M17xR3 "stuttering"/FPS drop

This problem only started happening in the last 2-3 weeks, but I'm starting to notice in many of my games (Skyrim and BF3 especially) that my FPS will be good for a while, then dip for 1-3 seconds, then return to normal, then repeat. This happens every 10-30 seconds. My FPS in BF3, for example, go from 55-61 for a while, then 19-22 fps for a second or two, then return to normal and repeats.

I've tried numerous drivers installs and options tweaks in CCC and in-game and the problem still persists. GPU temps, loads, and voltage look normal under these dips, and so does CPU load. I have ZERO idea what is causing this issue, and I'm starting to think I might have a faulty card... any suggestions? I'm at a loss.

i7-2720QM
8gb 1333mhz
ATI 2gb 6970m

Edit:: This also happens on any game quality setting. Doesn't matter.

 

got the same exact problem in my m17x r2 (with cfx 5870s), in MW3 and assassin creed revelation, just dip down to 1x in 2-3s and then bump up to 100 right away
have to endure it till now!

 

more like faulty drivers but you know whatever... Believe me I feel your pain and I'm right there with you on my R2 system.

 

What baffles me is that it ran great on the same set of drivers before this problem started, and then I tried multiple versions and caps and they all exhibited the same issue....

 

darkloki, are you experiencing this on your R3 system?

Having GPU-Z up during the slowdowns doesn't really uncover much. When the game is running smooth or during the slowdown the load % doesn't spike. 80-100% the whole time. Temps didnt rise above 70c....

 

dsky, i haven't had similar issues before..not on the m17x r3, but on desktops. What solved it for me was a clean vid card driver install

 

I've done numerous driver installs over the last 2 weeks, using Driver Sweeper (in safe mode) everytime. I've also gone to re-installing windows (with an ssd install) to change the drivers and the problem still persists.

I've reverted back to the "stock" drivers from dell for now and going to try some tweaks...

 

i also remember doing a clean windows install in my past to solve this...but this would obviously be a last resort

 

Don't know if you're actually reading my posts...... but I've said that I have done a clean install and the problem persists.

 

have you tried disabling antivirus and other processes. Maybe you have a background process that is zapping up resources

Also i've read that sometimes, the wireless card can cause these hickups as it is cycling looking for networks etc

 

Virus programs off, wireless adapter itself is disabled - still with the drops.

 

dsky, do me a favor. Download Furmark 1.9 and run the Burn in test for 15 mins...using the default config. And if you can, post a screen shot. if you are throttling for whatever reason we should see it here

for example here is mine:

 

Curious, when you play games, do you monitor temperatures and loads of everything, you see when i had an issue like this with one of my other computers, it occured when the program (hwmonitor) was reading sensor data from the temperature probes, turn off anything that is reading from sensors if there is anything.

Definately do as slick says, run the test to check for throttle issues.

Reset all CCC profiles, sometimes the 3D settings can do stuff, especially the AI options.

Also it is worth seing if your HDD light comes active when you stutter, ive had some stutters when this occurs, dont know why still havent knocked it.

And my last problem i had in games was windows media player, it was forcing HDD usage to 100 percent for no reason and causing mass lag, so again check HDD indicator.

Hope you find the problem!

 

I performed the test, heres the requested picture

 

Try this for BF3 - (For AMD/ATI cards only) - BF3 & Rage: Textures issues and Low FPS with AMD / ATI Cards with latest drivers | Dell

 

Oddly enough, I do not have that file? However I was able to download it off the internet (SlickDude80's signature) as other people have reported this as helping, so I will try and report back...

 

I thought I didn't have it either, but turns out all I had to do was search for it and sure enough it was around.

 

Ok. That didn't work. made it worse if that's possible.

 

What you recommended jubbing, didn't work...

 

hmmmm...your temps are decent. They are slightly higher than you would have if you repasted with a modern top performing paste, but its still well within decent.

However, your 7 fps variance shows what you are talking about. If you look at my screenshot, i'm stuck at 40-41 fps

dsky, if you're confident that it isn't software that is causing the issues (i.e., you've already reinstalled drivers and done fresh installs of Windows numerous times) and it sounds like you've already done quite a bit of troubleshooting...i'm tempted to think its a hardware issue.

Maybe its time to make use of that warranty that you paid for

One other thing you can try is to plug in your computer in another part of the house. Maybe the power current is bad at that outlet

 

gpu-z log from a very short bf3 session with slowdowns...


