Help! Only 3fps in Furmark

Hi Guys,
For some reason my system has decided to pack it in. I have dual 280M is sli... and I'm only getting about 3fps despite trialling a multitude of drivers...
How can I tell if I have faulty graphics card/s?
Cheers in advance...

PS I have checked that Hybrid is enabled in the BIOS

 

Your problem is that you are running Windows Server 2007. That operating system was never made for a laptop platform. Can it be done yes, but it's not supported on a M17x and you may run into some power management issues as well as issues with drivers that control certain things on your notebook. You state you are running windows 7 home edition but your operating system in attached thumbnail is showing Windows Server 2007 ver 6.1 build 7600 with NO service pack.

The other issue is the multitude of drivers. What has probably happened is that you have installed one driver over top of the other and now they have become corrupted.

Did you just buy this laptop recently? Have read that "build 7600" is a code for a pirated version. Some people with this code report it works for a couple of months and than stops working on boot up. The COA sticker is found on the bottom of your laptop. Another option is to go to www.microsoft.com/genuine, attempt to validate. If it fails (build 7600) then follow the link provided to resolve the issue. They may offer a good deal on windows, they do this to help people who get riped off by vendors get genuine since they have already paid.

If you do have windows 7 home edition like your post says than perhaps you ran the benchmark on your desktop server rather than your laptop. If this is the case than try disconnecting from the server and running test again. Have you had slow frames in games or has this problem just cropped up when you ran this benchmark?

 

This is weird, Win 2007 is the longhorn beta, you aren't running that, are you? Most of the people I knew running LH went over to Server 2008 when it came out. LH has not been supported for some time.

 

I thought something was funny as I could not even find much information on Windows 2007 server even on Microsoft website. Thanks for this interesting information. Every time I googled Windows 2007 server it pointed to Windows 2008 Server.

 

I have the same problem here on my M17X ( sli 280m, qx9300@3ghz 6Gb ram)
and i'm running windows seven pro

 

Ditto here with the latest drivers (257.21)
If hybrid is enabled then for some reason furmark uses the integrated gpu. But disable hybrid in the bios and run off dedicated and it's fine. Try this

 

Hey, thanks for all your suggetions... however, it is definitely windows 7 HP i'm running (It was directly from Dell, so I'm sure it's not pirated - it's validated an everything), and I wasn't connected to any servers.

Each of the Drivers I tried was after a complete windows reinstall/format - I have this on a separate drive, so it's easier to format.

Also, THis problems extends into games... it was working but now it is not.

 

I'll try this again., If it doesn't work, I'll ruin diagnostics again, then call Dell

 

What's the performance like in games?

This will tell you whether or not something is wrong with the cards. Providing they are actually enabled in BIOS and your not on integrated only

 

The M17x has some throttling issues, especially when running a Quad CPU and a couple of 280M cards in SLI.

You might want to go read the last 5 or 10 pages of this thread to learn some more.
Edit: This post summarizes things:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/410440-m17x-stutter-86.html#post6249933

You can also download ThrottleStop and run a log file while gaming or testing to see if your CPU is slowing down to a crawl.

ThrottleStop 2.54
http://www.mediafire.com/?mnznfjoy2yy

 

Hi mikld01

Have noticed other people running furmark and getting the server 2007 error are also having performance problems as well. Some have suggested a driver is out of date on their system but no consensus as to what the problem really is.

http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/755748-furmark.html

Here is a good reference link about the differences between graphics options vs hybrid SLI options with the R1. The R1 graphic modes are far too confusing for the average user in my opinion.

F7 = Switch between integrated (9400M) graphics and discrete (GTX 260/280M) graphics (Doesn't work in Hybrid Mode. Use the Nvidia Hybrid SLI Graphics option in the taskbar, Save power = 9400M/Boost Performance = 260M/280M)

M17x - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

P.S. Here is a post by one person who ran furmark on there system for 10 minutes and thinks they permantly damaged their GPU.

http://www.ozone3d.net/smf/index.php?topic=2081.0

 

Hey Guys,
Thanks for your help, but so far, none of the suggestions are working. I'm not sure why my system was working fine, but now has decided to self-destruct it seems. Lucky I have a 4 yr warranty I think the next step is to ring dell, trawl through their service system and wait for a hardware fix... I think i've tried all the software/driver avenues I can... unless someone can suggest something else??

Thanks

PS I think it's also a problem with FUrmark 1.8 v 1.70. 1.70 works fine... But still doesn't suggest why in game performance sucks...