Have i received a defective m17x? New system, can't play anything on high.

My old HP laptop is a $1000 piece of , but i could run games like AC3 on low with the same fps i'm getting out of my Alienware m17x. I'm playing assassins creed 3, on default low settings, i have good fps, but when i put them on high settings, i'm getting like 5-10 fps. I ran 3D Mark11 and i got a score of 5700~ , while it said that others compare to me and most others have ~6200. I've updated all my drivers and everything, I even had to play Hitman Absolution on medium settings because high wasn't getting enough fps to be fun. I just got a brand new M17x R4 (not a refurbished one) and i paid nearly $3000. Win 8 Pro, 7970M, 12gb 1600 Ram, 500gb 7200rpm + 64gb mSata, 3730qm i7 2.7 o/c to 3.7ghz processor. But it's having trouble running games on high, can someone tell me what i should do or if i should run some other test to see if there's a problem? i ran the Dell diagnostics thing which said everything was fine. The laptops been having random issues that i've never seen before. like yesterday it crashed twice, and today for a minute or so when i first opened assassins creed the screen went negative (where black is like bright green or w/e reverse colors). I only have a week left before i leave the country & by the time i return it'll be too late to replace the laptop, and i don't want to send it to depot.

 

also, everytime i press fn + f7, it says switchable graphics key press detected, a reboot is required. Is it supposed to be required everytime or is it a one time thing? cos i've rebooted twice doing this (someone told me if i do it it'll help my system run better on gfx cos it wont have to switch everytime i run a program.

 

Okay, here is how it works. Normally, it uses the HD400 on the Intel CPU. There is an ATI/AMD application that you can set performance on your games so when you run the game it runs on the 7970. (This is called Enduro) If you Fn + F7 and reboot, it will actually shut off the Intel hd4000 and run solely on the 7970. This is what I do because I have problem with Enduro and BG3.

 

Well after pressing fn + f7, i've lost the right click on desktop - switchable graphics options thing, how do i get it back?

 

I think you have to hit FN+F7 again and restart your machine. but I believe your machine is running with the 7970m.