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    M17xR3 graphics and audio stuttering

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by ssaspen08, Aug 23, 2012.

  1. ssaspen08

    ssaspen08 Newbie

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    UPDATE: Dell replaced the Seagate 500 GB hard drive. After a clean Win7 install and all drivers, the games now play with no video and audio stutter. It wasn't a GPU issue all along, just the hard drive acting up (HD Tune Pro showed End to End threshold failure). Something to consider if you experience the same issues or lagging games and the graphic's fixes don't work.

    Long post - sorry! My Alienware M17xR3 bought back in December 2011 ran flawlessly up until a few weeks ago. Starcraft II, League of Legends, BF3 all ran fine and now all games have an audio and video stuttering issue when playing for about 5 minutes. I'm not the most PC literate, but GPU-Z shows GPU temps at no more than 58-60 degrees. I use a laptop cooling fan too. All other videos (DVD, internet video, youtube, etc) run great.
    Been on the phone alot with Alienware support and have not been able to solve the issue. To date we have replaced the heating element/paste on the Nvidia 580M card with no resolution, even after mutiple driver re-installs from both the Dell and Nvidia sites for the drivers. Next we replaced the 580M with a 560M card - 580M's on back order until late Sept. Re-did the drivers from both sites with no resolution. Uninstalled and reinstalled MS Netframework with no resolution. Even did a complete Respawn with the correct 560M drivers and still have the stutter. No heavy programs on the laptop. Only MS Security Essentials. My internet is rock solid. The pc response seems a bit slow - click and wait a second or 2 for things to happen. All tests (Memory, graphics, HD did fail one test using HD Tuner Pro, not sure what it was) run by Support passed. Now Support is thinking it's the HD - stock Seagate 500GB drive, not SSD).
    I read a lot of people have the same issue. I searched the site and read the relevant posts, but I'm at a loss. Could a HD cause the video/audio stutter? Any thoughts?
     
    ssaspen08, Aug 23, 2012
    #1
  2. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

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    I believe it could be the cause if it would only happen in data streaming games such as Diablo 3, not 100% sure though
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Aug 23, 2012
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  3. ssaspen08

    ssaspen08 Newbie

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    Thought an update to my issue would be helpful. Please see updated original post.
     
    ssaspen08, Aug 30, 2012
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  4. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

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    Thanks for updating, really good to know
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Aug 30, 2012
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