Alienware M17x - Diablo 3 Discussion

I can't. Auto detect says goto my manufacturer.

Direct pick says unable to install on run.

 

Sorry to bump this thread again, but I was hoping to find out from some fellow M17x users how the performance is on Diablo 3.

Mine ran smooth as glass until about Act 3... I get crazy slowdowns when there are 30+ enemies on screen. I am also getting persistent micro-stuttering and lag, even when my framerate is high. I have checked my temperatures, and they never go above 62/63... I know it's not GPU throttling.

I've done some reading and apparently Blizzard really didn't optimize their game for core i5/i7 machines. It only seems to be using 2-cores, much like Starcraft, and not pushing the GPU very hard.

Is anyone else having a similar experience? Even on low settings I'm getting these issues. The biggest factor seems to be multiple people. If it's just me, or just me and a friend the game seems to do just fine. 4-player games seem have serious issues, especially with large mobs on-screen.

Blizzard seems unresponsive on their own forums. I don't know if they can actually do anything in regard to this.

 

It's purely on Blizzard's end. The servers are not stable at the moment (actually they haven't been stable since launch). Hopefully Blizzard gets this straightened out soon.

 

Hello,

I am getting the stuttering effect you are talking about - sometimes fps jump suddenly and wildly from around 100 to as low as 20, sometimes it doesn't but the game jumps around a bit.

I honestly feel blizzard handled this release poorly.

 

My 5870s run kinda hot with V-sync on. One of them averages around 77C but the other is around 68C. Bad crossfire support? Might try opening it up and cleaning the heatsinks.

Throttlestop helps the FPS/stuttering problem. It worked for me but as soon as somebody joins the game it comes back.

12.4 drivers, might try rolling back to 12.3 or try out 12.5

 

Totally off topic but an anyone in a few short words tell me what Kind of game diablo is? Ive played wc1/2/3 and TFT an still play wow.. I can't seem to figure out what 'kind' of game diablo is and if it's worth getting. Are the graphics awesome? 3d support?

 

The game looks good, but it's not anything graphics intensive. It's a dungeon crawler where you progress through different dungeons completing tasks and leveling up.

 

So it's like Warcraft 1-3 in story mode?

 

No. In diablo there is no base building or economy management. you control one hero who just fights a lot of mobs. kind of like an rpg mixed with streets of rage or something.

 

Like Dungeon Siege

 

On a side note, I made it to the end of Act IV! I'm a level 31 wizard and i've come to the conclusion that soloing Diablo at this level is IMPOSSIBLE :/

 

Sure you can
I Used magic missile, The "ball" spell, Hydra, mirror image and diamond skin or whatever =)
Oh and enchanted weapon or familiar. GL =)

 

You were correct, finally beat the game!

 

Wow guys I sometimes drop in this forum looking for news about drivers most and I always see people that got problem running games like skyrim and diablo 3 ...
I play both games with a M17 r2 2x5870 and i7 940 xm 12.5 beta drivers

Skyrim run 48-60 fps on ultra shadow med,no tering or any issue with all the graphic mod out there...
Diablo 60 fps constant no lag no tering I play from Japan on European servers o_0 , I have the FXAA injector and the graphic at max shadow on med
I posted this only because I guess the problem is not blizzard or Bethesda but maybe in your end , pc is not clean or drivers are bad installed , I really don't know what are your problem but if my alien run good also yours should be same ..... I never overclocking anything or using program that push up cards or CPU .
I use instead advance cleaning care and processing lasso .

 

I've kind of given up. I can't find anyway to update the drivers.

 

Alienhead,

I think I have found the solutions to your problem. My buddy also has an M17X with the GTX 280M and 9400M G, he was getting terrible framerate(like 20 FPS on lowest settings). We did a fresh format to windows 7 and updated drivers to no avail.

The problem turns out to be the fact that you are running the HYBRID SLI. Diablo 3 DOES NOT support SLI or Crossfire currently. So you need to go into your BIOs and turn off the "hybrid SLI" and "integrated NVIDIA graphics" under GPU settings.

