• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 10:26
CEST 16:26
KST 23:26
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Progenitors8Code S Season 1 - RO12 Group A: Rogue, Percival, Solar, Zoun13[ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt1: Inheritors16[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists22
Community News
Weekly Cups (April 27-May 4): Clem takes triple0RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event11Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO12 Results12026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers25Maestros of the Game 2 announced9
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (April 27-May 4): Clem takes triple Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO12 Results Code S Season 1 - RO12 Group A: Rogue, Percival, Solar, Zoun Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) 2026 GSL Season 2 Qualifiers $1,400 SEL Season 3 Ladder Invitational
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 524 Death and Taxes The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 523 Firewall Mutation # 522 Flip My Base
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion AI Question Using AI to optimize marketing campaigns [ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Progenitors Why there arent any 256x256 pro maps?
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro8 Day 4 [ASL21] Ro8 Day 3 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro8 Day 2
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Dawn of War IV Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread OutLive 25 (RTS Game) Daigo vs Menard Best of 10 Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread 3D technology/software discussion Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
streaming software Strange computer issues (software) [G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Movie Stars In Video Games: …
TrAiDoS
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 932 users

Delay when alt tabbing between SC2 and Windows

Forum Index > Tech Support
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
ThePinkNinja
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom14 Posts
February 18 2011 16:07 GMT
#1
Hi Guys,

So, I get a delay where the screen goes black when I alt+tab between SC2 and any other windows app which I thought was normal and wasn't bothered about however last night I watched LiquidTylers stream for 10-15 mins and noticed him alt-tabbing between sc2 and switching music/checking forums then going back to SC2 with absolutely no lag time whatsoever.

Anyone know what could be causing the 15 second delay on mine? PC is:

Intel Quad 6700 @2.66ghz
8gb DDR2 Ram
ATI Radeon XFX 4890 (1gb DDR5)

possibly display drivers?

Any feedback appreciated.

Ta
orcslayermac
Profile Joined July 2010
United States138 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-18 16:09:29
February 18 2011 16:08 GMT
#2
Switch to windowed fullscreen mode. You're probably running in fullscreen, which is BAD for alt+tabbing.

Edit: Display drivers? If they're not up-to-date, go update them now please!
Terran A+move... Right into my banelings? Yes please!
CjX
Profile Joined September 2010
Sweden15 Posts
February 18 2011 16:09 GMT
#3
Do you play in Fullscreen mode? If you do, then change it to Windowed (fullscreen)
d
EliteReplay
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Dominican Republic913 Posts
February 18 2011 16:15 GMT
#4
But in windowed full screen the game will take the color of your desktop and u will expirience FPS drop
if play random i can't call any race imba?
orcslayermac
Profile Joined July 2010
United States138 Posts
February 18 2011 16:33 GMT
#5
2GRe-Play-, you're thinking of windowed mode. In windowed fullscreen, there will be no "taking the color of your desktop" because windowed fullscreen eliminates the windowed border.

Yes, there will be an FPS drop and that's to be expected. I am an alt+tab-oholic and run all my games in windowed fullscreen (also due to the fact that I have multiple monitors) and I never have framerate issues. If there are framerate issues, try closing other programs, etc...

There are drawbacks, but that's how LiquidTyler achieves lag free alt+tabbing.
Terran A+move... Right into my banelings? Yes please!
Mofisto
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom585 Posts
February 18 2011 16:38 GMT
#6
It's a known problem with ATI cards. They handle fullscreen badly. As has been mentioned, playing in windowed fullscreen (no annoying bars) eliminates the problem. There is a small hit in performance, but you wont notice at all, unless of course you're running at the limit of whats possible with your system already
"Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you."
ThePinkNinja
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom14 Posts
February 18 2011 16:49 GMT
#7
That did the trick thanks a lot guys
Xanbatou
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States805 Posts
February 18 2011 17:28 GMT
#8
On February 19 2011 01:38 mofisto wrote:
It's a known problem with ATI cards. They handle fullscreen badly. As has been mentioned, playing in windowed fullscreen (no annoying bars) eliminates the problem. There is a small hit in performance, but you wont notice at all, unless of course you're running at the limit of whats possible with your system already


I find this incredibly hard to believe.
Shiladie
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Canada1631 Posts
February 18 2011 18:14 GMT
#9
Beaten to it, I can't stand games that don't do well in windowed fullscreen, I'm ADD enough to want to have something going on my second monitor while I play.

