[RESOLVED] Undocking panels/displays in airplane to other monitors gives huge drop in FPS

[voss1917]

I know this issue has been addressed here and in other forums several times, but I am not sure of the official status of this issue.

As we are now soon in version 4.4 and still have this issue I wonder what is LM's statement on this:

1. Is the issue a P3Dv4 issue or an addon airplane issue?
2. Or is is it an user system issue related to drivers ( Nvidia,AMD), configuration, setups etc.?

3. Is there any solution available for this that most users do not know about?

I really hope to get LM's official statement and and fix for this issue.

[RossG]

This has been like this since FSX. I doubt you will see a fix for it. Opening a new screen will always bring down your frame rate as this puts new load on your video card. Maybe LM has a solution for it but I would not wait for it or expect it soon. Maybe SLI might help but that I would not know as I don't run SLI.

[Martyson]

I know this issue has been addressed here and in other forums several times, but I am not sure of the official status of this issue.

As we are now soon in version 4.4 and still have this issue I wonder what is LM's statement on this:

1. Is the issue a P3Dv4 issue or an addon airplane issue?
2. Or is is it an user system issue related to drivers ( Nvidia,AMD), configuration, setups etc.?

3. Is there any solution available for this that most users do not know about?

I really hope to get LM's official statement and and fix for this issue.

How many monitors in your setup?

[JorgenSA]

This issue looks like a hardware issue, and I would suggest you contact the manufacturer of your graphics card to:

1. See whether this really is a hardware issue or not, and

2. See if a driver and/or SLI could fix this issue.

But I wouldn't hold up my hopes too high....

What it certainly does NOT look like is an application (i.e., a P3D) issue.

Jorgen

[Martyson]

I only have two monitors / P3Dv4.3 windowed mode for this test today.

No problems with FPS dropping when un-docking PMDG CDU and PMDG Upper DU to the second monitor.

For a further test I also put a few programs on the second monitor.
Un-docked to second monitor:
PMDG CDU
PMDG Upper DU

Programs running on second monitor:
FS Real Time
Active Sky
PFPX
Navigraph Charts

Previous flights also all ok with FPS locked at 20 (running at 19.5) FSX Accel, P3Dv3.4 and P3Dv4.3.

[TMetzinger]

I have three monitors running in windowed mode off a 1080ti card, all 1920x1080.

When I put five PMDG 737 windows up on the auxiliary monitors I get a slight (5 fps or less) decrease in the main window. I put the FWDOverhead on one monitor, and two MCDUs, the AFTOverhead, and the MCP on the second monitor, and the main 3D VC is on the primary monitor.

[Beau Hollis]

This issue is usually resolved by disabling any streaming or recording features such as the win10 gaming bar and shadowplay. These driver or OS features for game streaming or recording seem to optimize for applications using a single window on one display. Also, you should not use SLI with Prepar3D if you plan to used undocked windows or panels. The SLI system gets mixed up when one app presents two different windows. It appears as though the drivers are treating each window's present as a new frame and swapping GPUs.

[bob34]

Disabling Nvidia In-Game Overlay (in Nvidia Experience Options) solved the problem for me.

[voss1917]

Some more testing results in Windows 10 Pro Fall Edition 1809 with both Windows Game and NVIDIA Overlay disabled:

Using PMDG B737-800 with all instruments undocked gives:

with Vsync enabled and FPS limit set to 30

FPS drops to 15 in Virtual Cockpit view

with Vsync disabled and FPS limit set to 30

FPS DO NOT DROP!

Lesson learned for me: Do not have Vsync enabled when using multimonitor setups and undocking instruments panels

[Beau Hollis]

Thanks for the updated info. We're glad you got it sorted out. You shouldn't see tearing with it off because Windows v-syncs the desktop anyway. V-sync depends on the refresh rate of each monitor, and it will do a blocking wait on each present which could slow things down. The drivers also often do adaptive vsync which will clamp you down to half or quarter refresh if the application isn't holding at the hardware sync rate. Also, you'll be limited to the slower of the two displays if the refresh rates differ.

Thanks