Very Slow performance on external monitors

kingwilly811 · 08-19-2016, 04:22 AM

I have a late 2011 Macbook Pro 13inch hooked up to two monitors using a Mediasonic pro dock. Performance with my Macbook is horrific on the external monitors. I also have a dell as a work computer which works perfectly fine. Is there any possible way to improve performance? Has anyone experienced this as well? If so, how did you troubleshoot?

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Specs:
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB
Samsung SSD
OS X El Capitan 10.11.16

dock:
Mediasonic SmartDock Pro HV1-U60D2L

Driver:
DisplayLink USB Graphics Software for Mac OS X BETA

rsmercer · 08-25-2016, 07:07 PM

Looking at the specs for the late 2011 MBP 13" 2.4 i5 it looks like it only has USB 2.0 ports. Is that correct? I've never used DisplayLink on a Mac with USB 2.0 but on Windows systems I've found DisplayLink performance is pretty crappy using USB 2.0. If you're using USB 3.0 on your Dell and USB 2.0 on your MBP, that might explain the difference. If that's the problem, I don't know of any solution.

Carlo · 09-03-2016, 07:38 AM

What rsmercer is mentioning is correct for higher resolutions and bigger screen updates, however our USB3 products are more efficient than the previous generation even on USB2 connections.
So I would expect normal productivity work (moving windows around, scrolling web pages etc.) not to be affected by the USB connection, unless there are electrical problems.

However, in some use cases a significant slow down is expected with the current OS and SW.
What kind of use case is showing the performance degradation? What resolution are you using?

We are currently working on performance so this information would be very useful to us in determining which use cases to address first.

Best regards,
Carlo

kingwilly811 · 09-11-2016, 01:31 AM

Thanks for the replies. The screen resolution I am using on my externals is 1920 x 1080 for both. I have used a lower resolution and it helps slightly but very slightly.

A couple example cases would be: dragging windows, animations for closing/opening apps, mouse lag, choppy watching video, and choppy streaming content (crystal clear on same wifi undocked). Honestly though it's pretty much all things. I'd say performance undocked is 2x what I get when docked.

Carlo · 09-12-2016, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingwilly811

Thanks for the replies. The screen resolution I am using on my externals is 1920 x 1080 for both. I have used a lower resolution and it helps slightly but very slightly.

A couple example cases would be: dragging windows, animations for closing/opening apps, mouse lag, choppy watching video, and choppy streaming content (crystal clear on same wifi undocked). Honestly though it's pretty much all things. I'd say performance undocked is 2x what I get when docked.

Thank you for the information,

For just moving windows around at 1080p it may be a bit slow, but not to the point of being annoying.
So there may be something wrong.

To double check can you please see if the CPU usage is OK when nothing is updating?
Connect both screens but without video on them.
Open Activity Monitor and go to the CPU tab. Bring Activity Monitor to the Mac's internal screen, not on DisplayLink screens.

First of all, sort by % CPU to see if there is anything unexpected (like anything >50% CPU).
Then, sort by Process Name and look for DisplayLinkUserAgent and DisplayLinkManager. These should be between 0% and 5% if nothing is updating on the screens.

Let me know if anything is not as expected.

Thank you very much for your help!

Cheers,
Carlo

justme · 09-12-2016, 11:50 AM

i can also report very slow window movement.

i'm using 3 eizo ev2455 in this order: 1920x1200,1200x1920,1920x1200

the right most ist connected to a kensington usb3.0 2x video dock.

if i move a window on the display link screen windowserver goes to >95% cpu and displaylinkmanager to >65%.

this is on a end 2014 corei7 mac mini with 16gb memory and macOS 10.12 gm.

08-19-2016, 04:22 AM	#1
kingwilly811 Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3	Very Slow performance on external monitors I have a late 2011 Macbook Pro 13inch hooked up to two monitors using a Mediasonic pro dock. Performance with my Macbook is horrific on the external monitors. I also have a dell as a work computer which works perfectly fine. Is there any possible way to improve performance? Has anyone experienced this as well? If so, how did you troubleshoot? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Specs: MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB Samsung SSD OS X El Capitan 10.11.16 dock: Mediasonic SmartDock Pro HV1-U60D2L Driver: DisplayLink USB Graphics Software for Mac OS X BETA

08-25-2016, 07:07 PM	#2
rsmercer Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3	Looking at the specs for the late 2011 MBP 13" 2.4 i5 it looks like it only has USB 2.0 ports. Is that correct? I've never used DisplayLink on a Mac with USB 2.0 but on Windows systems I've found DisplayLink performance is pretty crappy using USB 2.0. If you're using USB 3.0 on your Dell and USB 2.0 on your MBP, that might explain the difference. If that's the problem, I don't know of any solution.

09-03-2016, 07:38 AM	#3
Carlo Mac Team Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 606	What rsmercer is mentioning is correct for higher resolutions and bigger screen updates, however our USB3 products are more efficient than the previous generation even on USB2 connections. So I would expect normal productivity work (moving windows around, scrolling web pages etc.) not to be affected by the USB connection, unless there are electrical problems. However, in some use cases a significant slow down is expected with the current OS and SW. What kind of use case is showing the performance degradation? What resolution are you using? We are currently working on performance so this information would be very useful to us in determining which use cases to address first. Best regards, Carlo

09-11-2016, 01:31 AM	#4
kingwilly811 Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3	Thanks for the replies. The screen resolution I am using on my externals is 1920 x 1080 for both. I have used a lower resolution and it helps slightly but very slightly. A couple example cases would be: dragging windows, animations for closing/opening apps, mouse lag, choppy watching video, and choppy streaming content (crystal clear on same wifi undocked). Honestly though it's pretty much all things. I'd say performance undocked is 2x what I get when docked.

09-12-2016, 11:50 AM	#6
justme Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 8	i can also report very slow window movement. i'm using 3 eizo ev2455 in this order: 1920x1200,1200x1920,1920x1200 the right most ist connected to a kensington usb3.0 2x video dock. if i move a window on the display link screen windowserver goes to >95% cpu and displaylinkmanager to >65%. this is on a end 2014 corei7 mac mini with 16gb memory and macOS 10.12 gm.