Got my M17x r4 today - Disappointment

Well I finally got my laptop today. These are my specs

Memory
8192MB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Video Card
2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M
Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost

I installed arma 2 with dayZ mod and went to play. Cranked up the settings and it was so slow and unplayable. Is this right? If so I'm getting a refund.

I have used the confusing FN F7 switch option and I can hear a fan blowing on the right so I think I am using the right GPU.

Any ideas?

 

Ensure first that the game was playing on the dedicated AMD 7970M and not the integrated Intel GPU. Secondly, ARMA 2 is just a very poorly optimized game, so I wouldn't be surprised no matter what configuration someone tries it out on!

 

2 OperationIcarus
There have been similar issues posted here. Usually one needed to remove GPU drivers and reinstall them.

 

I've also read somewhere online that ARMA 2 has issues with playability on systems with >4GB RAM, so either you remove the additional RAM, or you run 'msconfig' and disable the additional RAM on boot, or you just make do with what you have or not play the damn game. But don't quote me on this.

 

I hear that arma 2, max payne 3 an witcher 2 bring all computers to there knees will my rig (listed below) play the 3 games ive mentioned maxed out with good fps? Or are these 3 games just a no go :/ ive spent £3k+ so im hoping for trouble free gaming........…....

OperationIcarus keep us posted and let us know if you manage to sort it?

 

Not tried Max Payne 3, but when properly configured, I doubt it would be a problem. As for ARMA 2, I already stated it's issues. Witcher 2 works perfectly well maxxed out with only "Uber Sampling" turned off, which is meant for multiple GPU desktop configurations, and it still usually doesn't pull through.

 

hey guys,

S8V8GE I have kind of sorted it out for arma 2. I set my Video Memory to default instead of very high. Apparently very high only uses 1 gig of memory or something.

Prasad you are right, it seems arma 2 is a very poorly optimized game. I was only looking forward to the DayZ mod. I can play it now. I just get frame rate drops when I look in one direction.

Eromy I am going to try this now and get back to you. Do you just do it through device manager?

 

What do you mean it doesnt pull through? Do you mean witcher 2 is unplayable?

Ahhh ok so you went into the options and upped the card to very high? I wuda done the same! So its advisable to leave it alone set to default? So is it playing well now then arma2? U aware of your fps now?

 

Im sorry but even on my stock clocks i ran mostly everything above 30fps maxed out except metro which ran at 27fps. Now with an overclock to 950/1400 im maxing everything with liquid fluid gameplay... Make sure you are running 7970m after an fn f7, download gpuz to verify that that is the card active

 

Can you break down what youve just said and give me an idiots guide? How do i overclock like youve done? What is gpuz? And where do i get drivers etc? A step by step guide would be appreciated

 

I mean it delivers very low frame rates on just about any multi GPU desktop config with "Uber Sampling" on. Suffice to say, switch that one option off and this notebook can fly!

 

What is uber sampling is that higher than ultra settings? So if i put witcher 2 on high settings il get good fps (35+)?

 

gpuz always crashes on opening. I think I have sorted it. Arma 2 benchmark on max settings gave me average 37 fps. It was dayz that was the problem. I changed the mouse smoothing to 0 and the games works fine now. Weird hey?

 

You can play the game on max detail level settings. Uber sampling is a whole separate option. Google it.

 

ubersampling is a feature which you will be hard pressed to notice that the devs threw in. you do not need it, it is not part of the overall setting so it has nothing to do with it being higher or lower than ultra.

Even if you had a desktop GTX 680 you would see considerable slow downs with ubersampling on. Modern day GPUs cant handle it too well. its made for the 8970s and GTX 780s of the future.

Turn it off and play it maxed out WITHOUT ubersampling.

 

max payne 3 runs on my rig fully maxed with 60+ fps, never seen it go below my vsync locked 60fps

 

You can play Witcher 2 with everything on the highest but there is an option to turn UberSampling on. Leave that off. It is not noticeable at all and eats your framerate like nobody's business.

 

Refer to part 10 of the guide posted by SlickDude
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-mobility-7970-m17x-r3-illustrated-guide.html

Gpuz is a gpu monitoring software that will help you see the GPU temperature, clocks, and pretty much all other info associated with the GPU.

First before Overclocking make sure you are running on your 7970m after you have Fn+F7 (pressed FN and F7 together and restarted the computer). You can also check if it has been accomplished by clicking on the Windows Pearl (start button) typing in the search bar "device manager" clicking it, chosing display drivers and seing what drivers are currently active, If you have successfully Fn+F7ed you will only see the 7970m there...

