Issues, Workarounds & Localization

System information:

GTX680 x2, SLI mode set to "activate all displays". Driver 327.23. Four monitors. 1920*1080 on all screens/clients.
i7-3930k @ 3.2GHz
16GB
Windows 7 Pro (64 bit)


Issue:

When running a client on my primary monitor (ie: the one with the Windows bar at the bottom), the game's performance is slowed/limited. FPS seems to be capped around 60-80. Clients running on other windows run perfectly (150-250 FPS). Primary client performance is unaffected by other clients.

This problem seems to be caused by popups and such from Windows Explorer overlapping into the Eve window (tooltips, EveMon popups from the tray, etc.), and as soon as it happens once, the FPS is instantly limited to around 60-80. Playing in fixed/borderless window or fullscreen makes the FPS go back to normal. Switching the adapter has no effect; any client that is run on the main monitor is slowed down as soon as something overlaps the window.

I've tried disabling/changing SLI, but it has no effect either. This issue has been constant over the last couple of patches. I don't know how long it's been going on (it's possible that it's been like this for a while and I didn't notice until I started running clients on different monitors). At a loss as to what to try next.

Any info would be appreciated.

Edit: Here's a test I did to demonstrate:

http://i.imgur.com/n6VbS1M.png - Notice the bottom border of the window is not touching anything and is therefore not overlapped.

http://i.imgur.com/8rDcfOm.png - Notice the FPS drop as soon as the Windows logo "overlaps" the window's edge.

I just thought of something. In my other clients, the FPS drops down when I move to another window (probably because the GPU is being throttled for performance issues since the game window is not being used). Is it possible that the overlap is causing the primary window to think that it is unfocused, and is therefore being throttled? Can anyone else confirm having this issue? The FPS limiting behaviour seems very similar to what happens when you unfocus the client.

Edit 2: After realizing that the Windows button overlap was causing the issue, I remembered that I was using the "small icons" option for my taskbar at the bottom. Switching the option to use the regular icons has solved the issue, but it's kind of bothersome that I'd have to change the setting just for Eve. Is there a fix for making it so that the defocus slowdown does not occur?

Are you using CRT monitors?
Because TFT monitors are very refresh rate imited, so the fps you're running might do nothing but generate heat/noise and cause visual tearing.
Personally, the best combination I found is to disable in-game vsync (=> interval immediate) and enable adaptive vsync in the driver.
This might not fix the odd behavior, but maybe make it irrelevant.

I'm not sure about high refresh TFTs though. But I think they might just artificially up the refresh rate without actual smoothness gain.

Strange, you have the same driver, but different fps results. I can only assume some setting in your graphics driver isn't being enforced. Maybe the specific game setting overrides the general one.
If your monitors run with 60 Hz, then you should get a pretty constant 60 fps in EVE with interval immediate. You can try interval one and not enforce driver settings, that might effectively do the same.
Maybe you didn't notice the tearing. Look at a nebula picture in space and bob the camera a bit, diagonally and in various directions. (Should also be easily visible in certain hangars though.)