Steps:
1. Reboot and hold "F2" to go into your bios setup.
2. Once in the bios setup I think it was under the "advanced" tab so hit the right arrow key once.
3. Scroll down to GPU Settings (hit "Enter" obviously)
4. Under GPU settings disable "Hybrid SLI" and "Integrated Nvidia"
5. Hit "F10" to save and quit.
6. Upon reboot it may install some drivers but Windows should find them automatically.

What you have done is disable the 9400M G card and are going to just use the GTX 280M. Crank those graphics up and slay some monsters! Enjoy.

 

I'll give it a whirl. Thanks!

 

No Problem! Let me know how it goes! I've also got some good links for Drivers that worked for him.

 

I'll give this a run as well. Noticed it was choppy last night compared to my work laptop with Nvidia Quadro 2000.

 

Totally worked. You are awesome.

Now, if only my laptop wasn't 2000 degrees when I run it in that mode

 

Yea man, My friends laptop fans are blasting now. He forgot his laptop cooler though, generally those help a lot!

Glad it worked though, it was totally unplayable before. Have fun dude!

 

So I spent a few hours today playing 4-player public game, and my framerate was a very solid 50-60 throughout. Maybe I just got a low-lag game, or something... but there were very few hiccups.

When the action heated up, and there were 2 barbarians, plus me (a monk) and a demon hunter unloading into crowds of monsters, my framerate dropped as low as 25 very briefly. At no point was the game "unplayable" but the slowdown was visible.

Maybe I'm confused here, but the Alienware M17x R3 more than meets the reccomended settings for Diablo 3. The game isn't even that graphically intensive... it's just very processor heavy with the physics crap all over the place. I think I may disable the physx and see how I fare... but it seems ridiculous that I need to scale back my settings on a game like Diablo.

 

The problem that the OP originally was talking about was a very specific problem having to due with the fact the game does not support SLI. Also were are talking about about the first M17X not a newer revision. The options for the hybrid SLI are not very accessible nor are they explained very well. This may even be a specific problem having to due with the GTX 280M workingg in tandum with the 9400M G. Please read the post and the issue at hand before acting like you know everything.

This specific problem caused my friend and the OP headaches for days and this solution could go on to help a lot of users.

 

Diablo 3 should be no problem for our machines hardware-wise, but for some reason it may not be optimized enough. And our video cards are being cranked to their limit for no apparent reason.

Its getting hotter than Starcraft 2 with 12 players on a custom map with 1000 things spawning. Ridiculous.

 

How do you guys measure the FPS?

I'm using Process Monitor which says my GTX560M is maxing out in Diablo III.

 

Blizzard games has built-in FPS meter. Just press CTRL+R in Diablo 3 or Ctrl + ALT + F in Stacraft 2

 

You can use FRAPS. Google it..

 

I too get 20 fps at the lowest settings.
I tried following your description but I cannot find the GPU settings.
I dont have the same graphic card however.

Graphics : 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6870M w/ PowerXpress
Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 2630QM (2.00Ghz, 6MB, 4C)

Do I got another problem or am I doing something wrong?

 

In Diablo 3 hit control+r and it will bring up a framerate count in the top left

Do you have two video cards? The problem that my friend and the OP were having had to due with the hybrid SLI that was setup on their laptops. If you do, look around the bios setup for different options(don't with none GPU settings or you could up). You are also using a ATI video card so if you did have two cards it would have something to due with the Crossfire configuration. Check your catalyst control center for options.

This seems to be a different problem however. Did you try updating your drivers? Do you have an integrated video card as well?? I would also look for other people with your video card having d3 problems.

 

what driver are you using? The dell one?

If you are on the original driver, the first thing i would do is install a newer amd driver

Then make sure that your powerplay settings are at "Max Performance" and your power plug is plugged in

 

I did try installing a new driver some days ago. Which was troublesome to find on its own...
But now I read soemwhere that I have to uninstall the old driver first.
This solved the problem...

Kind of strange the driver installer doesn't tell you this tbh. It is not like it is common knowledge to most people (well maybe most on this forum, but 95%+ of the people I know would have to clue).

Thanks for the help!

 

Most manufacturers tell you to uninstall the old drivers before installing new ones but not in the installer. Usually its in the directions on the site where you download them. I think its kind of stupid the installer doesn't check for old drivers before installing. Although it is always a good idea to remove old drivers and software before installing the new ones! Glad it worked out though!

