Mini Display Port Causes Poor Performance

I just tried connecting my two 23" external monitors to my R3 using both the hdmi and mini display ports on the side. When I connect the first monitor using hdmi the external display works just fine. When I connect the second display with the mini display port the system slows to a crawl. Programs take 15-30 seconds to open and overall system performance is terrible. I have tried connecting one display using only the mini display port with the same results. hdmi and vga work just fine in any combination. I am thinking this is either a bios issue (I am running A04 out of fear of the throttling I have been reading about here) or a video driver issue (Intel or Nvidia). Any idea what could be causing the slowdown before I randomly go about upgrading drivers and the bios?

 

Alot of people have problems putting in more than 1 display for some reason.

Try sticking to 1 if you can.

 

the 580m is a fairly new card so there might be some bugs n stuff happenin.

 

Sorry, guess I should have posted my system specs. I have the 460m.

M17X R3 Nebula Red
Intel Core i7 2720
1.5GB GTX 460m
8GB Hyper X DDR3 1600
750GB 7200RPM HD
1920 X 1080 60Hz

 

What driver do you have on the 460?

 

Just upgraded to 280.26 and upgraded the bios to A08 with no luck.

If I use the hdmi output in combination with the vga running both monitors works like a charm. Its just whenever I plug into the mini display port that everything slows down to a crawl.

 

Is it possible this could be a driver issue with the intel graphics? I am not sure how to update them. Is it as simple as downloading the new driver and running it or do I need to uninstall the old driver first?

 

Unless I read the nvidia site wrong, you should stick with just 2 external moniters. Anything beyond 2 seems to cause slowdowns.

 

That is exactly what I am attempting to do. I only connected the second monitor thru vga (instead of mini display port) in order to verify that the computer is capable of running two monitors. When running this setup everything functions as it should.

In summary:
hdmi + vga (laptop monitor off) = Works just fine
hdmi + mini display port (laptop monitor off) = poor performance and slow response
mini display port + nothing else (laptop monitor off) = poor performance and slow response

The hdmi + vga setup results in my monitors having different color profiles (due to the different input types) which is why I would like to get the hdmi + mini display port setup working. I was able to tweak the color profiles through the drivers to get both monitors close but they are still off by a fair bit.

FYI... A mini display port to hdmi cable is being used to input to the hdmi input on the second monitor. Not sure if the cable could be causing the slowdown. This is the one I am using.

Amazon.com: StarTech.com MDP2HDMIMM6 Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Cable - M/M (6 Feet): Electronics

 

Out of curiosity, do both your external moniters display at the same res as your laptop?

 

Yes, they are both 1920X1080 monitors.

 

You might have a faulty mini dp. If you really need it, call dell to replace the motherboard for you.

 

Ok, after playing around and researching a little more it appears that I may have overlooked something. The mini dp to hdmi cable I ordered is a "passive" cable. I understand there are also "active" cable adapters out there. Does any one know if an active cable adapter is required to go from mini dp to hdmi on the R3? I have tried reading up on the differences between the two but can't seem to understand which one I would need.

 

I use the mdp connection to connect my m17 xr3 to my imac 27" and it works great during games at full native Res 2560x1440. I only get the occasional flicker.

Cheers,