NVIDIA Geoforce GT 335M (11xR2) Causes Game Crashes

@rrhigh3 Hahah, what an answer. That would be hilarious if it weren't so sad.

Remind him that the Intel HD GPU has no such issues, and is far lower spec... Also, it freezes at balanced settings, too. Haven't tried lower, since the machine can clearly handle it (high too, btw). It really doesn't matter what case the i3/5/7 and Nvidia 335 are in!

As I've said before, in EQ2 go into Advanced Video settings, turn ON Shader 3.0 and voila no more freezes - at MORE load. Of course, it looks ugly and runs slower.

What Graphics card does your m17x have?

He is really really telling you nonsense.

 

Im not sure if i can trust this guy since he has only one post, he might be a dell representative trying to ease us off this problem

Though he has a good point, except that even when i turn all settings on WoW to low and it still freezes.

 

He does not have a point. The m11xR2 is no low-end machine. It's quite capable. Games do not freeze if being too much load for a pc, they slow down and/or skip frames. Also note the 2 other points I put in my post before yours, that make no sense at all in this context.

He's just trying to close a ticket.
Clean bill of health and freezing games do not match.

I'm really angry at that attempt of misinformation at the customer's expense.

 

Thats why i said EXCEPT xD
But yes it sounds like the dell rep just wants closure and to be left alone or he has no knowledge on the machines problems or how to fix them =/
Dang you dell!

 

Yeah I got that, but even if the notebook was too weak to run the affected games it would not result in freezes like this, that was what I was trying to point out.

I still think it's a widespread issue that only Nvidia can fix, if at all.

 

If I were a Dell rep i would have known about this issue way before I bought the machine, and probably made a different choice.

I dont play wow, but i would assume that each application will require its own "profile" as what may be considered low for one app, could be considered med or even high on another.

I have run on shaders 3.0, and beyond looking like crap, I still got random lockups. though as frequently. I have gotten no lockups when putting settings below balanced.

Unfortunately my plan is to lower my expectations for the machine. Im pretty sure I would not recommend it to gamers looking for a mobile desktop experience.

I agree it would be funny if it werent so sad.

 

rrhigh3, then your issue is not this one of this thread.

Does the process freeze, mouse still move, sound play on? You can use the desktop, try to end the process, but shutting down does not complete?

 

It is the same exact issue. I had the symptoms. My point is the issue is intermittent, some people never encounter this issue, others do. The issue is most likely with HOW people are using the machine, that over time uses up some resource. Now that said, its rediculous that an application will lockup, and not ne able to be terminated. In all my years in IT, I have very rarely seen it. Why would setting an application to Shaders 3.0 cause it to be more stable.

Anyway its frustrating. dell won, I lost. The will never doing anything other than deny the issue, MAYBE do a replacement here and there. They should just do a recall, but are fine with destoying the brand Alienware.


Sorry for the rant, I kinda ran away with this. One other thing. This seems to be a well known issue. I had to describe it at least 10 times to tech support, eventually it just told them to check their own forums. There is no way they should not know about it.

 

Very strange. It should not freeze with balanced or high quality settings and shader 3.0 enabled. Please provide details, via PM if you like, which zone etc. I'll try to reproduce it. So far, Steamfont Mountains freezes the most and commonly within minutes if not seconds (shader 3.0 off).

Maybe this issue has more facettes than we know yet. Come to think of it, if this really turns out that one can have no/some/many freezes it might be a hardware issue after all.

I suppose it has something to do with the shader units and instructions for them. Something seems to tick them off. Also, some people here have also confirmed that DX9 games are and DX10 games do not seem affected. Something in that context, but it's all approximation we're doing here, and it's not for us to fix. Currently I'm thinking of production issues regarding the shader units.

Your frustration is totally understandable, and I feel it too. Ignoring this and just shaking off any pesky customers wanting a solution seems the only reaction. Well, let's see what the next answer will be, the case is getting hot but as said I will not comment details while it is running.

I've also opened a thread in the Nvidia forum, after 1 question from a Nvidia guy and several customers also confirming the issue the thread is dead. Silence, too.

All I know for sure is that this is broken, and needs a fix. I will not put up with this.

What I am wondering is: am I the only one here living in a country where you can go against this by law?

 

Hey all, I will admit I have not read the entire thread, so my apologies if this has already been said, but I think that the issue is with the optimus system trying to switch to the intel graphics whenever the load drops. I noticed this specifically in black ops, when I looked at the ground, the frame rate rose quickly, then it froze, and I had to do the whole hard reboot thing. I went to the nvidia control panel, added a new entry for black ops in the game list, then set the graphics card to always high performance instead of auto-select. I did this with several other games I play, including BC2, and I have not had a hangup since. I have not tested this extensively, but it certainly appears to have solved it for me. And by the way, I have my m11x overclocked to 166Mhz and the GPU is running at stock.

