The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    FPS lag spike in starcraft 2

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by T3Vince, May 10, 2011.

  1. T3Vince

    T3Vince Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    With cf 5870 and 920XM processor, I thought I could run starcraft 2 at ultra settings. I recently reformatted my m17x and updated to catalyst 11.4 and today catalyst 11.5. I get lag spikes in game and it's random, not happening when there are lots of units etc.
    Is anyone experiencing this as well?
     
    T3Vince, May 10, 2011
    #1
  2. OoksOo

    OoksOo Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    internet lag?
     
    OoksOo, May 10, 2011
    #2
  3. T3Vince

    T3Vince Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I tried playing versus the computer and still the same
     
    T3Vince, May 11, 2011
    #3
  4. shadowyani

    shadowyani Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    214
    Messages:
    791
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Can you log your temperatures with GPU-Z? You'll want to rule out temperatures issues right away before moving on to more complicated troubleshooting.
     
    shadowyani, May 11, 2011
    #4
  5. T3Vince

    T3Vince Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    When I'm playing the temperature goes up to about 85-ish
     
    T3Vince, May 11, 2011
    #5
  6. T3Vince

    T3Vince Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    bump.. anyone experiencing the same problem?
     
    T3Vince, May 12, 2011
    #6
  7. dttran83

    dttran83 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    272
    Messages:
    837
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    31
    The other thing to consider is throttling. Try to use gpuz to log while you play game see if you throttle. Also you can use throttlestop for the cpu and see if that stop the lag.
     
    dttran83, May 12, 2011
    #7
  8. shadowyani

    shadowyani Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    214
    Messages:
    791
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Temperatures don't seem outlandish. Can you have GPU-Z log clock speeds and GPU load to a file? That way you'll be able to see your GPU's behavior when the lag spikes occur.
     
    shadowyani, May 12, 2011
    #8
  9. T3Vince

    T3Vince Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I did the GPU Z log and everything seemed normal. However I noticed that the gpu load remained 0-1% most of the time I was playing and spiked to 83% when I was finished with the game. Not sure if it's just an error in reading. Apart from that gpu clock and temp remained pretty constant throughout.
    Can anyone explain to me what catalyst AI do and whether I should have it on advanced or not? After setting the game to vertical refresh and turning catalyst AI on I don't seem to be getting the lag spikes anymore but my fps was not what it used to be.
     
    T3Vince, May 12, 2011
    #9
  10. shadowyani

    shadowyani Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    214
    Messages:
    791
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I'm not sure how GPU-Z logs dual GPU solutions I haven't owned one in like 3 years. BUt if you're seeing 0-1% GPU usage I'm guessing that Crossfire isn't working properly; one of the GPU's might just be totally sitting there chilling and having snacks...

    How does GPU-Z represent dual GPUs? Is there a dropdown for each one?
     
    shadowyani, May 12, 2011
    #10
  11. T3Vince

    T3Vince Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I reformatted my m17x and installed catalyst 11.5 with catalyst profile 11.5 and the problem still persist. I did some logging with GPU-Z and noticed that at one time the gpu core clocks will spike up to 300 and the GPU memory clock to 400.
    Is this normal?
    I only notice this sudden drop in fps on certain maps of starcraft 2 like the shattered temple.
     
    T3Vince, May 14, 2011
    #11
  12. shadowyani

    shadowyani Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    214
    Messages:
    791
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I don't own the 4870 but shouldn't your GPU clock be 550mhz? It seems to be running much slower than its supposed to.
     
    shadowyani, May 15, 2011
    #12
  13. Robertd007

    Robertd007 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    60
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Yes, but it should also tell you if crossfire is disabled or otherwise not working. I dont think he could have missed that.
     
    Robertd007, May 15, 2011
    #13