Mobility Radeon 4670 + External Monitor + Win7 (x64)

[bcsaji]

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?

 

[Coolness]

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?

 

[bcsaji]

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

 

[Coolness]

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.

 

[bcsaji]

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.

 

[Coolness]

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.

 

[bcsaji]

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?

 

[Coolness]

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.

 

[bcsaji]

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?

 

[Coolness]

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.

 

[bcsaji]

Not that i know of, you can, however look at the device manager, to check for driver probelms.

In the device manager everything seems fine (no yellow triangles), but thanks for your help anyway. At the moment, I think that it is a Win7 issue, since other video card related activities work smoothly, the slowdowns seem to effect mostly Aero.

 

[Vinnetou]

Same problem with GeForce 8400M @ DELL 2408 WFP

Under wxp, win7 WITHOUT aero external video goes well. with aero, even not-HD video seems choppy, aero on my laptop slows down whole system.

In my concern the main reason is the aero itself - since the problem does not occur anywhere else.
Ubuntu 10.10 for instance handles a full HD video on the external screen without any problems even with full graphical gadgets (compiz etc) in use.

Anyone has any clue how to fix this?