 

Unfortunately Demagolka, i do not think this is the solution to the problem. I have medieval 2: total war on high performance nvidia only and i have this freezing problem. Granted. as far as i know this is the only game i have problems with but i am the only user that seems to be having trouble with this game so i could be wrong.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by rrhigh3
I worked over the last few days with tech support on this issue. They checked the machine, ran benchmarks, checked drive, and temp. After giving the machine a clean bill of health. He determined the application (Everquest 2) running at high settings was exeeding the capabilities of the machine. I was immediately pissed, and said "You market this machine as as highend gaming machine". His response was, for its size and the hardware included it IS as high end gaming machine. A machine will have it's limits. Interestingly I also own a M17x and I can run the same application all day long at high settings with no issue. It however has 3 graphics cards. So in the end I can understand where he was coming from, and have decided to just run at the lower settings. The M11x was never meant to be a desk top replacement like the M17x. So for me my strategy we will be to determine the most stable configuration that allows for the maximum of graphics features for each application. This was not what i hoped for, as i was looking for the silver bullet fix.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why would you say that?

First of all. EverQuest2 is SOE.. WOW is Blizzard. TOTALLY different game engines.

SOE uses old code on these vs WOW.

SOE games run very hardware intensive vs WOW.

HANDS down.

 

And my FFXI is older still (directX8)... yeah, shenanigans.

BTW, if you are using the 1520 LAN card to read this site, you probably think it's slow. It isn't the website and it isn't your graphics card either.

 

Your post is unrelated to the issue. We're talking about correct configuration, games running on the Nvidia 335 and freezing, non-terminatable, shutdown not finishing.

 

Soooo here we go!

After Dell confirmed the issue I've had a longer mail conversation with them but they see themselves unable to do anything about it. So now this is going to an attorney.

Bye Dell, you just lost a loyal customer.

 

I'm flabbergasted. Acknowledging the problem is one thing, but to simply state there is nothing that can be done is another. this is a problem that if known to the public would have kept anyone from purchasing. much bigger than a "hinge issue" this is a malfunctioning piece of equipment. If they advertised the m11x as "the worlds smallest portable gaming but sometimes will freeze up on any of your games laptop" no one would buy it. Also, this isnt a common problem for any laptop or desktop, this is something very specific.

Sry to rant. but the problem is too random for dell not to pursue and fix.

 

Does this issue exist on the M11x R3? I have only have my machine since november. Maybe I can make a case for them to get me the R3 version. My machine is under warranty and is clearly not working as intended.

 

Yeah, it's mindboggling. I think they're neither taking me or the issue seriously. Let's see if they take the attorney serious.

I'm also writing this to various tech sites/magazines with customer service columns, maybe the issue gets picked up at some point.

Whatever, I actually don't care anymore. I'm just sure I'll invest in a non-dell non-nvidia notebook afterwards.

 

I actually have to agree with you on this one, currently my english comp teacher wants me to write a complaint or persuasive letter to a business telling them what was wrong etc, etc.. Couldn't have asked for a better assignment at the moment

Well i guess its my turn to call dell later tonight, maybe i can hassle for a new computer since it is false advertising or something along those lines.

 

I've done more testing, and I've come to some rather odd findings...

Basically the only two solutions to fix this freeze issue with these games are to:

1. Run with the Intel GPU
2. Run in a window

Guild Wars seems to freeze within 5 minutes of running the game while in fullscreen. However, if I run it in a window, it seems to do fine with no issues. I managed to run around Presearing for a good 40 minutes before logging off.

I believe this is an nvidia driver issue. Don't look to Dell for solutions, because they clearly have their heads up their asses when it comes to drivers for their laptops. Just look at their stock dell display driver they ship the M11x with, it's freaking atrocious.

I myself am frustrated, but at the same time conflicted... I really like this laptop. I like the form factor, I like the performance it gives on games, and it has been doing quite well for me. It's taken a good month for me to really get this laptop tweaked to the exact way I want it, and I'm not looking forward to doing that.

I may just try to run Guild Wars all day long and see if I can produce a freeze. If I can't, I can only assume that this is some weird fullscreen bug.

Oh and I'm running the 260.99 drivers, un-overclocked, etc... I will experiment more with the 266.58 drivers later, but at the current moment, the best drivers I've found with the least amount of freezes are the 260.99 drivers.