After this you can follow the guide I linked you to to unlock your GPU for overclocking.

Once you are said and done and are ready to overclock make sure you dont push the card too far or else you will have a giant paperweight that used to be a computer - my recommendation is don't pass 950 core clock and 1300 memory clock.

Here are a few download links to some good programs to use

MSI Afterburner & Kombustor (used for overclocking and testing overclocks, must unlock card first as i told you earlier): MSI Afterburner

GPUz (used to monitor GPU and see all info): techPowerUp! :: Downloads

HWinfo64: (A more detailed monitoring tool for more advance users): HWiNFO64 Download

7zip (great extracting/unzipping program to extract all your files) : Download

3dmark11 (benchmarking tool to test your overclock and base card to see if you are performing on the level you should be): Download 3DMark 11 | 3DMark 11 – The Gamer's Benchmark for DirectX 11

for now thats it, please read up well before plunging into overclocking as it is a dangerous yet rewarding activity.

 

If all is well and problem is solved may I suggest altering the thread title to something more on the victorious side.

 

What is dayz?

Thankyou all very much for your help cant wait to get started

 

What did you do to get GPU-z running?

 

I think its a problem that fixes itself. just try to load it as an administrator a few times, it will crash but eventually will open.

 

Very scientific. I like it.

 

I know right!?

No but seriosuly, thats how my GPUz got fixed

 

I have sorted my arma 2 out by installing the beta patch. My laptop now runs everything on max settings. Happy days!

 

My desktop can't even play day z completely maxxed.

 

Yeh the m17x r4 is a beast. I withdraw my disappointment.

 

Heck yeah its a beast. Im running bf3 maed out at over 50fps on large maps, this is insane for a notebook! Id need at least a 7850 or a 560Ti on the desktop to run this!

 

Where did you get the beta patch from? Can you tell me so when i get mine ican get it downloaded? thankyou in advance

 

yeh man. I'm not sure if Im aloud to post links. Google arma 2 beta patch. its the arma 2 website. its green at the top and the latest is top left. Are you using it through steam?

 

Yeah il be using it through steam! Will be getting all my games from steam, battlenet an orion (the ea one) eerybody seems to be overclocking! Been watching quagmires videos on you tube and on each one hes overclocking whilst playing skyrim, mp3, bf3, crysis 2 etc i just still cant understand why people bother when im told by friends the m17x r4 will play all them games on stock settings, so why bother overclocking????? as a noob at it all i just dont get it? Guess id get it if u had to overclock to play a game but u dnt :/?

 

this is how to install the beta patch for steam mate

When you install the beta patches you have to start the game using the beta .exe instead of the normal game ArmA20A.exe, so it doesn't trigger the Steam overlay or keep track of your play time. You can add the shortcut to your Steam library as a non-Steam game to get the overlay back but Steam still won't keep track of your play time. So here is how you fix that.


Navigate to ~\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\
Rename ArmA2OA.exe or move it to a backup folder.
Locate the beta ArmA2OA.exe in the \Expansion\beta folder, copy and paste it to the main folder where the original exe was.
Open your Steam library, right click on ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead, and click Properties.
Click Launch Options and add "-beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion" without the quotes
Add any additional launch options you want such as -nosplash -mod=@dayz
Launch ARMA 2: OA as normal from Steam and enjoy.


Any time you install a new updated beta just update the ArmA2OA.exe


I'm not going to overclock it yet. It has chewed up everything i have thrown at it so far. Im over the moon with it.

 

EPIC!!! thankyou so how long you had it what your specs and what games have u played on it so far?

 

No worries mate. Let me know if you play dayz, I need an ally.

I got my laptop yesterday. I have 8 gig ram, 7970m, Memory Core™ i7-3720QM.
Yours is more of a beast than mine!

I have tried out:
Arma 2
rage
saints row 3
skyrim
crysis 1 and 2
shogun 2
gta iv
witcher 2
red orchestra 2
bad company 2

All with max settings and all run smooth as ever. Im happy

oh yeh and now im installing max payne 3

 

Sweet! Can wait to get my laptop! How long did it take from ordering to recieving for you? Dayz looks awsome do i download that from steam when i get my laptop?

 

I ordered it on the 4th and got it on the 18th. But you have different spec so may take less or more. when you get arma 2 installed ill help ya set up dayz just give me a shout mate

 

Cool ive put u on my buddies list as soon as i get the beast il inbox u

 

sound mate. I was playing Dayz last night. Man those things can run! I was getting chased for about 5 miles by 7 or so. Crazy!

