i7 740qm Throttling?

Hey guys, Been having this issue ever since the release of Diablo 3. Being the CPU intensive game that it is I suffer from lag very often due to my outdated i7 740qm cpu and usually get around 100+ to 40+ fps. During intense battles where everyone spams their skills my fps can even drop down till 15 and whenever this happens I notice that my gpu's usage is no more than 44%. As for my CPU however, my core speed seems to be jumping around between 2200mhz to 2800 randomly. Is this normal?

And oh, I've been considering an upgrade to either the 920xm or 940. 940 being because I have the extra cash to spend on. Is this particular one supported on my R2? INTEL i7 940XM 3.33GHz quad QS mobile CPU processor for 55 chipset laptop monkey 735898211312 | eBay

 

2.2-2.8 does not constitute throttling signs. To be 100% sure download XTU (extreme tunning utility) this program created by Intel you can monitor throttling; Assuming it is compatible with your hardware.

 

The highest processor supported by Alienware for that system is the 940XM @ 2.1MHz, that one works at 3.3, I don't think you are going to have a problem with that but I thought I'd let you know, just in case.

 

i'm pretty sure any i7 has more than enough juice to run diablo 3. the reason your cpu is not busy @ 100% is because it doesn't need all that cpu power for d3. are all your video drivers up to date? this seems more like video card issues than cpu. you should probably upgrade your gpu for the noticeable performance you're looking for. for games.. the gpu is usually the bottleneck. a 7990m gpu upgrade would be your best bet in my opinion.. and since you got the extra cash to spend, i'd recommend upgrading to a new SSD. it'll feel like a new computer with the new drive and gpu. :thumbsup:

 

Case in point i play Max Payne 3 at ultra settings with maybe 40% CPU usage at any given time, plus the CPU will down clock between 2.6-3.9 when less/more physics are applied throughout the game, but normally my CPU sits around 3.2-3.4 on average throughout the game.

 

My old Asus G73-JH had the i7-720qm and ran Diablo 3 maxed out. You're either having a graphics issue, connection issue or some background process is taking up your CPU.

 

I have no problem running it maxed out, its just that whenever any intense battle occurs my fps drops from a whooping 100+ fps to 40+ and in some cases 15 fps. Its just annoying the crap outta me : / well anyways I will try the new 12.8 driver first and see how it works out

 

tried the new 12.8 driver, slight improvement can be seen. Still my fps dips down to 40-30+ (20+) in multiplayer with all the skill spams and particles flying around. Bah. might just be a bottleneck from my CPU itself. Have no issues whatsoever with other GPU intensive games like crysis 2 or Bf 3

 

Considering you are playing with three others in D3, this does make sense. I use to play D3 on my R1 with the the listed specs below in my SIG with no real issue as long as i kept the Graphics setting on high and not completely maxed out, but yes during intense Physics scenarios i would get a huge FPS drop for just a seconds or so.