M17xR3 lags alot though cooled

you sure you aren't running on the integrated GPU?

 

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS for sure...

 

what warranty you have? Could it be a bad video card?

 

I have default warranty on hardware- I THINK it's the video card- my friend bought almost the same computer- just with better harddrive/processor- and he has gotten the same EXACT problem- about a monthor 2 ago we both started to have our frame rate drop slowly worse and worse... now I always have only about 20 fps EVER- except for 30 secs sometimes of 50 fps only every 10-20 minutes.. much worse than before... even when I started this thread

 

i'd call up dell tech support and demand a replacement video card dude. that should fix the issue

 

Perhaps this may help...

Dell Support Article - BF3 & Rage: Textures issues and Low FPS with AMD / ATI Cards with latest drivers

 

Thanks- but I had no file atioglxx, does that mean something? Also- other games besides BF3 lag, so I don't think that is actually the problem

 

thats probably a bad thing....

 

well... I don't know what to do about that

 

i'm not very familiar with AMD cards. Is it supposed to be in the drivers folder or somthing?

 

Nope. OS:C//Windows/System32

 

Seems like you are missing drivers :S

Reinstall, or make sure they are PROPERLY installed.

 

well I don't have it either, but that prob because I don't have an AMD card atm

 

I just downloaded the driver on the Dell site... I'm sure I didn't install it wrong either... I just did express install.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...bsod-somewhat-workaround-now.html#post8097439

Try and get past the BSOD somehow (lol)

 

Ok.. gonna try, but I doubt that it will solve my problem :/ UPDATE: I feel like I have about 20-25 fps now rather than 15, but that's all it did. And what do you mean BSOD?

 

So are there ANY other possible solutions?

 

Might wanna call up dell and complain some more and say the video card is failing. They should help you troubleshoot, and if they can't fix it, get it replaced

 

Ah, I'll probably call them up again then- this time Ill say it's failing rather than it has very low framerate- which got me sent to the gaming section, where I would've had to pay $130

 

Is the answer to everything "Oh just call Dell and complain"? ...

My advice is to do a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 and all latest drivers + Dell ATI drivers and carefully update them to 11.11a using a method I posted in another thread.

Every laptop I've had, this has helped.

Turn off Windows updates, open MSCONFIG through Run and remove useless startup crap, defrag.. standard stuff.

 

Also you might wanna switch to an antivirus that takes less system resources and has a gaming mode, ESET NOD32

 

well if you have a warranty you might as well make use of it

 

You do know I've tried a ton of things already ... Also, I've only called Dell once + searched all over to find solutions- I will try a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium- Don't have Ultimate and I'll check however the method you used is. Well... Thanks for teh advice! I will most definitely try this! And if it doesn't work... well- I may as well use the warranty!

 

UPDATE: Well I did a fresh reinstall of Windows 7 and the state of my computer has not gotten any better.

 

hmmm is it a hardware problem then? thats all I can think of at this point

 

Yeah- me too, as my friend ordered almost the same exact laptop as me barely 2 days after and Dell Support said that many Alienware m17xr3 owners that ordered 6 months ago were complaining about the same problems, they might be defective- though im not sure why they would hve become worse only now, 4-5 months after purchasing.

 

hmm i really don't have anything left for you to try

 

Sorry if it doesn't help much but its worth a try. I'm also a R3 owner and i do have problems with my 6970 slowing down to battery levels no matter what i do. I do recommend calling dell and see, cause if there have been this many reports well something is off. I'm holding off my call till later in dec but its a method worth trying and see if it will patch things up till they come and fix it. use HWinfo64, go into sensors and click the fan control icon, choose your ati graphics diode and custom fan control to have your fan running faster. This has solved it for me at the moment but I cannot say for sure as running your fan faster than dell's setting isn't recommended. So this is a temp fix. Hope this helps you and best of luck.

 

Oh I figured it out! I opened up my laptop case and removed both fans and there was a layer of dust and stuff covering the whole back vents. I simply removed all the dust a stuff and it started running better immediately! Thanks for all the help anyway!

 

Whilst I was reading this thread, it looked more and more like a 'fluff' issue.

Congrats on finding it.
I currently have an M1710 with a new m17xR3 waiting at home for me. I clean than fans and Heat sinks on my 1710 once every few months, I guess I'll be doing the same on the m17xR3,

I would have expected that the HWINFO64 tool should have shown rapidly increasing temps indicating a 'fluff' issue.

Fluff - The No. 1 GPU killer.