Alienware m17x R3 low performance (cs:go)

Hello, I'm Mark, a really frustrated gamer.
I own an alienware m17x r3, bought around 2011/2012. My specs are:
Os: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Processor: Intel Core i7-2670QM CPU @ 2.20 GHz (8 CPUs)
Graphic card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 580M
RAM: 4Giga

The problem I'm having is that I'm getting extremely low performance while gaming. Right now I'm playing pretty a lot of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and I can't go higher than 50 FPS (on low settings while standing still and watching a wall); on top of that while I move around and shoot people I'm having some little freezes, like 1 sec where the Fps drops really hard and I usually end up dead.
I tried to google a solution to my problem, but I havent had any luck.
Here is a list of things I tried:
1) Update audio and video drivers (I got GeForce Experience)
2) Set power plan to maximum performance
3) Unpark the Cpus following this advice "http://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/1rlbfm/extremely_useful_tool_for_anyone_having_fps/"
4) Change a lot of ingame settings and launch options
5) Flash the latest bios
6) Set cs:go to work with the nvidia card and not with the crappy one, follwing this advice "http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/496823/en?c=us&s=gen&cs=&l=en"
7) Monitor my temperatures to see if it was an overheating problem. I played 15 minutes with ThrottleStop monitoring my activity, and it's not an overheating problem. Log here "http://pastebin.com/EVytsSSG"
8) Run CCleaner, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Avg. Everything is clean.

I'm out of ideas and really frustrated. Can you help me get better performances? I am willing to run any test or program you tell me, but please explain it in a noob friendly way because I'm not that good with computers.

Thank you in advance, and sorry for any grammatical mistake (my native language is not English).

 

Did these issues just start or have they been around for a while? Do you have issues with other games or only Counter Strike?

 

Open the ThrottleStop log file and have a good look at it. Do you see the Multi column that shows a value of 8.00 for your entire log? That means your CPU is throttling and running at just under 800 MHz. No wonder your laptop is running like a slug.

When gaming your laptop has to be plugged in for maximum performance. If you are plugged in then there might be a problem with your charger. Post a screenshot of how you have ThrottleStop setup. I kind of like imgur: the simple image sharer for free image hosting.

Go into the Windows Power Options and make sure you are using the High Performance profile and open that up and make sure the Minimum processor state is set to 100%. Do a Google search if you are not sure how to verify this.

When running ThrottleStop, make sure BD PROCHOT is NOT checked. Put a check mark in the Set Multiplier box and set that to the highest possible value which I think is 31 T for a Core i7-2670QM. Also make sure you click on the Turn On button to take ThrottleStop out of Monitoring mode.

Your CPU is presently running at a small fraction of its rated speed. Once you get ThrottleStop setup correctly, your performance should increase significantly. Post another log file and let everyone know the night and day difference that ThrottleStop has made to your computer.

 

Yeah, running ThrottleStop while gaming is a big no, no. Use other software to monitor.

It's ironically named ThrottleStop but actually causes throttling.

 

Markcba's laptop is currently running at 798 MHz while he is gaming. ThrottleStop can fix that problem.

What is your solution to his problem?

Here is an example of the difference in frame rates when using ThrottleStop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JdRUHHn0UM

 

800mhz sandy bridge and dell remind me of incompatible (or wrongly reorganized due to bug) charger.

I would say keep bd prochot on first when you turn TS on, just to be on the really really safe side. Turn the multi up like unclewebb said should work already.

 

@unclewebb

I think I already had this right. Here are the screenshots of the current situation.
1)

2)

This is a screenshot of the configurations i used in ThrottleStop to make the log I posted in the original post. I have the laptop always plugged in while gaming. On a side note tough, sometimes I get an error while turning on the laptop that says"the ac adapter currently connected is not supported. System will continue to run on battery." and i can press f1 to go on and disable the notification, f2 to enter the bios, or f3 to go on and boot normally; but when I press f3 and boot up, the battery icon in the taskbar is displaying the normal battery charging animation. When I get this error, to solve it I just need to change the "hole in the wall" where the ac adapter is plugged in, and I don't get the error message anymore.

