Windows 10: Windows Slows Down to a Crawl on Multi-Monitor setup running Win 10

I've been meaning to write about this for a few weeks, but now it has really gotten bothersome. I don't remember this happening until I upgraded to build 1809 a month ago.

Running

Windows 10 x64, build 1809
Intel Core i7 6700K at 4200Mhz - I have turned OFF SpeedStep on the CPU in the BIOS, so always running full)
Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 (Skylake)
G.Skill 16 GBytes DDR4-2132 (1066 Mhz) in XMP
nVidia GTX 1060 6GB
[FONT="Open Sans",sans-serif,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]Samsung SSD 970 Pro (MZ-V7P512BW) NVMe M.2
Using two 4K LG 32 inch monitors (one connected via HDMI 1.4, the other with DisplayPort)
Verizon FIOS 100MB/100MB internet connection

My system is 100% stable but for some reason:

I run about 4-6 open Windows at the same time and I use stock trading software in both monitors. Meaning, I basically have a data feed with updating numbers. Sometimes, I like to play Call of Duty WW2 or Fortnite while the trading software is running. What happens is that if I have either Call of Duty WW2 or Fornite running and up on the right display monitor as the primary window, the left display monitor starts to "hick-up" data from my still-running stock trading software. Meaning, it kind of gets stuck for a few seconds, then updates, then stuck then updates and so on. If I make the Call of Duty WW2 or Fortnite running in the background (either them still running but not in the fore-front of the either monitors), the data stream works perfectly.

Also, if I don't run the trading software at all, and have COD WW2 in the background and try to play Fortnite, the gameplay is very slow. And vice-versa. So basically, it seems like one window gets ALL of the priorities.

So I guess my problem must related to the "Processor Priority Level" setting in Windows 10?

I am not streaming anything on any of my tablets, TV's, etc. So it cannot be the internet bandwidth.

Also, do you think it I upgrade to GTX 1080 or RTX 2070 card that it will make any difference also?

Thanks for all input / suggestions!


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:)

 

Windows 10 KB3213986 Update Cripples Multi-monitor Gaming

The recent Cumulative Update for Windows 10 (KB3213986) cripples multi-monitor gaming, looking at the way Microsoft worded its "known issues" text. After the update is applied, users with multi-monitor setups could experience screen stuttering or clipped screens when running 3D apps on machines with more than one monitor. The only workaround Microsoft suggests for now entails running your 3D apps in non-fullscreen modes, such as windowed-maximized (pseudo-fullscreen) or windowed modes. Microsoft also goes as far as to suggest that people with multi-monitors could try starting their 3D apps with just one monitor connected.

"Users may experience delayed or clipped screens while running 3D rendering apps (such as games) on systems with more than one monitor," the change-log for the KB3213986 update reads. "To work around this issue please consider the following options: 1. Running the application in Windows mode (not full screen), or 2. Starting the application with only one monitor connected," it adds. The update effectively cripples multi-monitor gaming, using technologies such as AMD Eyefinity or NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround.





Source: Microsoft

 

Blurry text on secondary monitor in multi-resolution, multi-DPI setup


This is probably the most painful issue I have with Windows 10 right now (and likely previous versions as well, but I didn't have a multi-monitor setup back then).

The monitors I have are as follows:

1. 3840x2160 (4K UHD) monitor with preferred DPI: 144 (150%)
2. 1920x1080 (Full HD) monitor with preferred DPI: 96 (100%)

Whenever one of these monitors are set as primary, all desktop applications displayed on the secondary monitor (doesn't matter which) has blurry text. Exceptions are the Windows Store Apps like Windows Store and Microsoft Edge, along with the Taskbar/Start Menu, the Taskbar/Start Menu settings screen, the Taskbar context menu, and the desktop context menu which passes the DPI test with flying colours, with crispy text on both monitors (occasionally a DPI switch bug gets in, but I can mostly ignore that). The problem is, as you can probably guess, is that >99% of the applications I use aren't Windows Store Apps.

Here are some screenshots. The "Taskbar and Start Menu Properties" text is what the text should look like while the Visual Studio 2015 text is an example of the text most desktop apps get. The blurry image is what happens when the UHD monitor is not the primary monitor.
Attachment 48493Attachment 48494
Note: Both of these screenshots came from the 150% DPI monitor so it's best viewed at that (144) DPI level. The 96 DPI monitor is similarly affected.

Things I've already tried:

• Reinstall the graphics driver (this was unhelpfully given by a Microsoft Support Engineer). Did this multiple times in fact for unrelated reasons.
• Reinstall Windows 10 (through Reset This PC recovery option). I did this for also unrelated reasons but it definitely doesn't fix this issue.
• Use the XP Explorer "fix". Merely worsens the problem.
• Adjusting ClearType options. Alleviates the issue a bit but see next point.
• Disabling ClearType on the affected monitor. The text obviously sharpens, but it's painful to read and a close inspection of the text reveals the issue isn't solved at all, only mitigated slightly.
• Replacing the video card. I swapped this in with my older GTX 560 Ti but it's obvious the problem remains. Both it and my current card are NVIDIAs though, so it's vaguely possible the drivers or the cards themselves are the cause. I don't have an ATI/AMD card (that still works, at least) to test the setup and every Intel iGPU I have either has only one monitor output or is incapable of handling UHD resolutions.

Things I won't try:

• Setting both monitors' DPI to 96. Text would become microscopic considering the UHD monitor's actual size.
• Use the text resizing feature instead. I'm going take a wild guess that this is not monitor-specific and would cause everything on the HD monitor to be far too large to the point that I'd rather unplug it.

Does anyone have a multi-resolution, multi-DPI, multi-monitor setup with or without this issue? The text is painful to read on whichever is the secondary monitor right now, and is extremely apparent whenever the background is dark.

 

Windows 10 KB3213986 Update Cripples Multi-monitor Gaming

This should be enough to get the conspiracy theorists suggesting that Microsoft is intentionally crippling multi-monitor support in fullscreen mode since games sold on the Microsoft Store all work in the pseudo-fullscreen mode...

Or it could just be an idiotic bug that will be fixed in time.