FPS drops and stuttering with 6990m

I had a conversation with Slick earlier today...

I really don't know what to do anymore. I don't want to have to reinstall Windows. Is there anything else that I can do to try and fix this stutter?

 

Hi! Check the temps with any of the tools in this article and try a clean boot

btw, nice post inception haha.

 

This is usually a trivial problem... Just check if your vents are clean and that nothing is restricting the airflow ( you need to take the back lid off for that... It's quite easy. If the vents are full of dust (of which im positive they will be) use compressed air or any other method to clean them... Just be careful. I'm confident that's the problem.

 

The vents are now clean but I'm still getting the problem. Could it be a driver issue?

 

Well it could... but it still sounds like an overheating problem. You see, the GPU downclocks itself when it reaches temps that are potentially dangerous for the card to prevent damage, so in effect you get much lower FPS and stuttering. Please check your temps during gaming or benchmark as Natalie said. If the temps get too high, chances are that while the airflow was restricted by dust, the temps accumulated to such a degree, that the thermal paste and/or heat sinks got damaged and are now incapable of transferring heat effectively, in which case I would recommend calling Dell... Attempting to change these yourself could be potentially hazardous for the notebook, if you are unskilled in these matters.

 

Priz, download furmark and run it for 4 mins...what are your temps?

 

Hi guys,

I recommend that you stick with the tools recommended in that article to get better and more accurate results, run any of the benchmarks listed there and GPU-Z at the same time, check the highest reading when it's done, after a benchmark, the temp should not go over 90C, it would be even better if you can run GPU-Z while playing and when the FPS drop, check the temps. Cleaning your system with compressed air is always a good idea if you are experiencing issues like this, just like pristino said.

 

Hey there, had a similar issue with my m17x R3 that ended up being related the the storage subsystem and a funky interaction between the Intel RAID chipset and my Seagate drives. Please refer to the thread I just posted here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...are-m17x-r3-fps-issues-not-overheating-3.html

In that thread, I describe the issue and a simply test you can run if you are running raid. If you are not in a RAID config, I would still try to run a test to make sure whatever HDD drives you are using are not set to allow the spindles to spin down. Any checkdisk or defrag utility should do it.

 

Thanks for sharing bro! +

 

I have RAID drives. I'm running the Intel RST verifiy now. No FPS drops. How do I check if I have Seagate drives so I can upgrade the firmware?

 

Look at the Intel RST application, you can click on the various components represented to get further details on the drive models under control of the RAID controller.

 

Seagate 320gb 7200rpm.

 

BTW, once you confirm the HDD settings + RAID 0 config is the issue, you'll then need to make sure you can't configure the HDDs via the Intel RST application by clicking "Manage", then clicking on the HDDs in the boxes contained by the RAID Chipset box.

If this is your issue, I am pretty sure you are going to have to unraid your drives, upgrade the firmware, re-raid, and reinstall/restore your system. I would consider escalating with Dell Support and ask why they'd sell a configuration that should have shown this behavior in most FPS and MMO gaming tests and then angle for a replacement SSD for one of your drives or new drives that do NOT have a spin-down "feature". FYI, I've had the same issue in SWToR, League of Champions, MW4, and The Secret World so it isn't an isolated problem with 1 or 2 games. Once you get them to reproduce this escalate to a manager, stop talking to the front line guy immediately.

BTW, they no longer sell the Seagate drives. I've been a big fan of Alienware support so far. They replaced my video card with about 10 min of Q&A no questions asked to solve the problem. They were a bit perplexed by it even when I explained the issue. But to their credit they build an exact replica on their site and reproduced it. I have a bit of a contact with Dell so the solution I'm getting from Dell to fix my issue is a bit *ahem* unique but I didn't exercise that until after the problem was verified and we started discussing resolution.

I think this is an outstanding issue with any Seagate Momentus XT drives with or without RAID configured. In a non-RAID config however you can turn this off in Windows via power settings as I think they are presented correctly to Windows 7 but NOT the Intel Chipset in the firmware version that Dell distributed from late 2011 through early 2012 until they stopped selling the Seagate Momentus XT drives. If I were Alienware, I'd be bending over backwards to giving people an upgrade to SSD's if they want so their affected customers don't put this type of thing on the radar. They simply didn't see this in their build and test process and it is a configuration mistake and not some SW/App/game/driver issue.

 

So, in a way I'm glad it wasn't just me... but for you personally. At least now you have a temporary workaround(running the Intel RST Verify over and over). I assume you've completed verifying this with that command. You can toggle it on and off and watch the FPS issues start up and stop again. If you are running a tool like GPU-z for monitoring, you can also watch the "sensors" tab and watch the GPU clock stutter when the system is waiting for the drives to spin back up.