 

isthat 50fps whilst overclocking? im going to follow that guide when i get my laptop so il overclock to 950/1350 what are the safe temps? i can see the temps on msi afterburner right? what temps are you running at?

 

@stzu. I got gpuz to open but it doesn't list any temps under sensors. Does yours?

 

+ rep for an awsome post!! have you any more news on how your overclocked 7970M is doing? still good temps? what fps wud a base clocked 7970M get on bf3 multiplayer compared to yours?
ive read through slickdudes guide is it easy to unlock it? as in me a novice get it right? if i f**k it up will it still run at base speeds or will i have messed something up? any more info on it all and your personal experiances wud be good!? chhers

=Edit; also u say dont go over 950/1300 but i see your running at 975/1425 have u additional cooling or is that safe? how long do u play games for and does the temp get high? will that bring the life of ur card down?

 

W/O proper cooling, OCing will bring the life of your card down. OCing in general will probably shorten the life of a GPU, as it was meant to run at specific speeds, and you're making it run faster.

Also, I believe stZu modified his 7970m vbios and is running on a higher voltage that allows him to overclock even further.

Modifying the vbios is something left to those who are very comfortable "tinkering" with their machine. You could easily make a paperweight out of a 600.00 video card doing so.

OCing the 7970m isn't necessary. I can play BF3 on Ultra (except shadows) at 1080p and hold 60fps all day long.

 

Ahhh i see! That makes alot of sense! I wont be altering any voltages! Your holding 60fps!! Looks like i wont be overclocking at all if i can hit anywhere near that?! Hope i can lol! Even on multiplayer? Are you using fraps to find that out? How u checking your fps in bf3? I was only going to o/c if i cudnt hit over 45-50fps (my system specs is in my signature)

 

Yes sir. Multi-player on all maps I hold 60FPS.

I made a user.cfg file and put it in my bf3 directory. In this file I have 2 commands:

WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0 <---- Magic voodoo that makes the game run faster

render.drawfps 1 <---- Will show FPS while gaming

Also in the display settings I changed the following:
turn shadows to low
keep v sync on
turn off motion blur
turn aa off or to the lowest setting.

We have similar machines so I would venture to guess you will be around the same performance.

 

Excellent pardon my ignorence but what is a user.cfg file where are they located? And what difference does it make? Id like to see what fps im running without using FRAPS as it slows it down abit :/ so how do i go about it all? Also as you have the hd 1920 x 1020 screen does that mean if u turn off AA it doesnt make a bit of difference to if u had it on on that screen?

 

user.cfg is a file you will need to make and save it in the same directory BF3 is located, usually your path will look like this "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 3"

So go to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 3" create a new text file named user.txt. Open that file, copy and paste the 2 commands I showed you earlier (without my arrows and comments) then click save as. When saving, save as file type should be "all files" and not "text document.txt" and file name should be user.cfg (don't forget the .cfg extension) This will allow you to monitor your FPS w/o fraps.

You can google "user.cfg battlefield 3" to see other commands you can save in your user.cfg file

I do have the 1920X1080 screen and I can't notice a difference. I, and you too, will be too busy shooting at people to notice anything.

Add me when you're up and running

BF3 = DirtyTrickster

 

excellent advice on the WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0 ... you'll see up to 20% increase in performance with virtually no hit on image quality ... rep +

 

Rep+ for that when i get onto my computer (as cant do it on my iphone) i didnt really understand the last part though :/ i get the go into bf3 bit but then im abit lost :/ sorry im abit of a mong so if u cud even further simplify it and give a complete step by step idiots guide i shall rep+ all your posts! And yeah il add u on bf3 definiatly my laptop shud be with me 3rd july!!

Sounds awsome but no sure what to do even with that short guide

 

No problem man. I don't know too much, but when there is something I can help with I'll do my best to make it clear.

Which step confuses you?
Step 1. Go to the BF3 directory following the path listed in previous post.
Step 2. Create a new text file named user.txt
Step 3. Open user.txt, copy and paste the 2 commands I showed you earlier
Step 4. Click save as
Step 5. Save as file type should be "all files" and not "text document.txt" and file name should be user.cfg (don't forget the .cfg extension)

 

Step 1. And step 5. Is where im stuck not sure exactly where to do new file and the last bit just confuses me lol sorry