I think I've had 2 games and 2 livestreams going at once at one point (Destiny+bluetea's 2v2s, a slow moving SC2 custom game, and the Rift Beta)
R1CH
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Netherlands10342 Posts
February 18 2011 18:20 GMT
#10
On February 19 2011 02:28 Xanbatou wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 19 2011 01:38 mofisto wrote:
It's a known problem with ATI cards. They handle fullscreen badly. As has been mentioned, playing in windowed fullscreen (no annoying bars) eliminates the problem. There is a small hit in performance, but you wont notice at all, unless of course you're running at the limit of whats possible with your system already


I find this incredibly hard to believe.

Don't, ATI drivers are terrible.
AdministratorTwitter: @R1CH_TL
TL+ Member
ensign_lee
Profile Joined June 2010
United States1178 Posts
February 18 2011 20:28 GMT
#11
It's your processor.

It used to take me 45-60 seconds (YEAH, A MINUTE!) to tab between windows at Starcraft 2 with my old AMD 2400+ dual core. With my new i5-2500k, it takes like 2 seconds.
Doso
Profile Joined March 2008
Germany769 Posts
February 18 2011 20:49 GMT
#12
On February 19 2011 05:28 ensign_lee wrote:
It's your processor.

It used to take me 45-60 seconds (YEAH, A MINUTE!) to tab between windows at Starcraft 2 with my old AMD 2400+ dual core. With my new i5-2500k, it takes like 2 seconds.


Looking forward to change your Motherboard, are we? (Intel-Chipset bug)
ensign_lee
Profile Joined June 2010
United States1178 Posts
February 18 2011 22:04 GMT
#13
On February 19 2011 05:49 Doso wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 19 2011 05:28 ensign_lee wrote:
It's your processor.

It used to take me 45-60 seconds (YEAH, A MINUTE!) to tab between windows at Starcraft 2 with my old AMD 2400+ dual core. With my new i5-2500k, it takes like 2 seconds.


Looking forward to change your Motherboard, are we? (Intel-Chipset bug)


Meh, I can get a free upgrade to a Z68 chip or I can just chill with my SATA 3 ports and (my currently functioning) SATA 2 ports.

Plus, it gives me an opportunity to change my ungodly large heatsink should I choose to do so. :D I'm also super <3'ing quad core 4.5 Ghz processing speed.

So uh...yeah. :D
Molybdenum
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States358 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-19 02:20:19
February 19 2011 01:39 GMT
#14
I can alt tab (I usually use the windows button, though) really fast on my laptop, I just looked and I'm using Fullscreen (NOT windowed). I have a core 2 duo 2.4 ghz with an nvidia 8600M, 4GB DDR2 RAM, hardly a powerhouse, but alt tabbing takes maybe 2 seconds. I have a second monitor that I like to tab out to change pandora or whatever on. It could very well be your drivers.



On February 19 2011 05:49 Doso wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 19 2011 05:28 ensign_lee wrote:
It's your processor.

It used to take me 45-60 seconds (YEAH, A MINUTE!) to tab between windows at Starcraft 2 with my old AMD 2400+ dual core. With my new i5-2500k, it takes like 2 seconds.


Looking forward to change your Motherboard, are we? (Intel-Chipset bug)


Wow, bitter much? Changing the mobo is hardly a big deal.

Edit: I have DDR2 RAM, 4GB
hoby2000
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States918 Posts
February 19 2011 01:46 GMT
#15
I don't think it's your video card or processor. You're still using DDR2 ram, which is bottlenecking your computer's performance.

The specs on my laptop are worse than yours in every regard, except that I have DDR3 ram. It takes me about 2 seconds to alt tab out of SC2.
A lesson without pain is meaningless for nothing can be gained without giving something in return.
Cambam
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States360 Posts
February 19 2011 02:40 GMT
#16
I have the same problem. I have a ATI 4870 X2 and I just updated the drivers a few days ago. They didn't fix it. For me, it usually takes 3-5 seconds to maximize when I first start starcraft, but the longer I have it open, the longer it takes to maximize (sometimes upwards of 30-45 seconds). I have a Phenom II X4 3.00 Ghz quad core.