And this is a screenshot showing the configurations I will use to get the next log as soon as I have the opportunity (it will be probably tomorrow in the afternoon).
Is everything all right?


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@J.Dre

I played World of Warcraft with no problem at all (but mostly pvp, so no big flashy raid with raid bosses and 25 people dancing around him); then I switched to battlefield 3 and I had to play at the lowest possible configs or else it was unplayable, when trying to fly with the jets after a while I had mad throttling. I tought it was because of overheating, tried several different solutions, nothing worked, got frustrated and tought battlefield 3 was too much for my laptop. So I switched to league of legends, and I run it smoothly without any problem. And now, finally, I switched to counter strike. Initially I had low fps everywhere but not the little freezes problem, and since yesterday I noticed the little freezes. I don't know if it was already here and I simply didn't notice it. not sure about it.

So what program do you think I should run?

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@baii

Isn't bd prochot used in wery few laptops? Does the alienware m17x r3 use it? Because if it doesnt, it shouldn't make any difference. Am I right?

 

You only have 4GB's of system memory installed? There's no way that's enough with Windows.

I think it's pretty clear you are being bottlenecked by something.

 

HAHAHAHAHA good one!

 

In his case, it might have. Look at his system specs. My system is using 3.85GB's of RAM just browsing the internet.

Why are you following my posts? Are you stalking me? You're not even on my friends list, so you have to actively seek out my posts to troll me.

 

Could you elaborate a little bit on that please? How do you know I have 4Gb of system memory? Is it the same as RAM? Do you think this is the cause of my bottleneck?

 

Yeah, RAM. You posted you have 4GB's on the main post. That's a very small amount for programs these days. I think Windows alone uses about 3GB's. I don't know if it's causing the problem, but it can. If you don't have enough RAM, it will start using your HDD cache programs. That's extremely slow and can result in decreased performance.

I think it could be a combination of issues.

 

Is there a way to see if this is the problem? Like running a program that logs this kind of activity?

This is what my system info says about system memory:

 

Run the game, then start the Windows Task Manager and navigate to the performance tab.

CTRL + SHIFT + ESC or right click on the task bar and click, "Start Task Manager."

 

If I see the physical memory percentage go to 100%, there is a problem right?

(Thank you really much for your advices and your patience, you are really kind

 

Yeah, I would say that is most likely causing some of the bottleneck. You need more RAM. I don't know if that will solve the issue but it sure as heck isn't helping.

And no problem. I'm happy to help where I can.

 

Ok, tomorrow I will try that too. If I see that it's a RAM problem, I will purchase a new bigger one and come back to post feedback. I feel like my bottleneck problem has different causes.

I'm going to sleep now. Good night

 

I think octiceps read your comment about ThrottleStop and stopped by for a laugh. Octiceps has been a long time user of ThrottleStop and has a good idea of how many laptops and how many people that ThrottleStop has significantly helped over the years.

You still have not recommended a program that can be used to diagnose let alone solve the problem that Markcba is having. One look at the ThrottleStop log file data and I immediately had a pretty good understanding of both the problem and how to fix it.

His CPU throttling problem is common in many different Dell laptop models. When the power adapter is not correctly recognized in the bios, Dell laptops will revert to a safe mode by sending a signal to the CPU. This locks the CPU multiplier to the minimum value which is 8 so the CPU will be stuck at just under 800 MHz regardless of load. That is exactly what the ThrottleStop log file shows and that is exactly what the first ThrottleStop screenshot that Markcba posted also shows.

This signal is sent to the CPU using the bi-directional processor hot (BD PROCHOT) signal path. To block this signal from throttling the CPU, all you have to do is disable the BD PROCHOT signal path. ThrottleStop allows you to do that. There is no other freely available software on the planet that lets a user do that. Any other monitoring program you recommend cannot solve this problem. Disabling BD PROCHOT does not prevent the CPU from throttling. If the CPU ever reaches the thermal throttling temperature, it will slow down and protect itself from damage whether BD PROCHOT is checked or not. The BD PROCHOT signal path and the PROCHOT signal within the CPU are two separate things.

