheFuga:

I have a similar setup and i tried only Grid 2 so far but is impossible to play. The server runs at 15fps even in the lowest resolution avaliable. I don't have all that loss not even recording with fraps.
This feature is very promissing but Steam have a long way to go yet.

ODD Grid2 was a dream on my rig's over 100Mbit connection
what are your exact specs Host/Client

[slouken]

Originally posted by TheFuga:

I have a similar setup and i tried only Grid 2 so far but is impossible to play. The server runs at 15fps even in the lowest resolution avaliable. I don't have all that loss not even recording with fraps.
This feature is very promissing but Steam have a long way to go yet.

TheFuga, can you dig in and see where the time is being spent?
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3629-RIAV-1617#advancedtroubleshooting

[TheFuga]

Originally posted by slouken:

Originally posted by TheFuga:

I have a similar setup and i tried only Grid 2 so far but is impossible to play. The server runs at 15fps even in the lowest resolution avaliable. I don't have all that loss not even recording with fraps.
This feature is very promissing but Steam have a long way to go yet.

TheFuga, can you dig in and see where the time is being spent?
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3629-RIAV-1617#advancedtroubleshooting

Originally posted by borg_7_of_9:

Originally posted by TheFuga:

I have a similar setup and i tried only Grid 2 so far but is impossible to play. The server runs at 15fps even in the lowest resolution avaliable. I don't have all that loss not even recording with fraps.
This feature is very promissing but Steam have a long way to go yet.

ODD Grid2 was a dream on my rig's over 100Mbit connection
what are your exact specs Host/Client

The client sucks but the problem was aparently in the server - which is not that good but can run Grid 2 maxed out at 1080p easily.
Anyways, the client is a P4 HT with 1GB and no graphic card (running last version of Ubuntu [KDE]). The host is a Phenom II x4 955, 6GB and a HD7850 (running Windows 7 SP1). The router i'm using is 54Mbps. I may be wrong but the only thing that would explain any performance issue is the client but the problem is that the FPS is low in the host.
Oh, i just remembered that i have limited the server resolution to 480p to avoid problems with the lower resolution monitor on the client. I don't think that's the problem though.
I'll try more tomorrow.

Edit: I have tried again with Grid 2 and Post Apocalyptic Mayhem and have the same poor results in both. Average of 15FPS in the host and 60~70% frame loss in the client. Even when i put everything as low as possible the FPS is really low even in the host. Something's going really wrong :/

[sterfield]

Interesting results !

I'll follow your thread, as I've quite the same configuration (Zotac ION-ITX-A E, Atom 1,6GHz, Geforce 9400M w/ 256MB, see my thread in the Bug section :http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/1/540732888979672421/)

Got some problem to play some games (Wolf Among Us, for example), but some other games are running ok.

The latency is quite high on several games (120+ ms for "display), and the Steam client is reaaaally slow / laggy, but it's working, which is quite impressive considering the total power of this computer.

If Valve manage to get a smooth client + streaming experience with this type of rig, it'll be awesome.

[Boby [Gorm Dev]]

The client sucks but the problem was aparently in the server - which is not that good but can run Grid 2 maxed out at 1080p easily.
Anyways, the client is a P4 HT with 1GB and no graphic card (running last version of Ubuntu [KDE]). The host is a Phenom II x4 955, 6GB and a HD7850 (running Windows 7 SP1). The router i'm using is 54Mbps. I may be wrong but the only thing that would explain any performance issue is the client but the problem is that the FPS is low in the host.
Oh, i just remembered that i have limited the server resolution to 480p to avoid problems with the lower resolution monitor on the client. I don't think that's the problem though.
I'll try more tomorrow.

Edit: I have tried again with Grid 2 and Post Apocalyptic Mayhem and have the same poor results in both. Average of 15FPS in the host and 60~70% frame loss in the client. Even when i put everything as low as possible the FPS is really low even in the host. Something's going really wrong :/

Just a thought but If you're not actually using a graphics card. Just stock mobo i'd expect you to have problems. Watching a high def video on a pentium 4 with no graphics card doesn't seem realistic by itself.

[Warhanna]

Can you guys (especially Sterfield and TheFuga) try your exact setup again, but without using Big Picture Mode on your client PC's? I predict quite a performance improvement based on testing.