The only drawbacks of the 260.99 drivers seem to be the odd punkbuster bug that gets you kicked off Bad Company 2 MP servers, and the fact that FSAA doesn't seem to work in fullscreen mode. (However you *can* run MSAA in Left 4 Dead 1 & 2)

I'm going to keep playing around with this and make it work. Unfortunately I was cursed with a case of OCD about these things, and my desire to fix this is currently stronger than my desire to return this laptop to Dell.... however if we don't get some better nvidia drivers soon, that may very well change.

EDIT: If anyone wants to get ahold of me to discuss workarounds for this m11x glitch, hit me up on Google Talk (username: darkdomino)

 

Just an update.

After being freeze-free for about a week, 5-10h play-straight per day, i decided to tweek my graphics ingame to test.

I went from Low to Medium and crashed within the hour. Kept it on DX10 thou.

Seems the only reason i havent crashed in a week is the ridiculously low load ive put on the GFX-card running on Low graphs.

About to give up but these type of issues never fly with support techs.

 

That strengthens my assumption it's shader related, since lower quality settings usually stress them less or don't use them at all.

@Darkdomino
I really liked this Notebook, too. But try separating your feelings and consider if your paid price is really worth a defective product.

Although I don't really see your points being a worthwhile workaround (I could've bought a Intel HD notebook cheaper, and windowed takes a performance hit) I think I can confirm that it does not happen in windowed mode. Still testing. Update: Nope, scratch that. It happens in windowed mode, to me, too. Just took a while this time, as it does sometimes.

Yeah, the 266.58 drivers have issues with some games, I can't start Demigod with them.

 

Im gonna try some more things this weekend. Thinking of going really far-fetched in my attempts...

Also gonna try the windowed mode-thing. If i can play on high settings in windowed this issue is Even wierder.

I would like to say, also, that it really sucks that This laptop has these issues. Its pretty much the most awesome laptop ive heard of, conceptually at least.

 

While testing the windowed thing (which does nothing for me) I noticed another side-effect of the game freeze: if you try to open the nvidia control center then, nothing happens.

 

Yeah the entire Nvidia driver just dies. Try going to the driver in control panel and just try to disable it or anything, it will hang.

 

I was simply relating what my experience was. I was having the freezing issue, now I am not, and I thought it might help somebody.

 

No offense given or taken, sorry if it came across otherwise.

 

hello all,

i just would like to share my experience with the mx11r2 alienware notebook the last 6 month.
i have exactly the same issue like all of you. the notebook freezes and can only be hard reseted. i tried multiple windows installation with every imaginable driver combination, nothing worked.

i tried to get support from alienware/dell but my request for support has been denied with the reason that i have installed windows updates and that i have installed additional software.

i am from germany and i have the right to rescission within 6 month which will end tomorrow. so i declared yesterday my rescission and even this has been denied by alienware/dell.

i have informed the c't magazine (a well known computer magazine in germany) about the issue and i am giving this to my attorney.

@mx11r2-strider: if you are from germany either, i might provide you with the contact details of the person that is dealing with my case at the c't magazine.

good luck @all to get the issues solved.

 

@Mog71

Please let me contact you via PM to give you my mail address so maybe we could work together somehow. I wrote to the c't too (but have not received a reply!), the more the merrier! You could give my mail address to the c't contact, that would be great.

 

it seems that it is not possible to send any private messages with this forum.
but you should be able to download my contact details from my profiles "Download vCard" link.

 

Yup, you're right. Got it, writing a mail now.

 

Bad news yet again.

So far I was under the impression turning on Shader 3.0 in Everquest 2 would work around the issue.

That is not the case, sadly. The freezes are just less common. On the other hand, it strengthens my legal case.

 

Please tell us what you hear back from dell since now that you have legal council they wlll probably listen

 

Will do, but you know, legal stuff via snail mail, might take a week or two .

 

is there anyway dell can just issue a refund?

 

I don't understand the question. Of course they could, but they don't.

 

Hello ,

I'm new here ( and i'm french , so please forgive me languages errors )

I just go a fresh M11X R1 last week , and i'm experiencing freezing problems in game , but i'm not sure that it's the same problem as everyone here , so i ask before send it back

I can stay on windows / word / Firefox for hours without any problem , but when i'm playing , the computer just freeze randomly , after generally an hour , sometime less , sometimes more.

I have all drivers up to date , no gpu overclock , and i got the problem with OR without CPU overclock.

