FPS drops in Fullscreen?

[Zalarox]

Hey guys, I've been reading and lurking around Tom's Hardware for a while now, but only recently had an issue to ask about.

Earlier this year I bought a Sony Vaio.. specs and all information given below

As you see I have two GPUs, an Intel HD 4000 (latest drivers, checked intel's driver detection). And an Nvidia 640M LE (also latest drivers, no beta drivers).

Everything good and fair, computer running nicely on Windows 8.1 and no issues whatsoever. Windows is updated to the latest updates, no pending updates. Checked all my Intel Drivers, and they're up to date (since Windows checking for drivers is nearly always wrong for me).

Now I can't assure you that ALL my drivers are up to date - but I know for the fact that most are and clearly my GPUs are updated to the latest version and Windows as well. Enough with the background information, on to the issue.


EDIT: The issue is not with in-game play, but only with menus and loading screens and intros!!! In crysis windowed I get 60fps on all intros and main menu. On fullscreen I get 40fps! The gameplay is the same FPS. Same settings same res. Now see below for OP.

Games lag in fullscreen, and work fine in windowed mode. Specifically, NFS Most Wanted 2012 - loading screen and intro movie lag most noticeable. In-game lag, not so. Windowed mode at ANY resolution works perfectly smooth.

Crysis (the first one), lags in the main menu are noticeable in fullscreen while it's completely fluid in windowed mode (any resolution).

Both games have the same settings in both windowed and fullscreen mode. I've googled for this problem and apparently this was an issue in Windows 8/8.1 but as far as I know it's patched.

As for Nvidia, all the solutions I found say "update your drivers". My drivers are already updated, excluding the beta updates. My PC can handle the settings I'm playing on, as it's obvious that windowed mode works fine. Any ideas what's wrong with fullscreen?

 

[aniuruddh]

first check if there is any fps difference in windowed and fullscreen with fraps

and check in which resolution it is runnig on windows and fullscreen

 

[Zalarox]

first check if there is any fps difference in windowed and fullscreen with fraps

and check in which resolution it is runnig on windows and fullscreen

Like I said, yes there is a noticeable difference like - the video literally stutters in fullscreen. I checked using Fraps nontheless and there's a 10fps difference.

Secondly, both windowed and fullscreen - like I said in the OP - is the same resolution 1366x768.

AND all windowed resolutions do not lag (including 1366x768).

 

[aspri]

What about turning on and off v-sync?

 

[Zalarox]

What about turning on and off v-sync?

Vsync isn't the issue - already tried. Anyway I'd rather tear my eyes out than disable Vsync... the tearing kills me.

 

[aspri]

I don't know, try disabling AA, make sure you're running your laptop on maximal performance in power management. It may be the dGPU that isn't powerful enough (could be). Did you even try to run the game at a lower res like 1280x1024, the games graphics are still beautiful at that res.

 

[Zalarox]

I don't know, try disabling AA, make sure you're running your laptop on maximal performance in power management. It may be the dGPU that isn't powerful enough (could be). Did you even try to run the game at a lower res like 1280x1024, the games graphics are still beautiful at that res.

Read the OP.... -_-

I say, my GPU is clearly powerful enough. All windowed mode resolutions perform at capped max FPS. Fullscreen doesn't for some weird reason - IT SHOULD. It's not an issue with my GPU like I said in the OP. The GPU is powerful enough. I only run games at native-res, though like I said - any res fullscreen lags for some reason. This is a bug and an issue - I want to know if it's known and others are having issues as well. Please read the OP.

 

[aspri]

I read your first post, you say that your GPU is powerful enough, then why does it lag?? You didn't speak about all res in fullscreen mode. Now you should definitely be able to run the game but maybe not at high settings, neither medium (maybe). Have you tried to lower the settings? If yes then it might be your RAM. EDIT: No, you have enough RAM if it's to run NFS. Oh and BTW, is it a NFS2012 issue only?

 

[Zalarox]

I read your first post, you say that your GPU is powerful enough, then why does it lag?? You didn't speak about all res in fullscreen mode. Now you should definitely be able to run the game but maybe not at high settings, neither medium (maybe). Have you tried to lower the settings? If yes then it might be your RAM. EDIT: No, you have enough RAM if it's to run NFS.

The thing is IT DOESN'T LAG. It shouldn't. It doesn't lag in windowed 1366x768. It lags in the same resolution in fullscreen. It's not an issue with my GPU not being powerful enough. I have a good enough GPU to run at the settings I'm running on I'm REALLY sure.

Now I did a test on NFS MW 2012 again and I found something really weird. The gameplay is more or less the same-fps, but the loading and intro screens lag in fullscreen but not in windowed. What is this... XD

 

[aspri]

I read your first post, you say that your GPU is powerful enough, then why does it lag?? You didn't speak about all res in fullscreen mode. Now you should definitely be able to run the game but maybe not at high settings, neither medium (maybe). Have you tried to lower the settings? If yes then it might be your RAM. EDIT: No, you have enough RAM if it's to run NFS.

The thing is IT DOESN'T LAG. It shouldn't. It doesn't lag in windowed 1366x768. It lags in the same resolution in fullscreen. It's not an issue with my GPU not being powerful enough. I have a good enough GPU to run at the settings I'm running on I'm REALLY sure.

Now I did a test on NFS MW 2012 again and I found something really weird. The gameplay is more or less the same-fps, but the loading and intro screens lag in fullscreen but not in windowed. What is this... XD

Ok, I saw there are few patches on the net. Have you tried to install one. And berfore you do make sure to backup any save data you've got. It might be worth the try.

 

[Zalarox]

I read your first post, you say that your GPU is powerful enough, then why does it lag?? You didn't speak about all res in fullscreen mode. Now you should definitely be able to run the game but maybe not at high settings, neither medium (maybe). Have you tried to lower the settings? If yes then it might be your RAM. EDIT: No, you have enough RAM if it's to run NFS.

The thing is IT DOESN'T LAG. It shouldn't. It doesn't lag in windowed 1366x768. It lags in the same resolution in fullscreen. It's not an issue with my GPU not being powerful enough. I have a good enough GPU to run at the settings I'm running on I'm REALLY sure.

Now I did a test on NFS MW 2012 again and I found something really weird. The gameplay is more or less the same-fps, but the loading and intro screens lag in fullscreen but not in windowed. What is this... XD

Ok, I saw there are few patches on the net. Have you tried to install one. And berfore you do make sure to backup any save data you've got. It might be worth the try.

I'll look into that - but the issue is updated in OP now.

The issue is not with in-game play, but only with menus and loading screens and intros!!! In crysis windowed I get 60fps on all intros and main menu. On fullscreen I get 40fps! The gameplay is the same FPS. Same settings same res.

In Most Wanted - the loading screens and intro lag but not the gameplay! This is really weird...

EDIT: It happens in cinematics as well. Anything like a movie, a cutscene, an intro - a menu... is affected by this.

 

[Zalarox]

The main culprit is Vsync. For some reason it works fine for the game(s) but causes intro/outro and cutscene stuttering. I did not notice this before.

 

[aspri]

The main culprit is Vsync. For some reason it works fine for the game(s) but causes intro/outro and cutscene stuttering. I did not notice this before.

Glad that you managed to find the cause.