Premiere Pro 25.1 - iGPU stopped decoding my footage

[AndrewTheGreat]

Ok, just updated to v 25.1 opened my projects in progress to find out that none of them uses my iGPU to decode.

Went on checking it with different formats that are decoded (h264 8-bit 4:2:0, h265 8-bit 4:2:0, h265 10-bit 4:2:0, h265 10-bit 4:2:2) by the iGPU - all of them show 0% load.

What is going on, guys? Why is it "new version - new bugs" thing every time? My CPU immediately started being loaded more, like by 60% all the time, even though my GPU does the decoding, whereas on the previous versions the average CPU load was 20-30% with the iGPU doing all the decoding job.

Yes, I tried reinstalling both Premiere Pro (as well as resetting its cache, preferences and plugins via the start+shift menu) and all the drivers. 

Steps to reproduce? Open a project or create one, import a knowingly decoded video, put it on your timeline, press Play. Watch the the Windows Task manager - Performance graphs.

i7 14700K, RTX 4080, 64 Gb ram, SSDs, Win 11 24h2

[mayjain]

Hi @AndrewTheGreat,

Sorry to hear about the issue. I just tested this in version 25.1 and found iGPU being used as expected. Could you please confirm if both GPUs are enabled for Hardware Decode in the Media Preferences settings?

Hoping to help,
Mayjain

[AndrewTheGreat]

Hi, @mayjain

Your graph shows 3D load, not the decode one. I don't know what 3D shows, but it's not decoding. Still I have them all at 0%. All of the decoding options are on:

I tried turning OpenCL on only, the 3D graph starts showing in the iGPU tab, but as I said it's not Decode. Should I use the Cuda renderer, the iGPU is always at 0%. I tried installing different versions of Intel iGPU drivers as well as Nvidia Studio drivers - of no avail. I Also downgraded my Premiere Pro to v. 24.6 and there it's all OK.

Also take notice of the following. This is the GPU-Z utility showing NO iGPU load at all during the playback of the video and no Video Engine load of the dGPU during the same playback. So none of the videocards are being used for the decoding, but the dGPU is being used for some other processes, I suppose for accelerating the UI.

Where should I dig to?

[AndrewTheGreat]

@mayjain 

Hi again. I think I found the cause of this issue and it is reproduceable. The cause is the new Windows 11 24h2 update which Microsoft forces. My coleagues confirmed that on Windows 23h2 they don't have this issue. So I contacted Microsoft support and this was useless because after hours of following all their troubleshooting steps like reinstalling drivers, software, Windows updates, checking files integrity, I ended up being told to update my BIOS (WHAT?! WHY?!) and then - replace my motherboard in some repair center!!! (Holy crap!!!). A complete unprofessionalism that is. I don't know who I was talking to, some new guy or maybe an employee who was drunk or tired of their duties, but this is what they came up with at the end.. So Adobe is the only one who can help to resovle this issue. I am not talking to Microsoft again. Ever. 

This is what my colleague sent me - the iGPU graphs on his Win 23h2 do work

[AndrewTheGreat]

And yet another thing to add, @mayjain 

Now why is this all iGPU thing crucial, and why I even brought up this issue. Below are two videos. The first shows Premiere Pro 25.0 in Windows 11 23h2 simultaneously playing back 4 physical copies of an h265 10 bit 422 120 fps footage. You can see that my CPU's iGPU helps immensely to play that back without any visual frame drops. The CPU is only 50% loaded by the way:

[video]

And here is the current Premiere Pro 25.1 in the current Windows 11 24h2 with the same exact footage configuration. See the 100% CPU load, a huge lag before the playback starts and the lags during the playback that mean tons of dropped frames:

This is serious, guys...

[mayjain]

Thanks, @AndrewTheGreat , for taking the time to dive deeper and provide a detailed report!

It seems I mistakenly shared a screenshot where the video decode showed no progress. However, we tested two Windows systems where we observed the iGPU being utilized as expected (with the video decode graphs progressing normally).

I verified that both systems where this issue was tested are running Windows 11 23H2.

To confirm further, do you see the iGPU functioning correctly with Premiere version 25.0(but not with 25.1) even on Windows 11 24H2?

I’ll also investigate this issue on a system with the 24H2 version and discuss it with my team. I’ll keep you updated with any findings.