Date , GPU Core Clock [MHz] , GPU Memory Clock [MHz] , GPU Temperature [°C] , Fan Speed (%) [%] , Fan Speed (RPM) [RPM] , GPU Load [%] , GPU Temp. #1 [°C] , GPU Temp. #2 [°C] , GPU Temp. #3 [°C] , Memory Usage (Dedicated) [MB] , Memory Usage (Dynamic) [MB] , VDDC [V] ,

2011-12-08 15:36:05 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 66.0 , 30 , 9 , 70 , 66.5 , 67.0 , 71.0 , 936 , 298 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:36:06 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 66.0 , 30 , 9 , 72 , 66.5 , 67.5 , 71.5 , 936 , 298 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:36:07 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 66.0 , 30 , 9 , 86 , 66.0 , 67.0 , 71.0 , 935 , 298 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:38:04 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 66.0 , 30 , 9 , 0 , 66.0 , 67.0 , 70.5 , 1005 , 309 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:38:05 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 65.0 , 30 , 9 , 0 , 66.0 , 66.5 , 69.5 , 1004 , 309 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:38:27 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 65.0 , 30 , 9 , 83 , 65.5 , 66.5 , 70.0 , 1013 , 308 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:38:28 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 66.0 , 30 , 9 , 79 , 66.5 , 67.5 , 71.5 , 1014 , 308 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:38:29 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 66.0 , 30 , 9 , 79 , 66.5 , 67.5 , 72.0 , 1013 , 308 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:38:30 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 66.0 , 30 , 9 , 86 , 66.5 , 67.5 , 71.5 , 1013 , 308 , 1.100 ,

2011-12-08 15:38:31 , 680.0 , 900.0 , 65.0 , 30 , 9 , 85 , 65.5 , 66.5 , 70.0 , 1013 , 308 , 1.100 ,

everything looks normal... stressfull!

 

Everything does look normal

 

DPC latency? tried any of my suggestions?

 

I tried your earlier suggestions and still no change.

I'm researching the DPC latency, and will report back.

 

According to the chart, the bars all stayed within the green zone. One bar was particularly high, but still within the green zone, all on BF3 during the slowdowns.

My fps is dropping from 59-70, to 20-21, then back up again..

Annoying fps drop / GPU usage - Very unstable! - YouTube <- infact, very similar to this however my GPU usage is stable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYRck8EGpjY&feature=related <- the same exact problem.

 

Installed Counter Strike Source to see how it ran an older game, and the slowdowns are present even in CSS... 250+ fps to 59-70 then back up again... awful.

It has to be the card, time to call dell tomorrow... I'll keep you informed...

 

your problem seems sad to me, i feel the pain

 

Which type of hard drive are your games stored on?

I've read a few threads talking about in-game stuttering resulting from some momentus XT hybrid hard drives, and damaged hard drives in general.

 

The games are running on a Intel 160gb SSD.

 

Well I called dell, they ran a 3rd party benchmarking program and it passed. "Carlos" went on to claim that the hardware is fine. Clearly it's not. He then told me to go onto some Alienware forums and ask around...Official "support", telling me to go on the internet to find out.. Sweet

So I'm at a loss, and Dell has given me the finger, so... at least it's a nice looking paperweight!

 

man that sucks, if only you had a second graphics card to put into the system to make sure its the graphics card that's that problem

 

Don't give up. If you have factory restored your system and it's still doing this, you need to call Tech Support again until you get a sympathetic rep. Ask to talk to their supervisor if you have to. Raise a stink if you have to, man. You paid big money for this laptop, if there's something wrong with it then they are obligated to fix it if it's under warranty.

 

Have you tried running ThrottleStop yet with the Log File option checked while gaming? You need some accurate data to see if your CPU is being slowed down while you are using your computer. Obviously something is going on. The CPU can be randomly throttled in many different laptops and it might not have anything to do with your CPU core temperature. After you run a log, upload ThrottleStopLog.txt to MediaFire or somewhere convenient so I can have a look.

 

unclewebb,

I just downloaded Throttlestop, nice application, impressed with its capabilities.

dsky,
I would check it out, download throttlestop, do some gaming, like unclewebb said, something else besides temp could be causing a throttle point, the more data you can get the easier it will be to figure it out.