M17x Graphics Hanging

Have updated drivers. It seems any game I play no matter the settings, the sound makes a buzzing noise and hangs for about a half second. This happens everytime there is a close explosion, weapon change, etc.

It's getting real annoying. I like the play Battlefield2 Bad Company2 and it really causes problems online when trying to take down another player. The half second hangs are long enough to ruin the game for me.

This problem happens on every game I play..even solitare.

Why does it do this?

 

which version of the M17x do you have ? is it the R1 ? What you're describing might be a DPC latency issue.
Do you also hear a stuttering music/videos when you play them ?

 

I'm gonna take a stab and guess you have an R1. This is common. Happened to my old R1 with 260s in SLI

 

From what I have read so far on the forums it looks like it's an R1. This is my first alienware.

I bought this from the Dell store on the phone and they said it was new..which it is. Not refurb. They could not build what I wanted and ship in time for me and I needed it NOW. I travel 11 months a year and was only home for 5 days.... I love this thing so far but this little issue gets quite annoying.

Yes...it stutters in movies also. As a matter of fact it just did it while typing. Seems less frequent except when running more demanding applications.

Is there a fix for this? If not I will just have to live with it.

I paid extra for extended warranties etc. Keep in mind that as far as tech service goes... I am in a different hotel every other day...all year. I picked Alienware and this M17x because of it's reputation and that it replaces my desktop and can do just about anything without problems. So far I a very pleased with it. I don't even use my other 2 laptops I carry now. Now if they only had an Alienware with a printer built in....

I built my own cooling pad and it runs real cool now. (actually bought about 4 different cooling pads and robbed parts out of each to make my own....higher RPM motors etc.)

 

Actually just watched Ironman 2.... it hung up/stuttered about 100 times through the movie.... almost ruined it becaue I had to go back catch what was said etc.

I am now wondering if this purchase/investment was a mistake. I ended up getting out the Wal-Mart bought Dell Inspiron with Windows Vista to finish the movie with.....

I read a few more posts from people with this problem and people suggest R1 users return it for an R2 and pay for it? If this is a known problem..why was it sold to me? I was told that this was a pre-built Alienware they keep "in-stock" for people who cannot wait for theirs to be built..... I have not yet found a fix for this problem...If there isn't one...I will live with it...but I will mark Alienware off my list as a future purchase..

 

ok, so the issue is called DPC latency and there's tons of info on this forum about it.
As far as i know it is resolved, but i will let someone who actually had an R1 chip in.

EDIT: start here : http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/434691-m17x-dpc-latency.html

 

Got it thanks.