[TheFuga]

Originally posted by Boby Gorm Dev:

The client sucks but the problem was aparently in the server - which is not that good but can run Grid 2 maxed out at 1080p easily.
Anyways, the client is a P4 HT with 1GB and no graphic card (running last version of Ubuntu [KDE]). The host is a Phenom II x4 955, 6GB and a HD7850 (running Windows 7 SP1). The router i'm using is 54Mbps. I may be wrong but the only thing that would explain any performance issue is the client but the problem is that the FPS is low in the host.
Oh, i just remembered that i have limited the server resolution to 480p to avoid problems with the lower resolution monitor on the client. I don't think that's the problem though.
I'll try more tomorrow.

Edit: I have tried again with Grid 2 and Post Apocalyptic Mayhem and have the same poor results in both. Average of 15FPS in the host and 60~70% frame loss in the client. Even when i put everything as low as possible the FPS is really low even in the host. Something's going really wrong :/

Just a thought but If you're not actually using a graphics card. Just stock mobo i'd expect you to have problems. Watching a high def video on a pentium 4 with no graphics card doesn't seem realistic by itself.

800x600 it's not a high def video. And again, the problem was not only in the client but the host was running at 15FPS. As i said, i would expect problems from the client but not from the host.

Originally posted by Chieftex:

Can you guys (especially Sterfield and TheFuga) try your exact setup again, but without using Big Picture Mode on your client PC's? I predict quite a performance improvement based on testing.

I wasn't running big picture.

[sterfield]

My build is able to decode 1080p on the fly without any problem. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but all the client has to do is taking the streamin flux, decode it, and display it. All the work is handle by the server.

I can try the stream without big picture, but as I have installed steam OS, each time I launch Steam, it's launching it in Big Picture mode, and I don't know how to access to the standard Steam client.

However, even by reducing the resolution in steam OS, and forcing the streaming to 480p, the streaming display is still 1080p.

[Boby [Gorm Dev]]

Originally posted by TheFuga:

Originally posted by Boby Gorm Dev:

Just a thought but If you're not actually using a graphics card. Just stock mobo i'd expect you to have problems. Watching a high def video on a pentium 4 with no graphics card doesn't seem realistic by itself.

800x600 it's not a high def video. And again, the problem was not only in the client but the host was running at 15FPS. As i said, i would expect problems from the client but not from the host.

Originally posted by Chieftex:

Can you guys (especially Sterfield and TheFuga) try your exact setup again, but without using Big Picture Mode on your client PC's? I predict quite a performance improvement based on testing.

I wasn't running big picture.

Stock built in graphics on a P4 mobo is still garbage. You are also doing more then just watching a video as it requires minimumal latency which in turn requires more resources which are quite limited on that setup. I am going to look into doing the same thing in the near future except i will be using a Geforce 7600GT which is worlds ahead of integrated graphics on potentially a bad mobo to start with.

[TheFuga]

Originally posted by Boby Gorm Dev:

Originally posted by TheFuga:

800x600 it's not a high def video. And again, the problem was not only in the client but the host was running at 15FPS. As i said, i would expect problems from the client but not from the host.


I wasn't running big picture.

Stock built in graphics on a P4 mobo is still garbage. You are also doing more then just watching a video as it requires minimumal latency which in turn requires more resources which are quite limited on that setup. I am going to look into doing the same thing in the near future except i will be using a Geforce 7600GT which is worlds ahead of integrated graphics on potentially a bad mobo to start with.

Dude, the problem is not in the client. I would understand the client having problems as it barely runs the sistem. The problem is on the host, that usually runs the game maxed out and 1080p at 50~60FPS. I tried to lower everything including resolution but the host don't run above 20FPS. Same thing for PAM.
I can't see why the client would be interfering in this.
I also would expect a performance loss from the host when broadcasting but this is just too much. As i said i don't have that loss not even recording the game.

[Cidus]

Wow, lots of response, thanks for the feedback. I'll try not running big screen, see if there is a difference.
I tried Skyrim and it failed miserably. First the launcher can't be accessed with a controller. Luckily I have an airmouse remote. But the game crashed when launching.
I believe most of these bugs are because I'm running at 1050p on the server.
If I change to 720p, it usually fixes it.