If you look at the second ThrottleStop screenshot that was posted; unchecking BD PROCHOT has increased the CPU speed from just under 800 MHz to over 1800 MHz. As soon as Markcba starts gaming, the CPU should start running even faster. One click of the mouse in ThrottleStop and the main problem is already solved.

Markcba - Fox maximum performance, you should click on the ThrottleStop - Turn On button before you start gaming and before you run another log file. I also recommend that you go into the Options window and turn on Nvidia GPU so ThrottleStop can log both your CPU and GPU temperatures in the same file. Once you unlock the beast, your computer might have some other throttling issues but turning off BD PROCHOT is a step in the right direction.

Once I see your next log file I will let you know if anything else needs to be taken care of. You might have to buy a new power adapter but if this fixes your problem, I wouldn't bother. Many Dell adapters are not correctly recognized in the bios on a regular basis so spending money on a new adapter if you don't have to is usually not money well spent. Within a month or two, the new adapter might start doing the exact same thing.

As for memory, the amount of memory that Windows uses varies depending on how much memory it has available. J.Dre has 32 GB in his laptop in his signature so of course Windows is going to try and use some of that. If a laptop only has 4 GB of memory, Windows will be using far less of it and will leave more memory available for your game to use. Stepping up to 8 GB or 16 GB might help some games but lack of memory is not the reason why your laptop is plodding along at 797.52 MHz while trying to play a game.

Edit - Here's a good YouTube video I found while doing some research at TechPowerUp that gets right to the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6i5QAER1RI

It is just one opinion. Going beyond 4 GB will help some games depending on what resolution and settings you are trying to use but for other games, it doesn't make any significant difference.

 

That makes sense. I didn't say you were wrong. I also didn't say the RAM was the main issue, just that it wasn't helping.

So, yeah, I think you found out what the issue was. :thumbsup:

 

Since I really want to solve this problem, I found some little time (5 min) this morning to do some testing.
For the Ram part, the task manager never said anything over 66% physical memory usage.
And here is the ThrottleStop log with the new configs: ThrottleStop Log2 - Pastebin.com

Personally, I can say that I saw a difference while playing. The fps were a little higher, the 1 sec freeze was still there but less frequent I think. Can't really say it tough, since I played only 5 mins.

Edit: I see now that my Ckmod counter is at 62,5, which is a sign of throttling if I'm not mistaken. Have I messed up with the ThrottleStop settings or is it a consequence of the settings unclewebb had suggested (something like since we removed the first bottleneck the laptop is trying to limit his prestation in another way)? And more important: how can I circumvent this?

 

You can check chipset clock mod and force it 100% also, right in TS.

Still, the real problem seem to be wrongly reorganized charger. Try to power reset on machine(remove charger + battery , hold power button for 20+sec), and let the charger drain itself(just unplug it for a while).

Edit: Can't believe I miss something so obvious.. If the charger is not properly reorganized, The GPU (580m) do not even work in 3d clock (max performance). Try monitor your gpu clock with hwinfo or msi afterburner. And there is no way to "unthrottle" the GPU with ease like throttlestop.~

 

After this post, I'm gonna try the power reset. Im a little bit skeptical it will work because i already tried to let the laptop rest for a night with the battery out and the charger unplugged...

Anyways, this is the ThrottleStop log with clock mod checked: ThrottleStop Log3 - Pastebin.com
The Fps were now between 70 and 40, so slightly better. I still feel my pc should do more, or am I wrong? The little freezes were there, but less frequently.

I tried to monitor the gpu clock with hwinfo. Am I understanding the screenshot correctly If I say that my GPU works at 664.5 MHz? Shouldn't it work at at least double than that?


EDIT: Tried the power reset... still 664.5 on hwinfo.

 

That's the ram, click sensors

then run a game.

The CPU is out of the question now, it run fine now imo. uncluewebb probably will drop by and have a look.

