Issue with Alienware 17, maybe?

Hello everyone!

I am trying to figure out why the game I am trying to play runs so horribly (long story short, it doesn't matter what I have video setting at FPS does not go above 7-15). I downloaded CPUz and opened it up while I had games running and it reports my CPU as never going above 800mhz, am I reading that correctly?

Why would the CPU not go above 800mhz, even when under stress?

 

Your'e playing on the integrated card.. Check your optimus/enduro settings.. If not, easiest solution is to switch to the dedicated card by pressing fn+F7(I/D GFX key

It's odd about your CPU.. But make sure your running on your gpu vs intergrated, do other games have the same problem?

 

GPU was the first thing I looked at, the game is running using the Nvidia chip (verified via the system dock icon). I have not played many games on this PC, and the games I played all ran just fine, never had issues until now.

 

Update the system BIOS and update your video drivers. Report back with results and what system specifications you have.

 

All drivers were already up-to-date, running most recent BIOS from Alienware.

Alienware 17

i7 4700MQ (2.4 ghz)
240g Samsung EVO SSD with 750 gig magnetic drive for data
8 gig ram
Nvidia 765m

Also, I installed the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and it shows the Processor Frequency at .8 ghz, tried running it up by cranking Witcher 2 to full blast settings and it never went over that. It is also reporting that 'CPU Throttle' is at 100%.

 

hows the battery , fully charged? are you playing with the Ac plugged in?

 

Plugged in, battery is 100%

 

Quick question. What wattage is your power supply?

 

180 watt, its the brick the notebook came with. P/N WW4XY.

 

There's your problem. You need at least a 240watt supply. I recently found this out when China sent my a 180watt supply for my single 880m. I was being throttled at around 130mhz at times. I had an engineer come take a look at my laptop, only to be told that anything from a 600 series Nvida gpu needs at least a 240watt supply in order to run at stock speeds. Crap I know, but mistakes are made.

 

He has a 765M.. The 180W power supply is more than enough.. It might be a faulty CPU/motherboard.. Call tech support and have them look at this issue..

 

Not according to the engineer that turned up at my house a few weeks back. Anything from the 600 series and up requires a 240watt supply.

 

The more I dig into this issue the more I realize that this is something I will need to get customer service involved in, this is a fairly new machine so I should take advantage of warranty while I can. I am afraid that I will need to ship it off to them, this is my daily worker and it is all I have at the moment.

Thank you all for your input, I will be contacting customer support this morning and see if I can get some resolution.

 

Then the engineer was wrong, plain and simple. Order a new machine without the 780/880m and you will get a smaller adapter. Not sure about the 770m but I know anything less and you don't get the 240W brick.

OP do you get the adapter not recognized error when you plug in your adapter? Restart the computer and go into the bios, what does it say for the adapter? Does it tell you 180W or does it say unknown? If the laptop does not recognize the adapter then it will underclock down to the exact frequency your seeing is why I ask. If you are getting the adapter error, try grabbing the cord right after it comes out of the adapter on the laptop side, so not the end that plugs into the adapter and then into the wall but the side that is permanently attached and move it from side to side, bend it and see if it comes back. I have gone through quite a few adapters and they are all failing at that point for whatever reason and I treat my stuff like gold.

 

I did as suggested and checked the BIOS for the power adapter, it does read 180 (which is correct) and I have never had any errors related to the power brick. I contacted support today, and the tech was just as baffled as I am. I did a clean install of windows to dismiss any sort of software problems, and it had no change at all. The tech installed a program called Intel Turbo Boost monitor, an intel tool, and it confirmed that the processor is not going above the 800mhz speed.

 

Hmm, I am starting to wonder if it isn't a problematic motherboard or possibly a CPU. I would think they will probably try and replace one of the other, or both as the next step.

 

Op, did you ever clean the fans of the laptop or repasted the CPU? Try running any program like HWinfo, CoreTemp, Aida64 to see the temperatures of the CPU. Then put 100% load on the CPU with Prime95, Intel Extreme Tuning utility, Aida64 stress test, heavy load or any other you might have and see if temps do not go above 90 degrees C.

 

I have not repasted the CPU, I have cleaned fans but it has never been that dirty. I ran CPU stress test via the intel extreme tuning tool, temps never went above 50c, CPU will not go above 800mhz.

I also cannot install the Intel DPTF driver, is that something that is needed? When I try to install it, it throws an error saying it can't run on this system.

I found and tried out Throttlestop, I have no idea what the settings mean but I clicked some boxes and turned some stuff on and it made no difference. Too afraid to go in and change any numbers through.

 

Your CPU never running more than 800MHz may be messed up BIOS settings. In order to install the Intel DPTF driver you have to change the BIOS setting for the Extreme Edition option from "BIOS" to "cTDP" press F10 to save/exit and then you should have no issues installing it. If you do not see that setting, be sure CPU Turbo Mode and Overclocking Feature are both set to enabled.

 

Turbo and Overclock are both enabled, but the only options I have in 'Extreme Edition' are BIOS and disabled. No option for cDTP. Running BIOS version A11.

 

Hmm... sounds like something is not right, or maybe your CPU does not support cTDP overclocking. If that is the case, there is no reason to try installing that driver. If cTDP is not enabled in the BIOS, no drivers are necessary for DPTF.

Do you have Extreme Edition set to enabled? Do you have any items in Device Manager showing an error or problem status? Did you have these issues on an older BIOS as well?

Have you already tried installing Intel XTU and disabling the Turbo Power Lock? If not, then that's worth a try.

If you can, please post a photo showing your BIOS settings for the CPU.

This thread might have some useful information for you: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...actually-have-run-full-stock-turbo-speed.html

 

In device manager, the only ! I have is a USB Controller (the USB 3.0 drivers on my install disk throws an error saying hardware not compatible.) I disabled power lock, no change.

As far as prior issues, it is kind of annoying. I purchased this PC mid-year 2013, right as I was finishing my masters, so I used the notebook primarily as a internet and word processing machine. I installed Diablo 3 briefly, but it ran like total crap (Reaper of Souls client at launch ignored the nVidia chip, a problem they have since patched, I have not played again.) So this problem could have been around since I got the machine, I have just not used it for gaming until now.

That picture shows extreme edition off, but it is on. I had reset it to defaults prior to snapping that and hadn't turned that back on yet.

 

Success!

After much tinkering, I have solved the problem. Using Throttlestop, I disabled BD PROCHOT and boom! CPU throttle went down and speed cranked up! It is amazing! I heard my CPU fan for the first time I think.

Big thanks to all who chipped in with tips, I am so very happy to have found resolution.

 

How do you tell what the Wattage of your PS is ? The wattage is not marked on mine . Only volts and amp's

 

I looked up the part number via google, but I think it also says its wattage in the BIOS.

 

It shows on your first page in your BIOS.

 

Well, the wattage is voltage times amperage