Playing a game and watching a movie at the same time

[pcslookout]

My system specs:

i5 2500k
8 GB of DDR2 ram
120 GB M4 Crucial SSD
ATI 5750 1 GB
20 inch monitor

Is it possible to play a game like Simcity 5 and watch a movie or tv show like Dexter at the same time without any slowdown at all ?

 

[TheStu]

You'd want a second monitor unless you're running games windowed

 

[pcslookout]

You'd want a second monitor unless you're running games windowed

Ok thanks.

I do run games windowed.

How come I get a slowdown of my computer when watching a tv show or movie and playing Simcity 5 at the same time ?

 

[Phanuel]

Probably because your AMD video card is locking itself into its UVD or w/e Flash clock speeds and not going to full 3D clocks when you play a flash video first.

 

[pcslookout]

Probably because your AMD video card is locking itself into its UVD or w/e Flash clock speeds and not going to full 3D clocks when you play a flash video first.

I am watching a movie or tv show in VLC Player.

What does Flash have anything to do with it ?

 

[TheStu]

I am watching a movie or tv show in VLC Player.

What does Flash have anything to do with it ?

It's still the same basic principle as I understand it, if you don't full screen the game then it doesn't use the full GPU power, or something? I don't know, I'm not a doctor.

 

[Phanuel]

I am watching a movie or tv show in VLC Player.

What does Flash have anything to do with it ?

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33989470

Open your AMD control panel, go to the status monitoring section that shows the live clockspeed of the GPU (it should be idling at 300mhz or something). Leave it open and play your video and see what it clocks to. Then open a game and see if it clocks up to the full 700 or whatever speed your GPU is set at. If it doesn't, then you're stuck in a UVD clockspeed.

Solution? Run the game first (and make sure you get into an actual part of the game that the 3D clock speed engages at THEN open the video.

But also running in Window'd mode has a performance penalty.


UVD is probably why I'll go nVidia next round unless AMD's price/performance is that much of a knockout.

 

[pcslookout]

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33989470

Open your AMD control panel, go to the status monitoring section that shows the live clockspeed of the GPU (it should be idling at 300mhz or something). Leave it open and play your video and see what it clocks to. Then open a game and see if it clocks up to the full 700 or whatever speed your GPU is set at. If it doesn't, then you're stuck in a UVD clockspeed.

Solution? Run the game first (and make sure you get into an actual part of the game that the 3D clock speed engages at THEN open the video.

But also running in Window'd mode has a performance penalty.


UVD is probably why I'll go nVidia next round unless AMD's price/performance is that much of a knockout.

Ok thank you. I thought my computer wasn't fast enough for this activity.

 

[sm625]

I played games and watched videos on my 5750. I now do it just fine on my 7770. No problems at all, except of course the framerate for the game drops considerably when the game window is not in focus. But the video never drops frames when the game window is in focus.