[SOLVED] Why does a 4K monitor slow down many processes?

[zipswich]

Here is my PC:

• CPU:AMD K17 Speed:3176.3 MHz Multi:32.0 Bus:99.3 MHz
• RAM: 32706 MBytesGB
• MB:ROG STRIX B350-F GAMING - FW: - Desktop
• OS:Windows 10 Pro
• GPU1:NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050

I do not play games. This PC is primarily used for software development. It is connected to three monitors. It performed very well until I replaced one of the monitors with a Samsung 4K monitor. Now some apps have become sluggish. A typical example is Snagit. Its capture window shows up instantly after the capture hotkey is pressed without the 4K monitor, but takes a few seconds with the 4K monitor. In other words, if I turn off the 4K monitor without changing anything else, the computer becomes much more responsive instantly.

Could anyone shed some light on the cause of this? The CPU usage rarely exceeds 15% when this sluggishness occurs. Is GTX 1050 not good enough for decent 4K performance? Again, I do not play games. I am just talking about office or utility programs.

 

[kerberos_20]

well u probaly runing low on gpu VRAM, 1050 got just 2GB
single 4k eats something around 1GB while watching just desktop

 

[zipswich]

well u probaly runing low on gpu VRAM, 1050 got just 2GB
single 4k eats something around 1GB while watching just desktop

Thank you for the tip. Can I spare some system RAM for the video? The system has 32 GB, and I can allocate 2GB to video with little impact on other programs.

 

[kerberos_20]

when u run low on vram, it will automaticaly use your system ram, which is much slower

 

[zipswich]

when u run low on vram, it will automaticaly use your system ram, which is much slower

Thank you for the clarification. It looks like the only option is upgrading my video card. Since I do not play games, it is hard to justify expensive video cards that primarily target gamers. I wonder if there is a decent inexpensive video card good for 4K monitors in an office environment, not for gaming.

 

[kerberos_20]

RX 560 for 120bucks
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072VH8NR5?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

 

[zipswich]

RX 560 for 120bucks
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072VH8NR5?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

Thanks a lot. Since this is not a very urgent issue, let me see if the coming-soon Black Friday or Cyber Monday will provide some discounts on these cards. I also took a look at XFX - AMD Radeon RX 550 Core Edition 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card - Black

 

[Karadjgne]

Rx560 and gtx1050 are about the same thing, opposing brands. AMD vram and nvidia vram are not used the same, roughly translated nvidia 2Gb = amd 3Gb in equitable cards so the Rx560 with 4Gb would be close in ability to a 1050 3Gb. Lot of money for very little gain, possibly none, depending on the actual amount the programs are exceeding the stock vram amount.

If you plan on spending hard earned cash for a new gpu, with 2x 1080p and a 4k, might as well bite the bullet and spring for nvidia 6Gb or amd 8Gb vram cards or run a constant risk of bouncing right into using system ram repeatedly, again.

The Rx550 is substantially worse than the 1050 you currently have.

 

[zipswich]

Rx560 and gtx1050 are about the same thing, opposing brands. AMD vram and nvidia vram are not used the same, roughly translated nvidia 2Gb = amd 3Gb in equitable cards so the Rx560 with 4Gb would be close in ability to a 1050 3Gb. Lot of money for very little gain, possibly none, depending on the actual amount the programs are exceeding the stock vram amount.

If you plan on spending hard earned cash for a new gpu, with 2x 1080p and a 4k, might as well bite the bullet and spring for nvidia 6Gb or amd 8Gb vram cards or run a constant risk of bouncing right into using system ram repeatedly, again.

The Rx550 is substantially worse than the 1050 you currently have.

Thank you. My current 3 monitors are the following:
4K
1080p
2560x1080

Is there a way to monitor the video RAM usage? I am looking at GEFORCE EXPERIENCE, and cannot figure out whether it has any monitoring function.

 

[zipswich]

 

[kerberos_20]

gpu-z doesnt shows how much system ram gpu is using
if u have win 10, go to task manager -> performance -> gpu
here u can see how much vram and system ram gpu is using

 

[zipswich]

gpu-z doesnt shows how much system ram gpu is using
if u have win 10, go to task manager -> performance -> gpu
here u can see how much vram and system ram gpu is using

Thank you. I searched for a way to obtain the information, but could not find it. It is apparently not well known. I never noticed the GPU part of the performance tab until I saw your post. It is great!

I noticed uisng Snagit (i.e. screen capturing) causes 3D bumps as shown in the chart:

 

[kerberos_20]

chrome, firefox and edge alltogether...really...

 

[zipswich]

chrome, firefox and edge alltogether...really...

I have to use all of them unfortunately. Actually, I have one more -Opera. 😊

 

[zipswich]

I noticed that the shared GPU memory jumped to 0.8 GB when I try to do a screen capture when the 4K monitor is on, but it barely budges when the 4K monitor is off.

 

[zipswich]

I have finally got an RX 570 4 GB video card to replace the GTX 1050 2 GB video card. The problem is gone confirming your diagnosis. Thank you all again.
I use so little GPU usually that the fans on the RX 570 rarely spin. For my case, it is really the memory that is the key.