NVidia 680 SLI Mouse latency/poor performance bug

[BrightCandle]

I have been trying to track down an odd problem for a few weeks. Within Windows itself just the moving of a folder or the mouse would have a noticeable low frame rate and input latency. It was very similar to the problem I had with the 7970's and low memory bandwidth only this time the NVidia cards were running as they were meant to.

I really have tried a lot of things to work out what was wrong but I have finally cracked it.

The two monitors I was using:
Benq XL2411T - up to 144hz
Dell U2410 - 60hz

If I set the Benq to 120hz or 144Hz and make it the primary monitor then the Dell performs terribly, windows jump around and the mouse lags really badly. If the Dell is primary then it performs OK but then Benq never gets its extra feeling of smooth that comes from 120hz.

If I turn on SLI to maximise performance (SLI only applies to the primary monitor) then if the primary is the Benq the performance the Dell gets even worse, its like 5 fps. If I do the same as the Dell as primary performance is norminal and unchanged.

This is repeatable and also happens with a Samsung 2443BW as the 60 hz monitor as well. In essence the bug appears that 2 monitors with differing refresh rates causes a drop in performance on both monitors, but much more noticeably on the 60hz than the 120hz monitor. Worse than that is that certain activities like network transfers, Disk IO seem to be negatively impacted performance wise as well. Console programs will work noticeably faster once only one of the monitors is attached.

I don't know if its relevant but both the Dell and the Samsung show up as 60hz in NVidia's control panel but in the Windows screen resolution changing dialog in the monitors properties both show the monitor as 59hz and will not accept a change to 60hz.

I reported this bug to NVidia this evening. If anyone else has SLI and 2 mismatched refresh rate monitors would be good for you to confirm or otherwise the bug and your 59/60 hz status from Windows to see if that is relevant to the issue.

 

[msaw98]

This is exactly the same problem I am experiencing with my GTX 690. I setup a totally new system with a new install of the OS with all the drivers from the websites.
I would be interested in knowing what kind of Motherboard you have.
Is there anyone who has a solution to this problem?
Besides that I witnessed also, the active card not going into idle mode, but staying in 3D Clock timings.

 

[BrightCandle]

I have seen this on an Asus X79 pro and on an asrock x79 extreme6. So it could be x79 chip set related but from all the tests I did I am pretty certain its a problem in either Windows or Nvidias drivers.

I suspect windows because when I make the 60hz monitor the primary the 120hz shows no benefits in smoother motion, which makes me think windows could be choosing a single underlying frame rate and is rendering on the primary monitors schedule. Because my 60hz is actually 59.94 the 120hz does not divide easily and it starts introducing latency.

Good to get a confirmation from someone else.

 

[24601]

AFR is bad mmk?

Sell and get a titan.

 

[bystander36]

AFR is bad mmk?

Sell and get a titan.

If the problem is within Windows, AFR isn't even being used.

@OP: What happens when you disconnect the 2nd monitor?

 

[nightspydk]

Just to answer that first. Don't concern you with that 59 hz setting. It is completely normal. For the rest of it, I might need a bit of time and less beer.

It seems you allready answered it. What did you expect. Oh right it's not there. A 60 hz still runs at a 60 hz in every respect on a multiple screen setup.

 

[BrightCandle]

If I disconnect either the 60hz or the 120hz monitor then performance returns to normal. There is only an issue when both monitors are plugged in. I do actually see a performance problem when the Benq is set to 60hz, its not as bad as when its set to 120Hz but there is still a noticeable problem on both the monitors.

However 2x 59Hz monitors (in this case a Dell 2410 and a Samsung 2443BW or 2 2443BW) do not have a problem.

 

[msaw98]

Thats strange. I am experiencing this problem with my GTX 690 on windows 7, connected to a Benq 2411 (set to 144Hz).The Motherboard is an Asus Z77 board. The strange thing is that this problem introduced itself on this setup. Before i was using an EVGA board with the exact same setup and no problems at all. I am really confused. I would like to blam Windows 7 on this issue, but its a totally fresh install with all the newest drivers. I wouldnt hope the problem being conected to the Motherboard or Bios settings.
As for Buying a Titan instead of the GTX 690, I have to agree that SLI isnt even running on a desktop level.
Could you try disabling Aero on Windwos to see if the Problem persists?

 

[p_monks33]

Had this problem with SLI, turn down mouse polling rate if you can, try something under 200 and report back, I had to do this with logitech g9x.
Edit, read into your issue some more, don't think my idea is going to help you , but worth a try I suppose.

 

[zaydq]

My honest guess would be that you're running two monitors with two different refresh rates...

 

[BrightCandle]

I have seen the same problem on Windows 7 with Aero on and off and I have also seen it in Windows 8. Exact same symptoms in both. The mouse is an interesting one, I can indeed set my Zowie AM lower and I will try that. I think its unlikely to fix it based on the symptoms (as its more frame rate and latency based than mouse jitter etc) but I'll certainly give it a go.

 

[p_monks33]

I noticed in crisis with SLI enabled it looked like 5 FPS, but the meter showed 50-60 that was with three 120hz monitors in surround. I turned my polling rate down in the mouse profiles and it solved my issues. Idk what could make the game play like that involving a mouse , but it helped.

 

[msaw98]

Well, i will test this mouse polling suggestion aswell. On a sidenote, maybe changing USB ports would achieve the same effect. Was thinking of this all night. Maybe the mouse needs an USB3 port. Will try this as soon as i am home.

 

[p_monks33]

Any luck for you guys?

 

[msaw98]

I didnt have any time yesterday to test some things. I will get back to it tomorrow.