How can i tell if my machine is a dud?

I've had this laptop for about 3-4 months now and i was never blown away by the performance, more disapointed after the mad wad of cash i handed over and to get a machine that runs like a mid range desktop. And if you think i'm being too picky, trust me i'm not i rolled with an 8800gt for like 2 years before this.

Anyway so instead of complaining i'll get to the point..

There doesn't seem to be any signs that my computer hardware is faulty or anything, but in games i just seem to get less fps than most other people posting on the forum/youtube with exact same specs. For example in BC2 i get crap all fps on max settings, something like 30 and less, where all the benchmarks i've seen are up round the 60+ mark.

The latest game black ops that i just got, runs pretty crap even in single player. On max settings the fps often dips below 30. I just don't get it, when all these other guys are bragging about running it max and getting great fps in the 60s.

I ran 3Dmark 05 (a bit out of date now) and came up with a GPU score of 18500 and a CPU score of 12600; does that sound about right?

Anyway so any ideas as to why my laptop performs worse than others, i don't think my hardware is faulty and i've got latest bios, vbios and drivers, not to mentions i've formatted since i got the laptop. I've been living with it so far, but i just feel like i'm not getting what i payed for.

Edit: Also forgot to add that in some games, i tested it in modern warfare 2 and black ops, the game runs heaps smoother and at higher fps if i disable crossfire than when it's on? Any help?

 

Its prob the ATI Drivers mate. Its been well documented that there has been a significant FPS drop in BFBC2 on the 10.10 drivers release - search for the BFBC2 related threads in the forum. I am currently using the flickering drivers (10.8) because 10.10 slows the game down sooooo much its practically unplayable. I dont know about COD:BO but hopefully the new driver release will improve performance and there will probably be a catalyst profile release specifically for COD:BO and other games. We can only wait until the end of the month....

 

Black Ops runs like crap on everyone's machine. It needs a patch. I'm sorry that you're not happy with your machine. I am excited to get up every morning just to see mine. Could you please post some more modern benchmarks, like 3DMark'06 or Vantage? If something is wrong, those will show it, and we can begin to help you find the problem. You should be scoring 12-14K in 3DMark'06 and 11-13K in Vantage. And please keep in mind that you have a lower-end CPU too. Anyway, let us know, and we can get you back on track.

 

We'll i do like my machine, i just don't feel like i'm getting the most out of it. Yeah i'll go grab vantage and 06 for you, and i'll run it with and without crossfire and post up here asap. I would like to blame lower performance on my cpu.

Question turbo. Do u get more fps with only one card in black ops or mw2? I really have no idea why that happens to me. Anyway benchmarks on the way.

 

You should be okay chiefs,
We just need new updated GPU drivers and CAP profiles + a game patch.

I agree with the 2 posts above as well.
+ Black Ops has a memory leak as well. So we def need a patch soon.

News: PC Gamers suffer with Call of Duty: Black Ops - Strategy Informer

Cheers.

 

You will most likely get 13 - 14k in 3d mark 06. Around 13k for Vantage. If you run just the GPU tests in Vantage you should score 14k for the GPUs.

Cheers.

 

Don't feel bad I got like a 9800 on 3dmark vantage when I should be getting close to 14k lol.


The games run good, Cyrsis warhead I play at like max settings no AA with no issues. COD5 max settings no issues, Metro 2033, i set back down to dx10 and it runs silky smooth, dx11 was nice but it doesn't seem to give me high enough frame rates.

I love seeing this thing in the morning, I sometimes think I got a dud to lol.

 

Collegekid, I thought in that other thread you were getting around 13K? That's normal for your CPU.

 

You got decent fps for Crysis Warhead on max settings?
I can only manage Gamer settings, no AA, 1920x1200. Average around 30-40 fps. Baffling. Which resolution were you running CW on?

 

Pretty sure i can't do that in crysis lol. What preset do i use to bench in vantage (the one that i should post up here?).

 

Ritio then so here are the results from 3DMark Vantage:

I ran with the 'PERFORMANCE' preset so the resolution was at 1280 x 1024.

GPU score = 13934
CPU score = 10723
3DMark Score = 12963

So i guess that looks ok, providing 'performance' preset was ok.

I still want to know why black ops is worse with crossfire on than without it but..

 

Yup your scores look correct and normal there chiefs.

As for Black Ops the game is fresh outta the oven and theres no driver support for crossfire yet. Not properly anyway. So we are waiting for new drivers and CAP profiles.

Cheers.

 

Aight coool.

Well it happened with MW2 also.

It would be helpful if i knew whether that happens for other people aswell or just me, then i would know if i actually 'had' a problem or if it's just the code for those specific games.

 

You're fine there brother. If you really want to jack your performance, I would suggest getting a 920XM from ebay. The ES chips are not badly priced compared to what Dell charges.

 

Use the performance preset. It's the standard default preset.

 

Ok i might look into that when i get some dough.

If anyone finds a fix for the poor crossfire performance in black ops / mw2, post it up please.

 

Black Ops, the only fix for that is going to be a released patch. Top end systems are having issues and it appears due to a memory leak. MW2 I never really had issues with it, but try it in single GPU mode. I ran the game fairly well on an Nvidia 8600M GT 256bit card.

Also, you can download and run vantage free, just need to get the results online. You system should pull about 13K, maybe 14K.

 

I wouldn't say all members. I certainly don't have any issues running these games at max settings,

1. Civ5
2. Sniper Ghost
3. Unleashed 2 (CS fizzles but meh)
4. Black Ops

If anything your setup should be much better than mine. I'm i7-620, 4870CF and no OC or mods...yet. I honestly don't know what to suggest as I've yet to encounter the problems the members here are having.

Whatever the reasons, there's hope so don't ditch your Alienware just yet!

 

Yeah nah, my vantage score pretty much just eased my mind, it's most likely not my hardware. A few issues in the games i play might need fixing though like you guys are saying.