Thanks,
Mayjain

[AndrewTheGreat]

Hi, @mayjain 

Looks loke it's purely a Win 24h2 issue. I checked it in my 24h2 and this is Premiere Pro 25.1:

And this is Premiere Pro 24.6.4:

So Premiere Pro is actually not the problem, but Windows is. 

[JonesVid]

This is what ASUS motherboard guys have to say on the issue

https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1054046/

Not sure what your motherboard is - but it seems that Windows 24H2 disables the iGPU in BIOS?

Weird

Did you check the iGPU setting in BIOS already?. Its under System Agent\Graphics Configuration

[AndrewTheGreat]

Hi, @JonesVid 

Thanks for sharing this. I'm an MSI owner, but I checked this theory and my iGPU was on. So I went further and turned it off and on again and it did not help. Win 24h2 update messes up either the graph readings or the whole iGPU 

[RjL190365]

My i9-14900K system running Windows 11 24H2 is also experiencing the same problem when running Premiere Pro 25.1. It did not experience this problem with version 25.0.

The workaround for this is to clear the checkbox besides Nvidia (or AMD, if you have a discrete AMD GPU) in the hardware decoding settings within Preferences > Media. Only with the hardware decoder set this way (Intel enabled, Nvidia or AMD disabled) would the iGPU be utilized for decoding.

[AndrewTheGreat]

Hi @RjL190365 

Thanks for your input. Checked it on Premiere Pro 24 - same issue on 24h2.

[RjL190365]

Unfortunately, this "workaround" only works for H.264. HEVC defaulted to software-only decoding with the above-mentioned settings.

I will try reverting Premiere Pro back to 25.0 to determine if it's a software problem with either Windows 11 24H2 itself or a cumulative update to that feature update, or if it's with the specific Premiere Pro version.

[RjL190365]

It turned out that at least with Premiere Pro 25.1 running on Windows 11 24H2, only the discrete Nvidia or AMD GPU is being utilized for Long GOP decoding when the decoding settings in Premiere Pro are set to their defaults.

[RjL190365]

I retested my system with version 25.0, and in that version Premiere Pro defaulted to using the Intel iGPU for hardware decoding with the hardware decoding settings are set at their default settings. Version 25.1 changed the hardware decoding default to the discrete GPU with the decoding settings in Premiere Pro set to their defaults.

Thus, I am now concluding that Premiere Pro (in any version since hardware decoding support with a discrete GPU was added) cannot utilize two different hardware decoders simultaneously no matter which version of Windows that the software is running on. Instead, the default hardware decoding settings in Premiere Pro was supposed to automatically select whichever hardware decoder it thinks delivers better performance. Unfortunately, this auto-detection is broken in version 25.1.

[JonesVid]

I've re-read the above posts again and @RjL190365 I am puzzled by your conclusion that it is purely an Adobe Premiere 25.1

problem.

I can clearly see both NVidia GPU and iGPU decoding using 25.1 on Windows 23H2 in Task Mgr / Performance

using Premiere 25.1 Settings for decoders  in attached picture.

The Asus post also talks about known iGPU and GPU conflicts in Windows 11 24H2 and says you need to disable the iGPU entirely to make the GPU display work properly on that motherboard. The INtel iGPU is useless in that case.

This is the Asus Z890 MBD of course though , I am using Z690A, so not sure until W11 24H2 is loaded it will stop the iGPU.

So if your conclusion is right ...'I am now concluding that Premiere Pro (in any version since hardware decoding support with a discrete GPU was added) cannot utilize two different hardware decoders simultaneously no matter which version of Windows that the software is running on' ....  why do Adobe go to the bother of listing Intel and Nvidia GPU in settings in Premiere Pro versions?. It is redundant in that case?.

I had drawn the conclusion this was a Windows 11 24H2 issue as my present set up with 23H2 and Premiere 25.1  is working like normal, with what appears both iGPU and NVidia GPU decoding H265 4.2.0 at same time?.

The posts @AndrewTheGreat made seem to also say it is a pure Windows 24H2 issue.

For now I have paused my Windows 11 updates until I get to the bottom of this.

If I have missed something here let me know. Thanks.

[JonesVid]

Thanks @AndrewTheGreat for raising this issue!.

It has come at quite a convenient time for me as I was about to upgrade my other Windows 10 machine. The Media Creation tool would have put Win 11 24H2 on it ! aggh

Also thanks to @RjL190365 here for highlighting it as a Windows 11 24H2 generic issue. I am a bit puzzled though why the problem is not there in Premiere 25.0 but there in 25.1?