Have fun!

 

Right click the Nvidia icon in the status bar.

 

Ok SlickDude, after getting those 12.3's ive had HORRID framerates and fuzzy character models and stuff. Idk what happened

 

ok, i would either install the 12.3's again. but do it clean...meaning use driver sweeper, select "AMD display" only, then clean it. Reboot to VGA drivers, then install the 12.3's again...OR try the 12.5 betas

Sounds like a corruption in your driver install somewhere

 

Yea I shouldve done a screenshot of it...the list they gave me had all "success" except one part which said "failed". I was unable to see the details of it when clicking, it was frozen.

K ill give it another shot.

 

Sure, here you go:

http://download.benchmark3d.com/AMD/Catalyst/12.3/12-3_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc.exe

 

No bueno

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

 

ok, that's your hdmi audio driver...not really relevant to the display driver. what does GPUz say your driver version is? 8.951 is Catalyst 12.3

you can also try the 12.5 betas and see if that makes a difference in the installation:

http://benchmark3d.com/amd-catalyst-8-97-18-april

 

After that install reboot my junk is all jacked lol. I still have HUGE icons and stuff as if im running in VGA or something.




Edit: cannot get into Catalyst Control Center nor can Windows find it. hmm

Ugh I think ive really messed it up..IDK what to do, kinda wanna go back to the 12.1s I was running

 

Im running diablo 3 and hitting huge temps real quick, i ran MSI afterburner and underclocked my card and it lowered my gpu temps by 20 oC down to around 70/80...

I came back the next day and re-booted my system and underclocked again.. but the temps never changed this time and are hitting 100 oC now...

what have i done wrong?

 

I think I fixed my issue. I had to wipe out every video driver, get the dell driver again, and THEN clean install the 12.3. its working great now. getting 60-120 fps on D3 on high settings xD

 

I'm not sure what M17x is considered old?
But, my M17x R3 has an 460m, and been playing D3 with all settings on max on a 1080p screen.
The frame rates been smooth, no lag, not on my end anyway, even when playing on McDonalds Wi-Fi.
I've only experience slight lag at times , only for a sec or two at times, but for the most part, its been smooth.

 

what video card(s) do you have? when was the last time you cleaned out your vents and/or repasted the GPUs?

Awesome bro! now you can truly enjoy the game Good that you persevered

 

I recently purchased an Alienware M17x r4 with the AMD 7970 graphics card. I've been playing diablo for about a week now and for some reason at random times the game will freeze. There are times when I am able to play for several of hours without it freezing, and at times I'll play for an hour and it'll freeze. I am unable to do anything except to reboot the computer, ctrl alt del won't even work.

I also just reformatted the laptop today in hopes that maybe it'd fix the issue. But after an hour of play it froze again, and I have no choice but to reboot it since nothing will respond.

I don't know what what's going on

 

Check your temperatures while you game, perhaps it is overheating?

 

I have the Nvidia 260m and the 9400 geforce, and ive cleaned out my vents recently, took it to a shop to get done too :/

 

This would be one first guess. To the OP, try propping up the back of your laptop. This will drop your temps like 10c. you can use a book or bottlecaps etc. Also monitor your temps. often, the thermal paste jobs coming from the factory aren't done very well. if you are comfortable, do a repaste of the gpu with a quality thermal paste. You can use my 7970m install guide (in sig) for instructions as to how to take the heatsink off. If temps are indeed an issue, you can also call dell to come over and do a repaste for you, but they won't use a good paste and the tech probably won't do as good a job as you would

D3 runs perfect on my laptop maxxed @ 1080p with 7970m (getting like 100+ fps)

 

I would do the repaste again. 100c on a 260m is waay too high.

In the meantime, try propping up the back of your laptop. you can use a book or bottlecaps on either side etc...This will drop your temps 10+c

 

I have the same problem than you, Diablo 3 just freezes, I have tested other games and fumark and it doesn't crash so I supposed it was a driver issue but SlickDude80 says it doesn't crash on his computer so I don't know what to do.

The temperatures of the GPU are at 70º or so while playing.

Playing with the HD4000 doesn't make Diablo 3 crash.