Poor OpenGL Graphics performance new m4400

I've just taken my new precision m4400 out of the box and I've already found 2 majour things wrong with it. I'm hoping someone can help me with this.

FIRST:
I'm getting very poor graphics performance. Both observed bad windows refresh times and low OpenGL benchmarks using cinebench 10. I've already run windows update and installed the latest nvidia driver. Initially I was getting an opengl score of ~1500 on cinebench, now i'm getting ~3500 but it is still too low. It should be over 6000!!!

SECOND:
My Wled screen is misaligned with the screen bezel. I am aware of the uneven bezel widths of the left and right sides, this is not what I mean. What I mean is the whole screen is mounted too too low and too much to the right.
As a result I can see too much black on to top and left and on the bottom and right the bezel almost begins to overlap and obscure the screen image.
Such poor manufacturing tolerances!

Can anyone help me with the graphics card issue, and perhaps tell me if you have similar issues with the screen build. THANKS

My system:
Precision M4400, 2.66ghz p8800, Nvidia Quadro FX 770M 512mb, 4gig ram, 320 5,400rpm HDD, WXGA+ AG WLED

 

Which driver version are you using? Try downloading newer ones from nVidia's website as those are more up to date. Which OS are you running? Vista I assume?

I dont have any screen mount issues although I have the RGBLED and not the WLED. Give Dell a call, they should take care of that for you. Or if you know what you're doing, you can fix it yourself, but if it's under warrenty you might as well just let Dell take care of it. It should be covered as it is a manufacturing defect.

 

I'm running vista business 64bit and i downloaded the latest driver directly from nvidia (190.38). mr bankai and anyone else, can you guys please tell me what you cinebench opengl score is?
I don't need your rendering score, just the "opengl standard."
http://www.maxon.net/downloads/downloads/cinebench.html
THANKS

i would really like to get the graphics performance up to scratch first. If it cannot be done I won't bother with the display and just return this thing.

 

What resolution are you running it at? And why do you expect to hit 6000? Just curious because I've never used Cinebench before and dunno what numbers to expect from this machine. Can you provide a link to someone with a similar config getting you desired score? thanks.

EDIT: Nevermind, I assume you're looking at Notebookcheck.net...I suggest you look at this thread instead: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=321181
The guy has a 1700m and it scores 6100. You shouldnt expect the same out of a 770m without overclocking it. Will post my score once i run the test.

EDIT 2: Ok, something is definately wrong with the GL drivers...I got ~3500 with it on battery power and ~4000 when I plug it in. The odd thing is that even when I overclock my gpu performance doesnt improve at all...Sorry buddy...maybe someone else has a solution?

 

I appreciate you looking into it for me mr bankai.
There were a few people on the thread you sent me that got high scores with a 770m.

6158 here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=321181#6
and even 7057:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=321181#10

The notebookcheck score was also done using the 770m card.
I don't know what to do either. I'm going to give dell a call tonight.

 

Giving them a call sounds a good idea.

In the meantime, try getting GPU-Z from here. Check what are the clock speeds. Remember that when your laptop is not using the GPU it uses lower clocks to save energy. That is expected. To compare the clocks properly, use Cinebench and write down the clocks GPU-Z reports while Cinebench is running. Compare those to the default clocks (from NotebookCheck.com):

Core Speed: 500 MHz
Shader Speed: 1250 MHz
Memory Speed: 800 MHz

I doubt this helps to fix the issue but it will definitely allow us to understand it better. If you note any abnormality in the clocks, you should let Dell know when you talk to them. Oh, and post the results here too

 

Honestly, I originally thought you might just be expecting too high of results or you forgot to plug in your laptop while testing (Vista auto engages powermizer on battery). But that seems to have little effect on the results...Please let us know what Dell has to say about this.

BTW: My OC was at 600/1650/900 (core/shader/mem) using nVidia System Tools with negliable affect.

EDIT: SOLUTION FOUND!!! WOW! reading is EVERYTHING hahaha. Our problem is the OS. We are both running x64 (W7 for me and Vista for you). In the thread I linked to earlier someone posted results for both x32 and x64. The x32 run got 6000+ while the x64 got ~4000(which is what I've been getting). So to correct the problem, just install a 32bit OS. Look at the scores posted by chrous25 to see the difference.

 

Man, that right there is a big enough problem to make me not want to pay extra for a system with a 770M in it. I'm hoping I never have to use a 32-bit version of Windows again. Sounds like NVIDIA's dropping the ball pretty big then, huh?

 

Well to be honest, there isnt much performance benefit for going x64 except for the RAM limit. Since 4Gb dimms are crazy expensive at the moment, the most you're getting extra is .5-1GB, which isnt that big of a deal honestly. But IF you really dont want to switch back to 32bit, the only option I see you having other than returning it is to dual boot your system. Use x32 for OpenGL and x64 for everything else. If that doesnt work then just return the system. Shame though, really expected better. If Dell wont let you return it, PM me, I might be willing to buy it off you. My friend needs a new laptop =]

 

You shouldn't be facing any crippled performance in the x64 version compared to the 32bit.

The only thing I could see is that where you running the x64 version of the cinebench or the normal 32bit? For an x64 OS to run a 32 bit application, its performance is slightly less than a 32 bit OS running the same 32 bit app, due to emulation, etc.

As far as I know Nvidia have been offering driver support for x64 architecture for years now, it's not like them to have an inferior set of drivers without correct support for openGL only for their x64 driver counterparts.

Try installing and running this openGL viewer software, it will give you information about what version of openGL you are using, based on your graphics hardware and driver setup.

x64 OS's are what are used in workstations, to utilise higher amounts of ram being allocated to anyone piece of software. Rendering an image with 2-3gb ram on a 32 bit os will be noticably slower than rendering the image with 8gb+ on an x64 OS, provided of course you are using an x64 version of that software, so that higher amount of ram can be allocated. If you are using a 32 bit app on an x64 OS, you're not really taking advantage of the ability of allocate more than 3gb of ram to any one running task.