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    Low FPS on battery w/ GTX460m

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by ryan_calif, Apr 26, 2011.

  1. ryan_calif

    ryan_calif Notebook Consultant

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    Hi all

    I just received my new R3 about a week ago and stumbled across an issue where in-game (WoW) FPS drops significantly after pulling the plug to play on battery. Playing WoW plugged in, I get ~65-100 fps... pull the plug and I'm down to 8-15.

    My hunch is either the GPU or CPU downclocking on battery. I haven't messed with my power profile much, other than it is on Balanced. I checked the GPU monitor icon on the taskbar while running WoW to verify that it is running through the GPU and not the IGP. It is running on the NVIDIA chip.

    Scouring the internet, I find that the earlier versions of the M17x had a "stealth mode" but that it was replaced with NVIDIA Optimus on the new R3 versions with NVIDIA graphics processors.

    Any ideas what exactly is causing the performance drop? Games run extremely well while the laptop is plugged in... just not on battery.

    Thanks! :cool:
     
    ryan_calif, Apr 26, 2011
    #1
  2. jujojujo_2003

    jujojujo_2003 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thats perfectly normal.
    Refer this thread
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/560579-r3-slooooow-battery.html
     
    jujojujo_2003, Apr 26, 2011
    #2
  3. ryan_calif

    ryan_calif Notebook Consultant

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    ryan_calif, Apr 26, 2011
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  4. ryan_calif

    ryan_calif Notebook Consultant

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    So I tried playing wow last night on battery again and the lag and low FPS are so bad its almost impossible to play! Averaging 10-14fps and the cursor lag is severe.

    Plugged in, the machine runs like a top and FPS instantly rises back to 65-110fps. I can understand the powerdraw issue, but holy crap, this thing scales back MASSIVELY on battery.

    Is there anything to do to squeeze out a little more FPS without having to lower all the graphics settings? Just want to make sure I'm not missing a setting that is causing the severe performance loss...

    Thanks
     
    ryan_calif, May 12, 2011
    #4
  5. Panamaniac

    Panamaniac Notebook Enthusiast

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    Some people were seeing minor improvements by setting it to high performance in the power options, but yeah... having a profile set to medium or low when on battery will help even if undesired...
     
    Panamaniac, May 12, 2011
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  6. Guardin

    Guardin Notebook Enthusiast

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    Flash BIOS to AO4. That will fix the problem with downclock while on battery.
     
    Guardin, May 12, 2011
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  7. ryan_calif

    ryan_calif Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks! I'll give it a shot when I get home.

    So this is a known bug?
     
    ryan_calif, May 12, 2011
    #7
  8. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

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    Guess you'll find out. =p keep us posted!
     
    zergslayer69, May 12, 2011
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  9. ryan_calif

    ryan_calif Notebook Consultant

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    Lol, well if this is only speculation, I am not flashing to A04.
     
    ryan_calif, May 12, 2011
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  10. BatBoy

    BatBoy Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    BatBoy, May 12, 2011
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