R3 + GTX 460M -- random FPS drops

I tried this right out of the box and also after doing a clean reinstall. My FPS drops to ~1/4 normal FPS every couple of seconds and goes back to normal after maybe a second. Sometimes there's a bit of black flickering just when the FPS starts dropping. I called the tech support but that was just a waste of time, any ideas what should I try?

 

My full specs: M17x R3, Core i7 2630QM, GTX 460M, 120Hz display + 3D vision, 8GB RAM, stock 320GB HDD. All the graphics settings are at stock, I even checked the "clean install" checkbox when re-installing the graphics driver. All drivers from Dell's site.

 

Check your temps. You might have thermal throttling.
Download GPU-z and check run in background while playing a game. Then, once you've played for like 10-15 minutes, report the Max temps to us. Do this by clicking the temperature in numbers until there is a little red text that says max.

I had thermal throttling when my computer was received. A quick repaste will solve it if temps are the case.

 

All right I'll try that when I get back home. But I'm slightly skeptical because the issues start as soon as I launch anything, not after a couple of minutes.

Oh, yes, and I've actually seen a BSOD twice now, I think it mentioned IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL but I didn't really have chance to write anything down. If there's a way to extract any additional info from system logs I can try that too.

 

This program is very useful to help identify the cause of crashes/BSOD's. Resplendence Software - WhoCrashed, automatic crash dump analyzer

 

This is the BSOD I got when running the 266.06 driver from Dell/NVidia. Read this thread and try the 266.66 drivers from laptopvideo2go if you continue to have problems. Then report back if 266.66 fixes it...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...7xr3-w-460m-dell-oem-nvidia-driver-issue.html

 

Max temperature was 67 C, WhoCrashed results were not very helpful. Three of the core dups point to "NT Kernel & System" and the fourth one to "HTTP Protocol Stack" all with pretty generic messages.

 

You mean 266.08 right? Ok I'll try that, don't really have anything to lose .

 

The 266.66 driver didn't fix the FPS issue, I didn't have any BSODs so far but they were fairly random anyway, doesn't really sound like the same issue that you had jywang.

 

Man, so much bad news about the 460m... what game's are you playing btw? Maybe its the game?

 

i had the same issue in the R2 with a 460 Fwiw. the only solution i found for the random drops & crashes was using the modded desktop driver. i think it was 265.66 at the time i did it in my machine. after i installed that i didnt have any issues other than the fans not working 100% of the time because of no bios support.

from past experience the BSOD screen is Def a driver related issue. i would try using that driver with the modded inf file and see if it resolves the drops ,as it did in the R2

 

Well as I've said the latest modded driver didn't help.

When I got the notebook I made a fairly random choice of downloading AA3 and it turned out I'm having these issues. Then I tried 3Dmark06 and still the same issues. Then I reinstalled my computer and only been trying 3Dmark06 so far. (Doesn't make sense to download a 10GB game if you know you won't be able to play it.)

 

What are bad news other than Optimus and FPS drop?

 

265.66 isnt the latest driver =)
as history shows, alot of times with nvida drivers older versions are better performing than the newer ones. The 265.66 driver was pre Dell release fo the 460, and like i said it clear the same exact issue in the 460m in my R2, i realize its not the same exact hardware, but it stands to reason the same issues were being caused, i used this particular driver, and they stopped. but thats just my opinion.,,

 

Ooh, I see, I didn't realize you're suggesting I should try an older driver . Thanks for explaining. Unfortunately 265.66 didn't help either, although I think it did change the low / high fps pattern a little. (For worse.)

 

FPS, poor battery life on the IGP, BSOD's, drivers not working from Dell.

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I was quite convinced that this is a HW issue and since Dell "technicians" couldn't help me I've decided to return my R3 . Unfortunately because of the sandy bridge issue this means they can't send me a new one..... soo, what notebook would you guys recommend?

 

M15x baby! With the extreme processor you can get SB performance (although at a greater wattage cost) and a choice of AMD or Nvidia. If you game and don't do any programming stuff, go for the 5850. Good card. For everything else, theres the 460m.

 

So basically http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/552887-performance-gaming-nb.html , want a NVIDIA but would be cool if I could get a better one than 460.

 

Well if you have the money, you could get a Clevo P150HM with a 485m GTX fastest in the world. However it is sandy bridge You could also check out a x7200 with a desktop i7 and dual 485m in sli

 

I am also getting the BSOD and frame drop issue...i have seen it in mass effect 2 as well as starcraft 2..... processors get near pegged, the frames drop to nil. if i quit the game things may recover for a while or i get the bsod..... the error has somthing to do with the processors though...something like "the second processor didnt recieve somthing or other in a timely enough manor" that isnt the error, but its somthing like that. i tried every video driver mentioned here. I am going to do a fresh install this time. the other 2 times i have done an alien respawn..... this will make the 3rd wipe in a week of owning the unit.....i may also be sending it back....i can live with the sandybridge crap, but not being able to play any games kinda defeats the purpose of buying this laptop.

to add: temperatures never go above 65-70. I was playing crysis with no issues for over an hr, but SC2 and mass effect 2 can cause the issue in like 10-15 minutes every time.

 

Can you guys please make a gpu-z log and upload it.

 

It might be because of the max frequency going up to 3.2ghz on the first core...might try disabling the max turbo technology in bios temporarily to test.

 

i have a theory..... the other people who are having this issue, do you have an external monitor attached?

one thing i have noticed is that the clocks are 51/135 @0.82v with no monitor

203/[email protected] with one attached....and then of course they jump much higher with a game running 675/[email protected].

i noticed that as i diconnected my monitor after having the issue, my processors went back to normal Imedeatly....now this might have been a coincidence.....tomorrow i will play games with no external hooked up and see if i can cause the issue.

i might be on to something here....or not lol

 

I havnt experienced this with my 460m + 2630(?) processor... The base one. Seems a bit odd, do u guys all have the 27xx processor?

 

I had the 2630 one with 460m. No external monitor. Unfortunately it's already boxed and ready to get shipped back to Dell, I don't feel like running the gpu-z now. I did try it before but the only thing I know is the temperature (67 C).

 

I know this thread is old, but I noticed it earlier and thought I should give my input:

Anyone that gets a GTX 460M should install the following:
1. dxwebsetup
2. directx_jun2010_redist

All of my issues (except one, but I doubt many of you are using 3ds max 2011 on a regular basis so it doesn't matter) were solved after installing these.

 

Hm, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've tried updating DirectX.... perhaps that would have solved my issues .