Mobility Radeon 4670 + External Monitor + Win7 (x64)

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  1. Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
       #1

    Mobility Radeon 4670 + External Monitor + Win7 (x64)


    My problem in a nutshell is that when I use an external monitor, then sometimes Windows 7 Aero becomes very choppy, but other times it is smooth (independently of how many programs are running). This choppiness comes back periodically and I could not observe any correlation between the usage of the resources (cpu, gpu, memory, etc) and this phenomenon. It is very annoying, but it only pops up (or at least it is only observable) if I connect an external monitor. I have an ATI Mobility Radeon 4670 card with 1GB of GDDR3 memory, so it should be enough to handle Aero (especially since I have disabled some of the features, such as transparent glass).

    I tried updating the BIOS, the video card driver (I even tried the unreleased beta driver), but this annoying thing always remained. My guess would be that it is a video card related issue, since if I disable PowerPlay, then it somehow decreases the lag, but it does not disappear. Strangely, another thing that decreases the choppiness of Aero is if I use the external monitor in portrait mode (instead of landscape mode).

    What do you think, is it a Win7 issue, a driver issue or a hardware issue?
    Last edited by bcsaji; 18 Feb 2010 at 03:29.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 906
    Win 7 pro 64-bit, Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit
       #2

    bcsaji said:
    My problem in a nutshell is that when I use an external monitor, then sometimes Windows 7 Aero becomes very choppy, but other times it is smooth (independently of how many programs are running). This choppiness comes back periodically and I could not observe any correlation between the usage of the resources (cpu, gpu, memory, etc) and this phenomenon. It is very annoying, but it only pops up (or at least it is only observable) if I connect an external monitor. I have an ATI Mobility Radeon 4670 card with 1GB of GDDR3 memory, so it should be enough to handle Aero (especially since I have disabled some of the features, such as transparent glass).

    I tried updating the BIOS, the video card driver (I even tried the unreleased beta driver), but this annoying thing always remained. My guess would be that it is a video card related issue, since if I disable PowerPlay, then it somehow decreases the lag, but it does not disappear. Strangely, another thing that decreases the choppiness of Aero is if I use the external monitor in portrait mode (instead of landscape mode).

    What do you think, is it a Win7 issue, a driver issue or a hardware issue?
    Hello bsaji,

    Are you sure the cord is properly plugged in? Also, do you have another card that we could test on, to eliminate graphics card problems? What do you mean by external monitor, is it always the same monitor, or have you tried with a diffirent one?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Coolness said:
    Are you sure the cord is properly plugged in? Also, do you have another card that we could test on, to eliminate graphics card problems? What do you mean by external monitor, is it always the same monitor, or have you tried with a diffirent one?
    Thanks: yes, the cords are properly plugged in. I have a notebook, so the video card is integrated (thus I cannot try it out with another card). And I only tried it with one external monitor (btw: could the monitor cause the problem?). I may try finding another monitor, but my guess would be that it does not depend on the monitor.

    I also have the 59 Hz issue with Win7. Could this be the source?

    Cheers,
    Balázs
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 906
    Win 7 pro 64-bit, Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit
       #4

    bcsaji said:
    Coolness said:
    Are you sure the cord is properly plugged in? Also, do you have another card that we could test on, to eliminate graphics card problems? What do you mean by external monitor, is it always the same monitor, or have you tried with a diffirent one?
    Thanks: yes, the cords are properly plugged in. I have a notebook, so the video card is integrated (thus I cannot try it out with another card). And I only tried it with one external monitor (btw: could the monitor cause the problem?). I may try finding another monitor, but my guess would be that it does not depend on the monitor.

    I also have the 59 Hz issue with Win7. Could this be the source?

    Cheers,
    Balázs
    Your specs say you have a HD 4670. This is not an intergrated one. Are we talking about a diffirent system? I think that its probably the monitor, because it doesnt happen on the laptops own screen.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Coolness said:
    Your specs say you have a HD 4670. This is not an intergrated one. Are we talking about a diffirent system? I think that its probably the monitor, because it doesnt happen on the laptops own screen.
    No, it is the same machine. I have a Mobility Radeon HD 4670, so it is a notebook version. It might be possible that the GPU can be replaced, but I do not have another one, so it is not an option for me. Nevertheless, I will try it with a different monitor.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 906
    Win 7 pro 64-bit, Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit
       #6

    bcsaji said:
    Coolness said:
    Your specs say you have a HD 4670. This is not an intergrated one. Are we talking about a diffirent system? I think that its probably the monitor, because it doesnt happen on the laptops own screen.
    No, it is the same machine. I have a Mobility Radeon HD 4670, so it is a notebook version. It might be possible that the GPU can be replaced, but I do not have another one, so it is not an option for me. Nevertheless, I will try it with a different monitor.
    Intergrated simply means that its comes built into the Motherboard. No Nvidia or ATI cards come built to any motherboards, they can always be removed. Anyways, waiting for your result.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Coolness said:
    Intergrated simply means that its comes built into the Motherboard. No Nvidia or ATI cards come built to any motherboards, they can always be removed. Anyways, waiting for your result.
    Today, I could try my notebook with a Samsung SyncMaster monitor (my regular external monitor is a Dell P2210) and everything was the same, the periodic choppy behavior was there. Even more, it was there even after I have disconnected the monitor and it only disappeared after a reboot. So it seems that it is not the fault of the monitor.

    I have contacted both Dell and ATI regarding this issue. The answer of Dell was that it might be a Win7 issue and the answer of ATI was that it might be a driver or a hardware issue. ATI suggested trying alternative solutions, such as Omega Drivers or the ATI Modder Utility. Does anybody have some experience with them?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 906
    Win 7 pro 64-bit, Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit
       #8

    bcsaji said:
    Coolness said:
    Intergrated simply means that its comes built into the Motherboard. No Nvidia or ATI cards come built to any motherboards, they can always be removed. Anyways, waiting for your result.
    Today, I could try my notebook with a Samsung SyncMaster monitor (my regular external monitor is a Dell P2210) and everything was the same, the periodic choppy behavior was there. Even more, it was there even after I have disconnected the monitor and it only disappeared after a reboot. So it seems that it is not the fault of the monitor.

    I have contacted both Dell and ATI regarding this issue. The answer of Dell was that it might be a Win7 issue and the answer of ATI was that it might be a driver or a hardware issue. ATI suggested trying alternative solutions, such as Omega Drivers or the ATI Modder Utility. Does anybody have some experience with them?
    Nope sorry, dont have experince. However, you should try it with another OS, like a Ubuntu Live CD (which doesnt need to be installed) or if you have a copy of Windows Xp or Vista that would help.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 19
    Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Coolness said:
    Nope sorry, dont have experince. However, you should try it with another OS, like a Ubuntu Live CD (which doesnt need to be installed) or if you have a copy of Windows Xp or Vista that would help.
    Thanks for the hint. I may give it a try.

    BTW: Are there any programs that help recognizing hardware failures?
    Last edited by bcsaji; 24 Feb 2010 at 17:50.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 906
    Win 7 pro 64-bit, Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit
       #10

    bcsaji said:
    Coolness said:
    Nope sorry, dont have experince. However, you should try it with another OS, like a Ubuntu Live CD (which doesnt need to be installed) or if you have a copy of Windows Xp or Vista that would help.
    Thanks for the tip. I may give it a try.

    BTW: Are there any programs that help recognizing hardware failures?
    Not that i know of, you can, however look at the device manager, to check for driver probelms.
      My Computer


 
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