Video Stuttering on Third Monitor Running off Second Video Card

[Snow Hound]

Hey everyone. I installed a second video card to my system because I have a dual monitor setup running off one card (ATI 3850) and now I have an ATI 4670 running my projector.

It seems that when I play video off the second card (to my projector) it shows a slight stuttering in the video, but not the audio. These are files I know work properly, so it's not that.

When I plugged in the second card and fired up the machine, 7 automatically installed the drivers. Was this a bad idea? Should I uninstall them and do an manual install from drivers available in the setup from ATI's website?

I had to do some rearranging of the screens under the screen resolution menu, but it seemed ok until I played video off the second card.

Also, when I start the computer, ATI blacks my screens out for a few seconds and then comes back on, similar to what it does when I want to change the resolution of a screen. This is frustrating to watch every time I turn on the machine.

Anyone now what I can possible do to solve these problems? I never thought it would be so difficult to install a second video card and have it work properly! Thanks everyone.

 

[Lordbob75]

Definitely install the ATI drivers.

~Lordbob

 

[Snow Hound]

Definitely install the ATI drivers.

~Lordbob

Well I followed your advice and it seems to have gotten rid of the startup issues where my screens would blank out for a few seconds.

However, the stuttering problem is still there on the projector running off the 4670. It doesn't stutter when the movie/video is playing in a window, but it does when I have it full screen. It's not crazy stuttering but it's noticeable.

Anyone know what information you need from me to help you diagnose the problem? I am running 8GB of DDR2 RAM and a 3.2 GHZ dual core CPU.

I really don't think I have a hardware capability issue, even though the minimizing of the movie to window sized resulting in the stuttering going away would make you think it is. Very strange.

 

[zzz2496]

Uninstall the ATi driver, run Ccleaner/Driver cleaner before reinstalling. The 10.5 driver is known to have problems with video, 10.6 (and a hotfix) will fix it...

zzz2496

 

[Snow Hound]

Uninstall the ATi driver, run Ccleaner/Driver cleaner before reinstalling. The 10.5 driver is known to have problems with video, 10.6 (and a hotfix) will fix it...

zzz2496

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what's a hotfix?

Plus I should let you know that the last driver I had installed was 10.3. I never had 10.5 installed.

What exactly does Windows 7 install when it does its driver installation automatically? Maybe that's where the faulty drivers were accessed?

 

[Lordbob75]

Uninstall the ATi driver, run Ccleaner/Driver cleaner before reinstalling. The 10.5 driver is known to have problems with video, 10.6 (and a hotfix) will fix it...

zzz2496

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what's a hotfix?

Plus I should let you know that the last driver I had installed was 10.3. I never had 10.5 installed.

What exactly does Windows 7 install when it does its driver installation automatically? Maybe that's where the faulty drivers were accessed?

It just installs the built in drivers.

Go to ATIs site, and get the latest drivers and install those.
A hotfix is basically a patch.

~Lordbob

 

[Snow Hound]

Uninstall the ATi driver, run Ccleaner/Driver cleaner before reinstalling. The 10.5 driver is known to have problems with video, 10.6 (and a hotfix) will fix it...

zzz2496

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what's a hotfix?

Plus I should let you know that the last driver I had installed was 10.3. I never had 10.5 installed.

What exactly does Windows 7 install when it does its driver installation automatically? Maybe that's where the faulty drivers were accessed?

It just installs the built in drivers.

Go to ATIs site, and get the latest drivers and install those.
A hotfix is basically a patch.

~Lordbob

Indeed that's what I did. I currently have 10.6 installed upgrading from 10.3. The stuttering is still there. Although I am going to try and see if doing a wipe of the drivers first THEN install 10.6 makes any difference like zzz2496 mentioned.

 

[Lordbob75]

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what's a hotfix?

Plus I should let you know that the last driver I had installed was 10.3. I never had 10.5 installed.

What exactly does Windows 7 install when it does its driver installation automatically? Maybe that's where the faulty drivers were accessed?

It just installs the built in drivers.

Go to ATIs site, and get the latest drivers and install those.
A hotfix is basically a patch.

~Lordbob

Indeed that's what I did. I currently have 10.6 installed upgrading from 10.3. The stuttering is still there. Although I am going to try and see if doing a wipe of the drivers first THEN install 10.6 makes any difference like zzz2496 mentioned.

It is always a good idea to remove the old driver first. Let us know how it works.

~Lordbob

 

[Snow Hound]

Damn. I was hoping this would work but sadly it didn't. I uninstalled the drivers, used ccleaner, and then reinstalled 10.6. The stupid stuttering is still there.

It's not a stuttering that happens continuously, it happens every few seconds and slightly. Still, it's noticeable and it hampers the movie watching experience.

When I play the same file full screen on either of the two monitors connected to the 3850 it plays fine. Only when I play it on the 4670 (going to the projector) does it stutter. The whole point was to watch movies on the big screen not on a 25 inch screen!

And it only does it when it's in full screen, if I play it in a smaller window it's fine. Bummer.

This is pretty frustrating.

Does it matter that the two extra displays are extended from the desktop? I am trying to think of what can possibly cause this and I am starting to think of irrational reasons!

Any other info that I should provide? Please let me know, thanks.

 

[zzz2496]

What's the player?

zzz2496

 

[Snow Hound]

What's the player?

zzz2496

VLC Player. I like it since it plays pretty much anything you throw at it.

 

[zzz2496]

Try changing the Video->Output modules to "Output video 3D DirectX" or "Output video to OpenGL", see if it helps... Or you just try changing until it doesn't stutter...

zzz2496

 

[Snow Hound]

Try changing the Video->Output modules to "Output video 3D DirectX" or "Output video to OpenGL", see if it helps... Or you just try changing until it doesn't stutter...

zzz2496

Thank you again for more recommendations. I'll try it as soon as I can as my wife is telling me I am neglecting my guests

I'll get back and report with the results as soon as I can.

 

[Snow Hound]

Try changing the Video->Output modules to "Output video 3D DirectX" or "Output video to OpenGL", see if it helps... Or you just try changing until it doesn't stutter...

zzz2496

Ok so here's the deal. I put OpenGL as the output, and it seems to have gotten rid of the stuttering. It does however run my CPU at about 45 -50% average for different movies.

Another thing: when I moved VLC Player over to one of my two monitors that run off the 3850, in less than 30 seconds Windows 7 said that my computer performance is running slow.

Then another warning came up and said Windows Aero is running out of memory, at which point it turned off the feature automatically. During this, I noticed my Ram usage was steadily rising from 1.8 GB where it usually is and making it's way up to 3 GB before Aero was shut off.

It seems to happen only when I play a movie on one screen, pause it, and then drag the window to the other screen running off the other video card and making it full screen. You see my RAM usage shoot up.

At this point I am happy that the stuttering went away. Is OpenGL inherent to more CPU usage? 40-55% is what I am averaging when playing a file. Honestly I can't remember how high it was with the original settings, it may have been that high all along. Thanks again though!

 

[zzz2496]

Nice, if OpenGL doesn't perform nicely, try DirectX (I use 3D DirectX), see if it makes any difference...

zzz2496

Ps. and you're welcome...