VLC + Gaming
VLC + Gaming
Hello Guys,
Details
CPU: Ryzen 3700x
MOBO: TUF B450-Plus Gaming Rev X.0x
RAM: 2x16/2x8 TUF Team Delta T-Force
GPU: GTX 1080 FTW Hybrid
PSU:
BQT P7-PRO 550W
ADATA SX8200PNP - 480gb M.2
KINGSTON SA400S37 - 240G 240GB SSD
Screens
1x 75hz Asus - Main gaming display
1x 60hz Benq - Secondary, mainly for movies
I’m experiencing a problem.
When watching a movie in full screen on the secondary display, any game on the primary will lag significantly.
Even though I don’t play highly demanding games, I recently played Wotlk (private server) and Dota2.
What I observed is that opening a file explorer window and placing it over the secondary display works fine.
Essentially, every time the video comes into focus, the primary display lags.
However, this doesn’t happen if I keep the video windowed; keeping it windowed doesn’t cause any game lag.
In this screenshot you can see 69 FPS, but in reality it feels like only 15 FPS.
https://imgur.com/ZpyuXOi
View: https://i.imgur.com/ZpyuXOi.jpeg
If I put any window in front of the video, the game on the right screen will work properly.
https://imgur.com/vTizRr2.jpeg
I’ve tried recording and showing you the output, but as soon as I turn the recording soft on, the game no longer lags because it’s drawing over VLC.
I experimented with adjusting VLC’s output settings, and changing OpenGL resolved the issue, though subtitles stopped working and other problems appeared.
Help is needed.
EDIT: I noticed that disabling GSync in my primary monitor’s settings resolves this problem.
I’m unsure why this only became an issue now. I just got Windows 11 and haven’t updated recently.
Is there another solution besides turning off GSync on the monitor?
The Expanse is cool. There might be other ways to fix this, but seeing it before makes me less attached to VLC. Would you be fine using a different app and leaving VLC behind if it works?
Hello,
The main thing I appreciate is its ability to download subtitles, though it sometimes crashes during the process. What other application are you considering?
I use the classic media player and also download subtitles when watching movies. It's free and plays any content available. I get it with the k-lite codec pack, but it might be possible to get it separately.
https://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm
But I'm not sure if this will fix your issue. I've just noticed that VLC can do this and I know that using something else has helped others.
And I favor Potplayer. I've faced numerous complications with VLC over the years that they don't seem to resolve, so I've moved on from them. I rely solely on Potplayer and haven't encountered any of those issues. That doesn't guarantee identical results if the issue lies elsewhere, but it will definitely confirm whether the problem is with VLC.
Global Potplayer
potplayer.daum.net
Additionally, it might be wise to also install the standard K-lite codec pack as recommended by Math Geek. Just stick to the default settings unless you're certain about any custom configurations, which is unlikely to be the case.
It seems like both systems are affected by running at once. I've seen this with YouTube in Chrome too. When a video plays on one screen, the game on another becomes sluggish. Pausing the video usually fixes it. After that, I moved videos to a separate system, which only solves the problem temporarily. You might want to test hardware acceleration and different video players—perhaps a better setup could work without interference.
I'll add a minor observation: the RAM usage seems excessive.
It's probable this setup is operating in single-channel mode, which can hinder performance. The Ryzen processors are quite responsive to RAM speed. It's possible the issue stems from overloading the memory bus, creating a bottleneck. If dual-channel is available, switching to that would likely resolve the problem.
In reality, if the system fully acknowledges and sets up the complete memory capacity, it's highly unlikely the device isn't operating in dual channel mode. It's plausible that with multiple kits, the motherboard might be adjusting them with less precise timing or lowering their speed, or perhaps not utilizing the full potential at all. However, if both kits are running and all four DIMMs are detected, it would be nearly impossible for the system to function properly without a real hardware issue—either with one of the memory modules or the motherboard itself. In such a scenario, the device would still struggle to recognize and use them effectively.
It would be helpful to know the precise model of BOTH memory kits, assuming there are only two, one containing 2 x16GB and another with 2 x8GB, rather than just having available memory as mentioned. In truth, it's probably unnecessary to exceed the 2 x16GB configuration, since significant performance improvements from more than 32GB would be highly improbable, even when streaming, gaming, and light streaming are combined.
If needed, consider using CPU-Z to capture screenshots of the SPD and Memory sections. On the memory tab, take a photo for each DIMM slot in the drop-down menu on the left side.