The problem is that some people here talk about task killing etc .. , but when my pc is freezing , i mean it's completely freezing. It makes an horrible crripy sound , and i can't even alt + tab , just manual shutodwn.

Happens on Starcraft 2 , Wow and L4D2 ( not a blizzard problem so ) , and the computer is not really hot ( doesn't seem to be an heating problem )

Am i experiencing the same problem as everyone , or do i have a faulty computer ? ( i mean , everyone can acces task killer when freezing , or is it a complete freeze ? )

Thank you very much

 

I think all of us can kill the process using ctrl+alt+del.

Try something before you give up:

-Whitelist your game:
Nvidia control panel - Manage 3D settings - Program Settings - Add (the game process) - Set to always use Nvidia.

 

@Catzoo

Is m11x R1 a typing mistake and you mean R2? If not, which Graphics does that system have?

Our freezes mean we can still use the system, the operating system does not crash.

 

On the phone with Dell yet again. Trying to get up to level 2. Will update after the call.

 

No i really meant r1.

It's a GT335M inside aswell. Well , Thank you for your answers , it seem that my problem ( complète OS freeze ) was not a widespread problem , so the shop Where i got it change it for a brand new one ( with a great smile , you can get everything x) )

I'll tell you if some kind of problems occur with the new one ( even if i'm praying to never had to report any problems ! )

Thank you again for your fast answer

 

Has anyone tried reformatting to fix the freezing issues?

My m11x is fairly new, and the freezing issue is just getting out of hand. It is pretty much a given that if I even let it sit on the desktop overnight with nothing running, it will be frozen by the time i wake up.

 

I know you mean well, and I can only speak for myself. I have gone great lenghts at diagnosing this issue and being a technician I am finished with this.

I have done a factory reset several times, have done clean fresh reinstall, both with all thinkable combination of drivers. The issue is neither fixable nor a customer issue.
The only thing found is that certain game settings can make the freezes more or less common. That's all.

No, your m11x should only freeze if you let a affected game run overnight. Any non affected game or simply the desktop will not freeze.

 

I know you probably wont want to do this but you know what would stimulate this discussion a bit - why dont you folks who are hitting these lockups post the following:

1. Display Driver version installed (yes, I know it variable)
2. Game Title + in-game settings + NV Control panel settings for title (3D Profile settings)

I cant recall anyone posting EXACT in-game settings for a given game. It might help the Senior R2 Owners here and perhaps generate some interest on their part to post.

What I've noticed is many of you who are new here posting on this but very few provide the detail needed for others to provide feedback.

Now, VERY IMPORTANT - do not mistake this post for a slap in the face or anything remotely insulting. its not meant to be read that way. All I am suggesting is providing more specific information.

Its up to you...

 

Nah, what you say is very valid. Actually we'd rather need to set up a wiki now, since this thread gets more and more cluttered (from the nature forums present content). I'm not that sensitive. Well, maybe sometimes .

I don't think we can use this information as I see the issue deeply rooted. Nonetheless I want to help, of course.

1. Display drivers tested:

R275453 (DELL, old, options missing)
260.99 WHQL (I recommend this one, fairly new and working well)
266.58 WHQL (Avoid -- some games do not run: Demigod)​

2. EverQuest II Extended, Presets:

High Quality
Balanced​

Nvidia Control Panel Default Settings for "Launcher.exe". Only change: Default GPU: Nvidia (High Performance)

Freezes mostly very quickly in Steamfont Mountains. Activating Shader 3.0 makes freezes far less common.

I have the feeling I missed mentioning something. Will add it later.
Edit: I've got it, I wanted to make comments to the drivers. Added that now.

 

After spending 3 hours on the phone with tech support, they are sending me a new motherboard and a tech to my house to install it. The lockups happened twice while she was on. Combined with the videos I emailed, it made so bad that even the tech said it was ridiculous.
Some interesting things happend during our testing. Certain events could cause the lockups to happen more quickly. For example changes in network state. When the tech dropped the remote connection, it would lockup. Not always though. Another odd thing was when we loaded the new WLAN driver, the graphics blanked out for a sec. That should not happen. So we both were thinking this might be network related, since it most likely happens with online games.

 

Please tell us if anything changed after the replacement.

 

I am using the modded 266.44v2 (tried v1 as well) driver.

And like I said, my m11x freezes even when not in game. So game settings are pretty much not needed at this point.

 

I cannot kill the process using cntrl alt del?
I have to force shut down =/
It doesnt make a crackly noise or w/e but i can still talk to people on vent while its frozen.

 

I meant canT

The R2 issue that all of us has is not a hard computer freeze but a process freeze, leads to force-shutdown.