I raised a case with Microsoft myself this morning anyway and they told me they are working on this 'known issue'.

Not sure the Microsoft support guy fully understood what I was explaining to him but have also raised it on the feedback hub. Apparently (from a quick scan read on Microsoft website) they have re-worked the Graphics handling on this 24H2 major version release.

At least he did not tell me to change my Motherboard 🙂

For the time being I am blocking any updates to Windows 11 24H2.

It would be useful to get an update on this from the Adobe team @mayjain please, so if you have any information via Microsoft this would also be useful to see here.

I also rely on NVidia GPU and Intel iGPU being available to optimise performance on a ASUS Z690A motherboard.

[RjL190365]

Maybe my particular installation of Windows has been doing something that almost nobody else is experiencing? Maybe the expected behavior with 24H2 and any version of Premiere Pro was to disable the iGPU under all circumstances, and that setting the hardware decoding to Intel enabled and Nvidia/AMD disabled would force software-only decoding?

[AndrewTheGreat]

I thought of that. I upgraded from 23h2 to 24h4 when Windows suggested me doing so and there was nothing particular about this process, everything went fine. But two facts here I'd like to draw everyone's attention to.

First, here's the decoding data in Premiere Pro's console:

It's a HEVC 10 bit 4:2:0  which is decoded but Premiere Pro shows I have no Intel iGPU installed and the decoding is done by the software, not a hardware decoding. One might think there's a problem with my iGPU, it's dead or something. 

But I open Intel's Graphics software and see there that my iGPU not only works, it actually does something when I play back this video in Premiere Pro:

But Windows tells me that my iGPU is silent during this same process - there's something 3D but it's definitelly not the decoding:

SO the only thing I see now since no one has come up with any idea how to fix it by small blood is to reinstall Windows... Though here are two options too - go back to 23h2 and have no ussies though an older Windows version or 24h2 and pray that a second installation will fix this issue... 

[AndrewTheGreat]

Hi, @mayjain

Do you want to see an interesting thing related to this issue?

This is what I'm seeing right now - still Win 11 24h2, still no decoding in the Windows graph, Premiere Pro showng in its console that I have no iGPU installed at all and there's only Software decoding going on... 

The most interesting thing here is - just think! - I'm now having my 4080 turned off (unplugged) and my monitor plugged into the motherboard to work with my iGPU.

Yeah...

And this is Assasin's Creed Mirage (2024) running on my "not working iGPU" alone: 

[RjL190365]

At any rate, on my PC software decoding is actually faster on H.264 than the Nvidia hardware decoder on my particular RTX 4070 Ti. Strange.

[AndrewTheGreat]

@RjL190365  And how do you measure the decoding speed? Do you have a lag on 4070 while having no lags on CPU only? Or is it by dropped frames? Or did you actually mean the ENcoding when exporting?

[RjL190365]

That was just running the PugetBench. I will use actual footage later when I perform my re-test.

Although to be exact, my RTX 4070 Ti and all other discrete GPUs will suffer from some lag during decoding while also trying to render because all of the operations must share the exact same PCIe lanes. And all operations in both directions by default utilize all available PCIe lanes.

[JonesVid]

If you decide to go for a complete fresh Windows 11 24H2 install it will be interesting to see what the result is.

I do sympathise with you having to go through all that however.

I've paused My Win 11 PC 23H2 updates after the recent one.

My old 'back up ' PC on Intel 9900K is Windows 10pro  and am not touching that for an upgrade to Win 11   until we all get some clearer picture what is going on with Win 11 24H2

As an aside, I'm already struggling with the 'losing Pro Res Previews issue' on 25.1 - an old problem, but have to virtually re-render every time I load a project.

Headbanging times.

Hello @mayjain >> any word/feedback  from Adobe team on Windows 24H2 / PPro 25.1  you can post here yet ?

[mayjain]

Hi @AndrewTheGreat  @JonesVid  @AndrewTheGreat ,

Apologies for the delay. I still need to spend more time on it and discuss with my team. I’ll get back to you once we’ve had a chance to review everything.

Thanks, Mayjain

[Alex367466572b5i]

@mayjainCooperate with at least one blogger who understands hardware. Apple has hundreds of them, who are at least engaged in marketing.
No one can confirm all the work speeds that you specify 2-3 times.
Previously, at least Intel had some performance charts and tests.
It gets worse and worse every year... part of the community has already fled to Resolve.