M17x Very Choppy with Audio Problems

Hey guys, I've got an m17x r3 and I'm having a nightmare with this thing. I've tried reinstalling video and audio drivers and even reinstalling windows on the laptop but still no luck. My problem is that I try to watch a video and it tends to get all choppy and laggy. The audio gets all distorted and sounds like there's some sort of feedback while I'm watching something. It happens on both youtube and netflix so I'm pretty sure its not just flash. I can't even turn on the high definition setting on netflix or else it'll get all laggy on me and I cant make out whats going on. I feel like a laptop like this should be able to handle a little bit of high definition netflix. I haven't tried playing a game since this issue began because I can only imagine what a disaster that would be. Can someone please help me out with this? It's been an on going issue for a few months now, my warranty is up, I've tried searching it up and resolving it on my own but I'm stumped with this one. I'd really appreciate if someone could help me out with this.

 

Hi, that's a problem with a lot of potential causes! I'd say start with a hardware diagnostics. If I remember right it's F12 on the bios screen to enter the diags. Run the extended tests and get anything obvious out of the way

 

You could also try http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...river-v-6-10-0-6421-maxx-audio-3-quality.html

 

Which operating system do you have? It could be a driver.

 

Its running on windows 7 ultimate. I'll run that bios diagnostic and get back to you guys asap.

 

Ran the diagnostics and installed the driver. Nothing showed up with the test but the memory test took FOREVER, no luck with the driver either

 

Ah, saw your sig, you have no iGPU so that wont help . Let me think...

I suggest you do check out a game just to confirm it is across everything.

 

Do you show 2 cards on the device manager?

 

He wont, 3d display . I was going in the same direction as you until I saw the new sig...

 

Okay so I know its been a while but I updated to windows 8 and downgraded my bios and its improved a little but still no luck. Going to try a game in a little bit and see how it goes.

 

Just to throw another option out there I only see you mentioning "Youtube, Netflix" which are both online streaming services... If you wifi connection is poor or your wifi card is bad it could be causing all your issues. Easy way to test this is obviously just to try watching HD video etc that isn't a streaming service and see whether or not it still does it.

 

Just tried playing Far Cry 3 and couldn't even get past the first sequence. It drove me insane. Played it off my hard drive so my wi-fi and internet can't be the problem.Besides I have great download speeds and pretty good internet service.

 

Does the game struggle as well as the stuttering sound?

You could get latencymon and run it to see if a driver is interfering with the sound. Run it for at least 2 mins to get a decent test run. A high DPC number is the one that often results in choppy sound and is usually the video driver. That number in my example is high (so I have been told) but on a diferent driver it went red and told me that I would probably experience sound drop outs. To reduce the hard pagefaults you turn off any realtime virus checking like MS essentials. Not done in my example

 

Yes its both the video and the audio. They both struggle and stutter like crazy, its starting to happen without the hd video on netflix too. I'll run latencymon and report back, thanks a lot



Obviously something is wrong here, where do I start? Disabled Windows Defender already.

 

I've PM'd the guy that gave me that link for help with just what the numbers are showing. I know it shows the problem, just not how to go about interpreting the numbers to identify a fix

PS If you use the windows snipping tool you can save an image locally and upload that directly to the post. Would make reading the numbers easier

 

Intel RST version ? Latest https://downloadcenter.intel.com/De...rsion=Windows 8, 64-bit*&DownloadType=Drivers

Nvidia v269.03 probably Corrupt drivers try NVIDIA DRIVERS 314.22WHQL don't use registry cleaners, uninstall under programs and features.

Guide http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/659378-nvidia-drivers-clean-install.html

Are you using HWinfo SW SMI (Dell) GPU / CPU w/ fan readings enabled ?

Take screenshots of Stats, Processes, Drivers tabs.

Enable Windows Defender>Settings>Excluded Processes>Browse C:\Program Files\LatencyMon\LatMon.exe>click Add>Save changes, now it won't interfere.

 

Uninstall HWinfo32 install 64 bit version HWiNFO64 Download

Disable ACPI monitoring / Battery

Taskbar notifications>right click HWinfo>configure>safety>uncheck SW SMI / Disable Drive Scan>Ok>restart HWinfo.

LatencyMon screenshots of Stats, Processes, Drivers tabs.

Alienware Fan Control

 

Thank you so much for all your help guys, I really appreciate this.

 

Always plugged, power options set High performance.

Uninstall Hwinfo>reboot>regedit>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\>Delete HWiNFO (only)>Install HWiNFO64 Download.

Check sensors only>configure>GENERAL>check remember preferences>check shared memory support>uncheck wake GPUs / Keep theme>SAFETY>Check from Bus clock / EC support / Evaluate ACPI methods>Check disable driver scan>uncheck anything else>SMBus /I2C>uncheck GPU I2C support>DRIVER MANAGEMENT>check persistent driver.

Run>Warning dialog>Disable EC Support (Compal)>remember preferences.

Configure>Layout>Uncheck Monitoring (Compal EC) CPU /CPU / [Baterry] Previous post screenshot settings.


Settings Alienware Fan Control - Page 62

 

Could this possibly be a hardware related issue?

 

Latencymon after disabling the 580m in device manager. The results look better but the computer actually runs a lot more sluggish and slow now. I don't know what to do with this thing, it's really frustrating me at this point.

 

Enter the BIOS check if (boot) Max performance is enabled.

Hwinfo>configure>layout>uncheck ACPI monitoring.

Windows 8 clean installed / latest drivers ?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...dows-8-clean-install-drivers.html#post9065543

Open Alienware Fusion set it to High Performance and close it>open services>stop Alienware Fusion service>quit HWinfo>run latencymon.

 

Finally got around to doing a clean install with drivers. There is no max performance option in the BIOS and its even freezing on the BIOS screen and I had to restart it twice.

 

Try to flash unlocked A12 [M17x R3] - BIOS A12 'unlocked' & 'SATA tweak' run InsydeFlashx64.exe as administrator AC plugged and unplug everything else, also remember to install main drive C bay 1 (middle), some SSDs will have issues with constant SATA speed drops (port 0), use the latest RST https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=22271&lang=eng it fixed issues with my SATA 3 spinning drive HGST Travelstar-7k1000.