On Linux Mint with an Intel integrated GPU and an NVIDIA GTX 1650, Brave and Chromium use around 70% CPU during 4K YouTube playback. Firefox uses around 25 to 30%. Hardware acceleration is enabled in Brave. What should I check?
Why is Brave using so much CPU for 4K video on Mint?
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handwritten-in-pencil
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First, check whether video decoding is actually happening on a GPU. Having hardware acceleration enabled in Brave doesn't necessarily mean the video itself is being decoded in hardware.
Run nvtop while the video is playing and look for activity in the NVIDIA decoder field, usually shown as DEC. If there's no activity, that suggests the NVIDIA decoder isn't being used, though it doesn't rule out decoding on the Intel GPU.
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Compare the codecs each browser gets. Right-click the YouTube video and open Stats for Nerds, then check the codec while playing the same video at the same resolution in both browsers. They may be receiving different formats, and hardware decoding support can differ between them.
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You could try the h264ify extension as a test. It changes which codecs YouTube can offer the browser. Check the actual resolution and codec afterward, since the available streams may change too.
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If decoding turns out to be the issue, check the installed graphics drivers and codec support for the GPU in use. Driver and codec packages can affect hardware decoding on Linux, but I'd verify the decoder activity and stream format before changing packages.
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handwritten-in-pencil:
Brave's GPU information says hardware acceleration is enabled, but I'll check the video codec separately.