The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Just renewed warranty - 680M under-performing?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by DJStarscream, Aug 2, 2014.

  1. DJStarscream

    DJStarscream Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    243
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Hey guys,

    Hope you're good. This goes to anyone with experience with the 680M card.

    Basically, after much debate, I decided to renew my warranty for an extra year, however, I have been having a few problems with games (imo) my card should not have trouble keeping a consistent 60 fps.

    Examples:

    Star Wars: KOTOR - not even playing at 1080p, it will intermittently drop to <30 fps for approximately a minute, then, shoot back up.
    Mark of the Ninja - consistently drops to <30 fps, only for a few seconds, but, with it being a 2D sidescroller, surely I should not be having performance issues? (1080p)
    Akrham City - benchmark crashes every time.
    Red Faction: Guerilla - graphical glitches galore (I do think this may be a port issue, however).

    Other games have issues, but I can't recall them at this present time.

    To clarify, I am running games solely from my dedicated GPU with a maximum power setting. I am also on the latest drivers.

    Basically, should I really be having performance issues with a game like Mark of the Ninja, with my card? The system doesn't get hot - at all - and the fans barely make a sound.

    Thanks guys, I appreciate any time you even take to read my post.

    Regards. :)
     
  2. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    3,700
    Messages:
    8,323
    Likes Received:
    3,820
    Trophy Points:
    431
    I assume you have an M17x R4? Have you tried updating or reinstalling the video drivers? It could be a corrupt driver issue.

    Haven't seen many 680M's fail. This is an interesting case.
     
    MickyD1234 likes this.
  3. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    3,159
    Messages:
    6,473
    Likes Received:
    1,165
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Well, let me try :D.

    You are having a big problem, this is not how a 680m should perform. The 680m is an awesome chip and runs everything I throw at it with minor compromises (Usually AA). Temps are also low at around 62c-68c when gaming - but at 65c the fan is clearly audible.

    If your fans are not cranking up then there are a few things to check.

    You say you are running the games in the NV card. Are you sure?

    You need to monitor what is going on when you game. Get Msi Afterburner and in the options set the following to show in OSD (on-screen): Temp, clock, gpu usage, FPS.

    Report back with the numbers while gaming AND the clock. If clock speed fluctuates use max and min. It may be throttling for some reason.

    Good luck.
     
  4. ngotiendat

    ngotiendat Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    5
    Messages:
    105
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Double check your PSU, maybe that's the problem.