vista sluggish on 8400m gs

i posted earlier that every time i minimize and maximize a window the vista aero effect is not as smooth as it should be. but if i just repeatedly minimize and maximize a window the aero effect would start to speed up and the effect is nice and smooth.

after trying to diagnose the problem i found that it is related to the geforce 8400m gs. i opened up the nvidia monitorview and saw that when the computer is idle the bus speeds are at 168/100..but while i repeatedly minimize and maximize a window the bus speeds shoot up to 400/499 which i'm pretty sure is max. when the bus speeds are at 168/100 all of vista's aero effects are so sluggish.

as far as i'm concerned, a core 2 duo t7300 2.0 ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram, and a 128mb geforce 8400m gs is more than enough to handle vista premium.

any solutions? i have the latest drivers...

 

What is the make and model of you laptop?

 

Really weird. I've heard some people saying that even the Intel X3100 (which is integrated) can handle the aero effect, let's say, pretty nice.

 

dell inspiron 1420

 

hmmm... that is weird....

try downloading 3d Mark 05/06 and see what scores you get.... then compare them to similar laptops...

only thing i can think of is a bug, virus, or any crapware that might been slowing it down....

 

Are your Nvidia drivers properly installed? Try using the 162.18 or 162.22 drivers on www.laptopvideo2go.com.

Video performance is sluggish on a computer when the proper video drivers are missing.

 

You know, if you're running at a very high resolution, it may simply be that your GeForce 8400m GS simply can't effectively render Aero. The GeForce 8400m GS does tend to be overrated anyways. Most people often complain about under par GPU performance, especially for their configuration, but never seem to take resolution into account; something that is a huge factor in graphic performance. What is your resolution?

 

If an Intel x3100 can run Aero effects, then a dedicated graphics card like the 8400m GS should have no problem running it. I'm not sure Aero renders the entire screen, I think it only renders localized Aero effects. So resolution shouldn't be a big issue in this case.

 

i changed my resolution from 1440x900 to 1280x800 and the problem no longer persists. how ever the resolution is not the native resolution so everything looks like crap. i still don't get how if an integrated graphics solution can run aero effects flawlessly a dedicated card like the 8400m gs can not.

 

Well at least we figured out your problem: Too high of a resolution for your GPU. Unfortunately, you're kind of stuck! The only possible way to squirm out of this one is to overclock your 8400; you just better know what you're doing. And BTW, the IGP was likely running Aero "flawlessly", simply because it was running with minimal pixel density.

 

I have the integrated Intel X3100 in my notebook and Aero is perfectly smooth. I'm also running it at a 1400x1050 resolution, which is higher than what our original poster is running at.

This is a bizarre problem, I agree . . . definitely try updating those drivers. You don't want to be stuck running in a non-native resolution on an LCD screen. Another thing to try is changing the PowerMizer settings for your Nvidia graphics card.

 

Maybe you just have a defective graphics card!

 

Some programs that you are running, do not support AERO, so therefore, it makes transition choppy. I had that problem, so i deleted Limewire, and now it is fine.

 

How much RAM do you have? If the windows speed up as you repeat the process, it might imply that the data is being loaded into the RAM from the hard drive, instead of just functioning off the RAM you have.

 

What is your power mgmt set like? It could be that. Good Luck.
Steven Owens

 

I output my 8400M GS to a 1600 X 1200 monitor and it runs smoothly, so I don't think it has to do with the resolution.

 

it happens sometimes for me on my 1420.
same config as OP. sometimes slightly lagged out, but after repeating it, it becomes smooth

1.) battery optomization program probably slows down the gpu so that it works this way. it might not happen if you put the power mode to high performance.
2.) crappy drivers that need to be updated. even the latest drivers on laptopvideo2go aren't perfect. i'm sure it'll get fixed in the next couple months.

no worries

 

though I do wish I had an option to choose the 8400m GT =\

 

i have no battery optimization programs running and my power mode is set to high performance. my drivers were up to date. however i found a fix but at a cost. i downloaded rivatuner and overclocked the graphic card to "performance 3d" setting. i don't really think i actually overclocked it since the clock speeds stay at a constant 400/499 (default), but at least it's not changing like it use to. for some reason this fix only works using the factory drivers (the one provided on the driver dvd).

please let me know if you find a fix without having to "overclock" it!

 

you should have some kind of optomization program running as it is a laptop o_o are you saying your cpu stays at 2ghz or w/e it is all the time? mine goes down when im idle to save energy...

