My Old Post:
My Issue:
I see significant drop in fps (frames per second) in my active window, when certain taskbar icons are flashing and/or highlighted orange, and whenever I get new chat messages.
What I want:
I want to stop the fps drop when new events occur.
Is there an option to "only show icons"?
It's possible that option won't resolve my issue, but then again, it might.
Searches have not led to a solution:
I've searched in these forums, and they only have options to slow down or speed up the orange highlight.
I want the flashing (orange highlight, or whatever it is called) eliminated, not prolonged.
And yet, that may or may not be the cause of the fps drop.
Taskbar icons that are associated with my FPS drop look like this:
System Tray icons that are associated with my FPS drop look like this:
Events when the Issue Occurs:
I see significant fps drop in my active window when the following occurs:
- Whenever a taskbar icon flashes.
- I get a new message in Skype
- I get a new message in Battle(dot) net desktop app
- When the orange number appears on the Skype System Tray icon.
FPS drop most noticeable when:
- Actively Playing Minecraft, and a new notification is in another program.
- Actively Playing Warcraft, and a new notification is in another program.
- When scrolling in a webpage, and a new notification is in another program.
When the FPS goes back to normal:
The fps goes back to normal when I switch over to the program that is flashing, and the notification that something new is happening has been acknowledged, so the notification that something new is there has gone away. For skype, I have to look at the skype messages until all new message notifications are gone.
Switching active windows is not a solution:
Consider my activities: My games require split second reactions to keep my character alive. I do not want to be affected by an FPS drop, nor do I want to spend a few seconds checking the new notification, when my character could die in those few seconds.
I want another solution, like preventing the flashing/highlighting from happening at all, like some kinda off-switch, or maybe change notifications to white highlights. White highlights have not been associated with these fps drops (as far as I know), just the orange ones.
Details and Timeline of Events:
For weeks, maybe months, I thought the fps drop was caused by skype. I noticed the fps drop whenever I would get a new message in skype. I tried setting my status to busy, but I was still affected when a new message came in. Tried editing my skype in many different ways: putting it in my system tray only, going offline, turning off sounds. Even tried putting Skype to just in my System Tray, but I still got the fps drop when a new message came in with the yellow/orange dot with the number showing in the System Tray. I even tried eliminating all Taskbar/System Tray notifications from skype, but I still got an fps drop when a new message came in. There was nothing visible highlighted, as Skype was running in the background with no visible graphics indicating a new message. I knew I had a new message, because my FPs dropped. For weeks I thought it was just skype, so I searched and posted in skype community forums looking for a solution, but I saw no answer.
Today, I got a new message from Warcraft's Desktop App Battle Tag chat, and the taskbar icon flashed (the fancy icon's design appears to be brand new as of today, before it was default widnows thingie that had a white highlight with new messages. Before today, Battle tag chat flashing was not an issue, but now with this new icon, and the yellow/orange flashing, I got the same fps drop (just like what I got with skype's new messages) when I was active in Minecraft. That fps drop eliminated my guess at it being just skype, it appears to be Windows 7 taskbar itself.
I'm unsure of the source of the issue:
I'm not sure 'exactly' what is causing the issue, or how to practically prevent the issue from reoccuring while I am gaming. I want the fps to remain steady at all times. I see it drop when a program is telling me that something new has happened, so that leads me to believe the root of the issue has something to do with that, and it's not exclusive to one program either. I could be mistaken at the cause, I'm not software programmer after all. That is why I could use the help of people in these forums, some of you might know how to fix/prevent this.
P.S.
Keyboard shortcut button posted this when I wasn't ready.... I cannot edit my title.
