Stuttering issues. How to get to most out of my Alienware M18xR2?

Hi all,

I am periodically experiencing stuttering in the most basic of programs especially when the fans kick in and wanted to see if you guys knew of any tips or tricks to optimise the laptop to get the most of its hardware.

I have been using an aim trainer called Kovaaks, it is very basic which no graphics at all really and it will be working fine then every 10 minutes or so it starts to stutter for about 15 seconds then goes back to normal. Surely my GTX 675 and an i7 processor should be more than enough to handle such a basic program??

You can see in my signature what hardware I have, any ideas?

Many Thanks

Mustang


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It's possible the CPU is throttling due to lots of dust build-up or a thermal repaste needed.

I would check the temps of your CPU while doing these tasks.

if it only happens in that program, it could just be the program.

It can also be windows (time for a reinstall ?)

The computer with those specs is still on average faster than notebooks today (not counting gaming+ notebooks).

 

Hi, thanks for the reply. I have also had the same stuttering when trying to play Fortnite but I assumed it was because the GPU was too old to run the game.

Ok, I shall reapply some thermal paste and check temps. Hopefully that works as reinstalling windows is not something I want to do.

Thank you


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install Hwinfo64, run it with sensors only and click on the icon with a paper and a green plus.
It will create a logfile while you play. Play until you get the stuttering, then once you have it, then stop playing and upload the .CSV file here on the forums.

I can take a look at it and tell you exacly what is causing your issue.

 

Hi,

It won't let me upload either a CSV or a rar file or a 7z, i get the following error

Many Thanks

Mustang

 

I have attached the zip file

 

Do you have one 675M or two (SLI)?

GPU1 is getting into the mid 90s in temp.

 

Just one.


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Do you think I should reapply thermal paste to the GPU then? Could there be any other reason than dryed up old paste?

Many Thanks

Mustang


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I just wonder why it shows two GPUs. I didn't look at the file thoroughly just the temps.

CPU seems fine.

Maybe repaste the GPU if it isn't too much of a task? You have to disassemble the whole machine so be careful.

Standard paste like IC Diamond, etc should be fine.

You can also try updating the nVidia drivers. Are you running a standard BIOS or unlocked one?

 

Hey!

So yesterday I took the whole laptop apart, cleaned out all the dust build up, cleaned and reapplied thermal paste to both the CPU and the GPU.

The stuttering issue has now gone and I can play games without any issue. One thing that has happened though is that the display stays black when I power on the laptop.

I plugged a HDMI in to the HDMI OUT port to an external display and it came up fine. When I unplugged the HDMI cable the laptop screen came on fine, very strange. So it doesn’t come on when first powered on but will come back after attaching and removing a HDMI cable.

I have taken it apart and checked the display connectors and they are fully seated so I’m not sure what’s happened.

Any ideas?


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Might need to reseat the GPU again or check the LVDS cable. You can remove the GPU with the heatsink attached to reseat so you don't have to apply thermal paste again.

But if it's a minor issue, you can leave it alone.

 

The high heat temps might have caused some degradation in your cards which can cause issues.