TDM runs slow in the fullscreen mode

[Constantine]

Hello,

I've got very poor performance running TDM on my new laptop in the fullscreen mode. While in maximized window the game runs at 45-60 FPS, in full screen it runs only at 9-15 FPS.

Interesting that if to turn antialiasing on, the difference decreases but doesn't disappear at all: windowed - 30-35 FPS, fullscreen - 20-25 FPS.

The laptop is Acer E5-771G-55VP, Intel Core i5-4210U, 6Gb RAM, GeForce 840M with 2Gb RAM, Windows 8.1, GeForce driver 347.25 (most recent; tried also an earlier one, but with no luck).

I had no any problems with other games (Thief, X-Plane, Styx: Master of Shadows) on this laptop.

Does anyone have any ideas how to fix it?

[Bikerdude]

Depending on the mission being played TDM can be quite heavy on some systems, can you post your full TDM and nvidia panel settings and what your screen resolution is.

[Constantine]

Depending on the mission being played TDM can be quite heavy on some systems

 

Yes, but one and same mission in one and same resolution runs dramatically differently in fullscreen and windowed mode, which is unexplainable.

 

NVidia settings which I set for TheDarkMod.exe:

 

Prefered GPU - NVidia.

Tread optimization - Off.

Power management mode - Maximum performance.

Multi-display/Mixed GPU acceleration - Single display performance mode.

All other settings are default.

 

Here are my TDM settings:

 

 

 

I tried turning many of these options on and off, but with no luck.

[Bikerdude]

Check in the nVidia control panel that the game is set to use the nvidia gpu and not the Intel HD4400 gpu (built inot the core i5)

 

And if your still seeing less than optimal fps then change Ambient Rendering and Interation shader ot default and simple.

[Constantine]

Check in the nVidia control panel that the game is set to use the nvidia gpu and not the Intel HD4400 gpu (built inot the core i5)

 

I'm sure the game uses the NVidia GPU - I set it in the NVidia panel, and tried also explicitly select it using the context menu when running the game, and messages in the console confirm using it. I tried also the Intel GPU and in full screen it even runs roughly 30% faster than the NVidia GPU.

 

And if your still seeing less than optimal fps then change Ambient Rendering and Interation shader ot default and simple.

 

I tried turn all these options off but FPS in full screen was still much lower than in the windowed mode (where it also proportionally increased) and was almost unplayable.

[Constantine]

Solved it using this program - http://westechsolutions.net/sites/WindowedBorderlessGaming/home

It runs games in borderless windowed mode, imitating full screen.

 

Thanks anyway, Bikerdude.

[Bikerdude]

Ok cool, I have downloaded the app so I can have a look for myself :-D

[AluminumHaste]

I've had lots of issues with TDM and my laptops. (well not really TDMs fault, OpenGL and nvidia/ati drivers are to blame).

Usually what would happen is that the graphics card driver doesn't detect a 3D application, and it runs in 2D or Flash clocks. On my Radeons that meant 400Mhz Core and 400Mhz Memory, instead of 900Core 1000Memory.

 

Overclocking by 5 Mhz caused the 3D clocks to always be on, so that fixed it for me.

 

I would test this GPU-z, have it running in the background logging GPU speed, then switch from fullscreen to windowed and check the GPU-z chart afterwards.