My friend has a newer ATI card (5800 or 6800 or something) and apparently doesn't have alt-tab issues, so maybe it's only the older ATI cards. It's so frustrating though, it's embarrassing that this problem hasn't been fixed for a year now...
jacosajh
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
2919 Posts
February 19 2011 02:48 GMT
#17
On one of my computers, an upgrade from a Core i5 to an i7 made it better.

On my brothers' computer, an upgrade from 4 GB to 8 GB of RAM made it better.

On another one of my computers, an update in drivers made it better.

So pretty much, it depends on a lot of factors. Since you have 8 GB of RAM, a good card, and decent video card, I'm thinking it's your HDD and/or drivers.
Mastermind
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Canada7096 Posts
February 19 2011 02:50 GMT
#18
To fix this problem change your desktop resolution to the same resolution as sc2. This is what I did to fix it.
LeSioN
Profile Joined November 2010
United States325 Posts
February 19 2011 03:08 GMT
#19
i dont know why there a bunch of posts in this thread... quit simple, choose windowed full screen option in the options menu, bam! lagless alt-tabbing.
Someone needs to tell the truth, but it shouldn't be my job.
Mofisto
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom585 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-19 03:47:36
February 19 2011 03:46 GMT
#20
The problem is simple. Like I said previously, it's a problem with ATI cards, not weak processors, hard drives, lack of ram, type of ram etc. I have the exact same problem, and I dont exactly have a weak PC
+ Show Spoiler +
i7 960 @ 4.2 ghz
12gb g skill ripjaw 1800 mhz
Asus P6X58D Premium
vertex 2 ssd (where starcraft is installed)
sapphire 4gb 5970 toxic @ 950mhz
(i used to run the same sytstem in trifire with a 2gb 5870 toxic, and still got the alt tab lag)

The solution is also simple. Run the game in windowed full screen. If you do you'll see there is no more delay, alt tabbing is instantaneous. Also if it were a hardware issue (as in weak components), the windowed fullscreen fix wouldnt work, because running in fullscreen is less stressful than windowed fullscreen.
"Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you."
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 9h 34m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Vindicta 81
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 57927
Calm 7038
Bisu 3306
Horang2 1373
Mini 853
Light 655
EffOrt 615
Soma 563
ggaemo 555
actioN 356
[ Show more ]
ZerO 249
Hyuk 224
Killer 168
Hyun 133
Zeus 122
hero 118
Leta 113
Pusan 103
Sharp 94
PianO 87
Mind 76
Sea.KH 67
Aegong 55
ToSsGirL 50
Movie 30
sSak 28
Hm[arnc] 28
sorry 26
Backho 24
Shinee 23
IntoTheRainbow 22
Bale 20
JulyZerg 17
Rock 17
Terrorterran 14
SilentControl 13
GoRush 12
Sacsri 9
ajuk12(nOOB) 9
zelot 7
Dota 2
syndereN374
League of Legends
Reynor7
Counter-Strike
zeus679
byalli446
markeloff302
allub265
edward77
kRYSTAL_54
adren_tv5
Other Games
singsing2378
B2W.Neo1168
hiko941
Lowko552
Liquid`RaSZi547
Beastyqt235
Hui .182
monkeys_forever120
Mew2King105
ArmadaUGS98
QueenE76
Rex50
Livibee47
ZerO(Twitch)18
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream56
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 16
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 14
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• TFBlade1763
Other Games
• WagamamaTV360
• Shiphtur13
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
9h 34m
GSL
19h 4m
Classic vs Cure
Maru vs Rogue
GSL
1d 19h
SHIN vs Zoun
ByuN vs herO
OSC
1d 20h
OSC
1d 22h
Replay Cast
2 days
Escore
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
WardiTV Invitational
2 days
Zoun vs Ryung
Lambo vs ShoWTimE
OSC
3 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
SHIN vs Bunny
ByuN vs Shameless
WardiTV Invitational
3 days
Krystianer vs TriGGeR
Cure vs Rogue
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
BSL
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Cure vs Zoun
Clem vs Lambo
WardiTV Invitational
4 days
BSL
5 days
GSL
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-05-02
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
SCTL 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026

Upcoming

YSL S3
Escore Tournament S2: W6
KK 2v2 League Season 1
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
Escore Tournament S2: W7
Escore Tournament S2: W8
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.