 

no, my cpu speeds are changing to save energy via SpeedStep, but it's the gpu speeds that are causing the problem. for some reason when the gpu speed's go down everything runs sluggish. i've tested this by viewing the clock speeds on rivatuner and whenever they dropped i would see that vista aero runs poorly.

 

Hmm... new drivers didn't work? It might be worth it to try some other drivers, not the newest ones. Often times the best driver is not the newest release. I'd try at least 2 of the drivers listed on LaptopVideo2Go.com before you do anything else.

You had to attempt to overclock the card? It seems that RivaTuner is just forcing the card to run at full power when you turn it on 3D Performance. It really DOES sound like a power saver issue. It might not be vista that is running the power save mode, but the nVidia driver. I'd assume there'd be an option to turn it off using the Nvidia Control Panel.

Well...if all else is lost and you don't want to try other drivers, have you tried defragging your hard drive?

 

I'm using the 162.13 drivers on my Inspiron 1420, w/ very similar specs and Vista Aero runs flawlessly. Try that one if you haven't yet.

/edit: Oh, and make sure that you completely uninstall old drivers first, then reboot before installing the new ones.

 

I get that over here, too...really pissing me off. I've tried numerous drivers, all with no luck at all...does anyone have a solution?

 

i fixed it a few days ago by using rivatuner to set the clock speeds to "performance 3d" which sets the clock speeds to 400/500. technically it's not over clocking because 400/500 is a default speed, it's just forcing it to run at those speeds constantly. before, the clock speeds use to drop when in idle causing vista to run choppy. i've tried numerous drivers and the clock speeds only seem to stay fixed at 400/500 on the 162.13 drivers. all the other drivers i've tried still throttle the clock speeds even with the rivatuner "fix."

 

I thought RivaTuner was designed for DESKTOPS ONLY!

???

 

RivaTuner, AtiTool, etc.

They are for overclocking and working with video cards. Last time I checked, notebooks had video cards (some of them, at least).

You can use RivaTuner for your laptop. Overclocking is very similar to doing so on a desktop. Make sure you don't overheat the computer/Make sure you don't start seeing artifacts.

 

Okay, well I just installed Rivatuner and it just has an option to set the frequencies and that's it. Is there a program that'll let me set the frequencies for on battery and the frequencies for plugged in?

 

*BUMP*

Anyone?

 

I tried contacting Dell Technical Support about this issue, and the rep immediately said they'd do a warranty replacement for me since it seems like a hardware problem...I mentioned I tried all of these drivers and this and that, so I have a new system coming to me in 3-5 days and we'll see how that goes!

 

I feel like the problem is that your graphics card is using 2D clocks when you are not doing anything in Aero, then as soon as you engage something with Aero, it attempts to jump back up to 3D clocks. Like previously stated, setting the clock setting to "performance 3d" should keep the card on 3D clocks at all times...

 

I've tried overclocking it to 500/600 and it STILL lags...it also lags while IN-GAME every 15-30 seconds or so as well...

 

The overclocking won't help the fact that it defaults the 2D clocks. All modern video cards will do this. On the other hand, the in-game lag sounds like a different problem....

 

I just hope the new one doesn't have any problems

 

Hi, I am having the same problems with my 8400GS card in my SZ650. I have done a clean install of vista and installed the 162.18 drivers. I tried a few drivers, and none seem to work all that well. Everything is relatively choppy: Screensavers, picture transition in slideshow, and the aero effects.

I checked at a store with another SZ650, and the same problem was present, so I don't think its faulty hardware... Im running at 1280x800, and switching to 1064x768 makes everything smooth. So it is most likely that the 8400GS (mine has 64MB dedicated) is just not good enough (atm) to render aero nicely. The funny thing is the SZ650 also comes with the X3100, which renders the aero effect smoothly. So for some reason X3100 seems to perform better for vista.

 

Anyone found a solution to this? My 8400M GS card in my Dell XPS 1330 does the same, dropping back in steps resulting in a sluggish aero interface.

 

Yep, exact same problem here too. Repetitive min/maxing windows gets rid of choppyness. Using 169.09.

 

I found a "solution" using RivaTuner.

First enable the Force Constant Performance option (customize driver settings) by editing the Vista registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Unwinder\RivaTuner\NVDIA\Overclocking

Add a KeyName EnablePerfLevelForcing with decimal value 1.

Enable in RivaTuner. I have it set to low power 3d right now, with the core at a constant 297 mhz. Works fine, no more Aero slowdowns!

Obviously I could have it run at a constant 400 Mhz, but how wise is this?