Alienware M17X R3 FPS issues (not overheating)

Hi all, I've tried everything to "fix" my Alienware M17x R3 laptop, but nothing seems to have helped.

What happens is that whenever I play any game at all, once every 2/3 minutes that my framerates, which are usually stable, drop to about 12 or 13. It doesn't matter if it's a demanding game like Mass Effect 3, or less demanding stuff such as WoW or Heroes of Newerth.

Now, I know it's not overheating because I've checked GPU-Z and my GFX CPU temperatures are nowhere near the throttle point at 78 degrees. I bought a giant cooling pad to prevent that from happening. What perhaps is interesting to note however, is that whenever I get these framedrops, the Memory Controller load drops to 0%, and the GPU load drops to 0% as well.

This is the spec of my Alienware notebook, if that is of any importance:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1
Processor:Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM CPU @ 2.00GHz, 2001 MHz, 4 cores, 8 logical processors
RAM: 6GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664 MHz
Motherboard: Alienware M17x R3 CPU1
BIOS: Alienware AO9
GFX card: Geforce 560M GTX

Due to the data from GPU-Z , I'm led to believe that there is indeed a fault in the hardware, and not the software. Also, because, a while ago (a month ago), one of my friends accidentally bumped into the laptop while it was off. Next morning, when I turned it on , there were some spots in the laptop that wouldn't wipe off (dead pixels), could this have affected the GPU in any way?


Sorry for the wall of text and thanks in advance,
Elu.

 

What were the temps?

 

They wouldn't go higher than 63/64 degrees. However, the GPU Load and Memory Controller Load drop to 0 whenever these drops occur.

 

560M/580Ms also have a power throttle around mid 60's. Use NVIDIA Inspector and check out the P1 state to see if it drops the core speed down any. You should be able to boost it up to P0 (the standard speed without any throttle), and the card will run at the same speed until you hit the 78C throttle, which you cannot change or get rid of.

 

Edit: found it.

 

Did that help any?

 

No, I'm trying to figure out what you meant , I've never used this program before, so it's all a bit new to me.

 

Can anyone else post some pictures for Elurael? I'm at work, so I don't have my Alienwares with me. If no one can get to it, I'll take some screenshots to show you later.

A quick run-through in the mean time. Click Overclocking in the bottom right hand corner.
Click Okay on the warning.
The window will expand to the right. There should be a drop-down toward the top.
Select P1 and see if it differs from the P0 state.
If it is, try sliding the sliders up to match P0.

 

Have done now, will post results. It's worth noting though, that when I opened that, the settings were on Performance Level 2.

Ninja edit: I can't seem to be able to edit the top slider, which is the GPU clock.

Right, that program is doing my head in, when I slide the sliders to match, the values that show are still different.

 

Try sliding the Shader slider (should be the third slider down). This will simultaneously adjust it and the clock speed. Once you've moved it (if it will move) make sure to hit Apply down in the bottom right hand corner.

 

The third slider is now in the same spot as in the P0 , but the second slider was still off. Didn't help though, just got a FPS drop while playing Warcraft.

Edit: going to bed now, will see all new replies tomorrow.

 

You could try defraging your computer and doing a disc cleanup. It might help.

 

I am experiencing the exact same issue as the OP, but with a 580M GTX.

It drops to P8 while playing games or running FurMark, I tried using NVIDIA Inspector to change the settings for P8, but when I hit apply it locks the computer (screen goes white, audio loops, have to hold power button and reboot).

Any idea why that might happen?

I'm currently using the latest (296.10) nvidia drivers, but I'm going to try going back down to the latest ones available from dell, just to see what happens.

 

If you're hitting P8, that means you've hit the 78C throttle. Check your temps when this happens

 

The max temperature I've recorded while running FurMark and seeing the drop to P8 is 67C, and the average is around 63C - this doesn't seem like an overheating issue, it happens consistently when the GPU is being stressed, regardless of the reported temperature.

 

Just did this, still getting the FPS drops and the GPU/Memory Controller Load drop to 0%.

Right, I just got off the phone will Dell, and they had no knowledge of my problem. Interesting to note though, when I asked if a mechanic was ever going to be sent over here, they said that they don't do that. However, from all the stories I've read here is that they send mechs over all the time to replace parts of the laptop?

I live in the Netherlands, if that matters.

 

Right, I've just installed Windows 7 again which did nothing, so Dell can't say it's a software problem now.

 

I have the same system R3/560M and just recently experienced the same problem.

GPU temps were fine.

It was CPU temps breaking 90 degrees!

Took a hoover and removed the fluff. Now the cpu temps run more cooler and the CPU is not throttling anymore.

My guess is a combination of poor stock cpu thermal paste and accumulation of dust/fluff.

 

I see, well, I'll be taking the bottom off tonight and upload some screenshots to see if you lot can see anything. Don't think that my CPU temp's ever reached 90 degrees, especially with a 10 inch fan under the laptop

 

This same thing is happening to me and what I found was that my card was at P0 state, but the clocks were frozen at one of the lower performance states.. so like.. it said P0, but.. well here:



See, P0, but "Current Clock" is 25mhz" and Temp is 60 degrees

Did you ever get a resolution?

 

Elu,

Can you describe your storage specification? I have a nearly identical m17x r3 and I had an identical issue. I spent weeks debugging this myself, Dell, Intel and others. I found my specific issue and it was related to the storage subsystem. My framerate drops were induced by wait states triggered by a faulty setup that Dell was unaware of. I had a RAID 0 config with 2 HDDs that sat behind an Intel Raid chipset. The HDDs(Seagate Momentus XTs) had a default firmware setting that allowed them to spin down while not in use(a great feature for laptops used for email). The Intel RAID chipset did not have access to modify this setting and therefore no matter what you did to the HDD settings, putting it behind the RAID chipset caused it to default back to the original settings. So while playing games, specifically those that have a crap ton of skins and textures to load on the fly depending on what is in your area, there are times that no new data is needed and the spindles on the drives were spinning down. Whenever the game needed new data, it took the drives a second to get back to 7200RPM and serve data.

Dell was finally and to reproduce the problem in their lab and confirm it was the issue. There were two possible resolutions: Seagate has a firmware fix that you can try out or Dell can send you 2 new drives that do not have this issue. I elected to opt out of RAID altogether so I'm replacing one of my drives with an SSD.

BTW, you can test if this is YOUR issue by running the Intel Raid ST application, click on "Manage", click on "advanced", click on "Verify" which in effect prevents your spindles from going to sleep while you play. The Verify command last about an hour during which I have no framerate issues.

 

It's definately the standard GPU issue everyone has. Easiest fix is to download hwinfo32 and set the fans to max. It'll fix your issues.