Performance issues with DPI scaling

I have a laptop with a built-in 4k screen, and I like to use it at 200% or 225% scaling in Windows so I can read text. TD performance when this screen is active is terrible, though! With the default network, I get about 40fps.

When I instead use an external 3840x1600 screen with no scaling in Windows, and the built-in screen disabled, performance is excellent.

It’s an MSI laptop with an i7 and GTX 1070, running the latest Windows 10 Home and Nvidia drivers. Any ideas?

What is the performance on the built-in screen when it’s set to 100% scaling? I’d expect performance to be better if anything with a higher scaling, since we are rendering at a lower resolution.

With scaling at 100%, performance is approximately the same, maybe a few FPS better.

I notice in Windows Task Manager that the intel built-in chip is quite busy, like 90-100% when Touch is running, and the 1070 is being used 28%. (Using the default startup network)

If I plug in my external monitor, I get 60fps with 10% usage on the 1070 and 0% on Intel gfx.

Strange!

Sounds like Optimus switching to me. The laptop’s monitor is likely directly connected to the Intel GPU so even when TD is using the Nvidia it will need to go ‘through’ the Intel GPU to get to your built in screen. (The Monitors DAT will tell you this)

Some things to check first though. In Nvidia Control Panel, you can force TouchDesigner to use the Nvidia GPU, it might be switching to the Intel by default.

Secondly, in these FPS tests you are running, do you have any floating or secondary TD windows open. Anything like a floating viewer, parameters, or dialog will effect it and can cause bad vsync issues, the frame rate will drop immediately but this usually drops all the way to 30fps. Welcome to Optimus and Windows 10. :confused: With just 1 TD main window, it should not have an issue. You can force off vsync in the Nivida Control Panel if you have having this problem, but this can introduce other issues like tearing on secondary outputs which never looks good.

Thanks, Ben!

I tried setting TD to use the Nvidia card, even tried setting my global preference to Nvidia… nothing changed. Using the Monitors DAT, I can see that the internal screen uses the Intel GPU.

When I’m testing, I’m just opening TD with its default network (the displaced jelly bean image demo) – no external windows.

Any other ideas?

Did you find a solution to this? I am having the same issues on a laptop with the Intel & 1070MaxQ GPU. Only getting 30fps and dropped frames with 4k content.