 

Ur situation may be unique based of your hardware but i have had similar issues and well im going to tell ya what i did.


i know everyone has alot of dirrent ideas but usually for low fps and stuttering for me in my experience for years using different amd gpus its always a driver thing. But even if you install reinstall drivers there might be issues etc. i simply have gotten into the habit of going to >control panel> programs> ati catlyst install manager. selecting repair driver instead of uninstalling. i also use older mature drivers from months and months ago. i know what i said sounds simplistic and kinda silly as to how uncomplex it is but it works. i still use 11.5 catalyst. i always buy the newest games and own all of em. they work.

i had horrible stuttering in league of legends i tried changing the driver uninstalling reinstalling and well i just repaired and all the stuttering stopped. theres 3 options in your install uninstall for your main amd software in controll panel. i just choose repair. i dont know what magic it does but its seemed to work for me.
I wish you luck.

u can still find old drivers on the amd site check for previous versions or theres other sites. but remember to repair. im not saying itll work for you but it has worked for me.

 

WOW. I don't know what kind of magic they pack into that repair utility, but games run smooth as butter now. THANK YOU SO MUCH! EDIT 17/08/12: Doesn't work.

 

Right, because my R3 was performing fine before installing the 12.4s, I think there's some remnants of 12.4 left. Should I use Atiman, then reboot into safe mode and repair the registry with CCLeaner, and finally reinstall stock drivers?

 

Uninstall Drivers either through Catalyst install manager or Device manager, then boot into safe mode and run Drive sweeper. Reboiot and run CC cleaner mulitple time untill the registry is showing no issues, then install your stock drivers and reboot when prompted.

 

UPDATE: I've done all of that. Still getting the issue on stock drivers. The problem appears to be that my GPU's core clocks go from 715 down to 400, and then down to 100, then back up to 715 during these FPS drops. Same with the memory clocks. What do I do now?

 

sounds like thermal throttling. What are your GPU temps like when the clock speeds drop?

 

For some reason my temps are never going above 72. They used to go to 75 without throttling but they'll throttle on any 3d load.

 

Bump, sorry

 

Bump, please help

 

Bump, sorry again

 

Ok, try this:

From this link, download the 12.7 beta driver and the 12.7 Cap 3 (out of the 3 files, the bottom 2), update the driver (remember to uninstall the previous driver first) and install the Cap 3 after and let me know how it goes.

 

Full driver sweeper and CCleaner deal? A full uninstall?

 

yea, get rid of every single file for the previous driver. I can't officially recommend driver sweeper or CCleaner, but if you know your way around computers and know how to properly use those two programs, go ahead.

 

I don't know if I would try 12.7 with the 6990m. It seems like after drivers after 12.4 don't play nice with the 6990m.

As far as frame rate drops, I only get them after I switch from integrated graphics to dedicated. I can tell it will happen by the fact my screen gets washed out, and I will restart before I play a game.

 

What would you recommend?

 

guys, the driver will not damage the system, try it with the Cap 3 and see if it works, if not, you can always revert back to a previous version.

 

I'm obviously doing something wrong with Driver Sweeper and CCleaner in Safe Mode. I'm still getting the stuttering after installing those drivers.

 

Bump, need answers

 

Cap 3 installed and all?

 

Update: It would appear that when I'm using the laptop after it's cooled down, I'm not throttling. However, once I hit 70 degrees I start. Why is my laptop suddenly throttling at a meagre 70 degrees? This started after I accidentally installed 12.4 MOBILITY drivers instead of regular ones. Could this have altered the throttle temperature?

 

that's really weird. My 6990m goes above 70C all the time(probably due to me using a 75W heatsink instead of a 100w one). I'm stuck on dell stock drivers as I can't get anything newer to install without getting a BSOD.

 

Yup, mine too......

I'm using 12.6 driver just for the info.......

 

Is there a way to manually change the throttling temperature? I think my accidental install of 12.4 mobility changed it to somewhere in the low 70s.

 

Bump? I'm wondering if my suspicions are true.

 

Bump again.

 

well you can change the thermal trip point in the modded A10 bios

 

How would I get around installing the modded A10?

 

Bump. Also, a few other questions

Would a respawn back to factory settings fix this issue? I don't want to have to do that but if there's no other fix then I might as well.
Would reinstalling 12.4 and then uninstalling, Driver Sweeper and CCleaner fix this?

 

A respawn back to factory settings A.k.a. full reboot sounds like your best option since the issue can not be pinned down. Once done and all drivers are reinstalled correctly and in the right order, provide results. Always create a restore point before installing any new drivers to help prevent issues such as these.