 

Hope I got it right....

 

hi mate,

I have the same problem, every time I start my computer, it leaves me "the AC adapter currently connected is not supported. System will continue to operate on battery. Press any key to continue."


with this program "ThrottleStop" unlocks the CPU, but the GPU does not get enough voltage and runs with stock clocks.

any suggestions are welcome, thanks

 

I sometimes get the error message, not always. When I get it I just change the outlet where the ac is plugged in and I don't get it anymore. But it seems that even when I don't get the error message, the GPU doesn't get enough voltage and runs at around 70 MHz....

 

That it, did you try to run a game or benchmark, and see if the maximum clock raise.

 

Oh sorry maybe it wasnt clear but when I took the screenshot cs:go was opened in windowed mode, you can see a little bit in the down right corner.

 

If HWiNFO is correctly reporting your GPU and it is only running at 50 MHz to 75 MHz then it is surprising that you can play any game at that speed. I am pretty sure that HWiNFO is correct but you can double check your GPU speed with the GPU-Z program.

Your second ThrottleStop log shows that your CPU really wants to throttle. By blocking one kind of throttling it switched to using a different type. You need to check off Clock Modulation and set that to 100% in ThrottleStop. Your CPU is not using Chipset Clock Mod so there is no need to check that box off. Most laptops use Clock Modulation or Chipset Clock Modulation but they rarely if ever use both types so you only need to check off the one box that applies to your laptop.

Your third ThrottleStop log shows the CPU finally running at full speed. At times it hits 2800 MHz which is 250% faster than 800 MHz. That's great but if your GPU is throttling then you haven't solved anything. ThrottleStop can only manipulate the CPU.

I would suggest rebooting over and over again if necessary. When you boot up, if you get the message in the bios about the power adapter, try rebooting again and again to see if it ever boots up properly. Are you using an original Dell power adapter? Some of the ones you buy at the dollar store do not send the proper signal to the laptop so the bios complains and goes into limp mode. If your GPU remains stuck at ultra low MHz, you will need to buy a new adapter and hope for the best.

 

Thank you very much for the CPU related help. Now we understand where the biggest part of the problem is (GPU), and I know how to resolve if the CPU wont work properly in the future when the GPU related part will be fixed. (btw your program is really awesome, grats)

I'm using the power adapter that came with the laptop, so no dollar store or other cheap crappy AC.
I'm pretty sure that if I manage to get the error again, it won't go away just by booting up many times. I need to change the outlet where the AC is plugged in (or socket? which one is the correct word?). I'm saying it, because when I got the error first I spent an entire afternoon trying to solve it, and booted up many times (let's say more than 10/15 for sure). And it never went away. Then I tought about switching outlet and the error went away. So I tough, that it was a problem with some of the outlets in my house. How can you be sure it's my power adapter damaged / not working properly? Couldn't it be something else limiting the correct power supply to my laptop? Is there something I can do to be sure it's actually the AC and it needs to be replaced?

 

That is indeed one annoying problem.

My last try before trying a new charger would be

1. Upgrade to latest bios if there is one, or just let it reflash the latest bios.
2. Do a power reset with the cmos battery (the coin battery) removed.
3. Try another outlet.

 

That's the tip! I did it, and BANG!

Is it now running as it's supposed to? Fps where between 170 and 140.

Only problem I have now is that my system resetted himself @ 1.1.2010 ; 00:00. Is it something common?

EDIT: I have another problem, connecting to any internet site results in "untrusted connection", even google or steam.

EDIT2: I just needed to set up manually time and date, and the untrusted connection thingy went away

 

Yes, the time reset is normal.

or use internet time in the set time and date.

Google love to do that when you not on correct date.

 

Today I I had nice gaming session, the first I really enjoyed since a long time. My fps were at 200 all the time, the game ran so smooth that I never had experienced such smoothness ever before. And all of that was possible, just because of you. Thank you, thank you very much J.Dre, Unclewebb and Baii, you are really kind and made my life a little better. I'm really grateful to you.