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    Weird Graphical Lag

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by Mr. F, Sep 5, 2011.

  1. Mr. F

    Mr. F Newbie

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    Ok, I seriously don't know where to turn to. Tomorrow I'm calling Dell, but I'm almost giving up on this. I googled up to see if anyone had a similar issue and ended up here, thought "why not?", I should give it a shot anyway.

    I have an Alienware M15X. The basic specs are: 4GB ram, Intel i5 520M, 4GB RAM (2x2048), 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon 5850, 320 GB SATA drive and Windows 7 64-bit. I am using a standard 19" acer monitor for the video output.

    Anyway, I've been running most modern games just fine. Witcher 2, Fable 3, FEAR 3, among others, and they were running fine. The other day I was on an older game, when I noticed I was running at half the FPSs I used to. I acquired the new Deux Ex, and it was barely playable. Then I noticed that other game I play that barely requires no graphics at all (minecraft) was lagging a bit every now and then (whereas it didn't use to). I struck me as odd, so I went back to Fable 3, which I hadn't played in a while, and it was barely playable as well.

    I hadn't formatted the computer in a while, so I decided to go ahead and do that, though not before trying to disconnect the monitor and check, even though it was running fine on it some months ago. I formatted the computer, and also I booted up a live ubuntu disc to perform a memtest, see if maybe one of the RAM cards had died or was not working properly, but it all checked out. I downloaded SpeedFan also to see if maybe it had to do with a temperature problem, but it really wasn't that hot. Formatting didn't help either, nor going to ATI's page in search for the latest video driver. And even though the people I work with, that now a lot more about hardware than I do, were at a loss, constantly stating my computer had more than decent hardware and everything should be running fine.

    Anyone got any suggestions? Or should I just call Dell? Because it's been an year and two months since I bought it and I'm not really sure how much they'll be able to help me. Any help is appreciated.
     
  2. LinkRS

    LinkRS Notebook Consultant

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    Hi Mr. F.

    There is a somewhat known "issue" with the M15x, where it gets stuck in stealth mode. Before doing anything drastic, make sure the Alienware OSD and Command Center are installed, and try turnign Stealth Mode on, and then off. This should force the system to turn it off. I have seen stealth mode stick, and survive reboots and even power drains, but I have not ever tried a Windows reinstall. Good luck!

    Rich S.
     
  3. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Agree with LinkRS. When Stealth Mode is enabled or engaged, your video card clocks drops to about one-half of their normal level, severely restricting performance in games or other 3d apps. You toggle Stealth Mode by pressing the icon on the far right of the touch panel (looks like a speedometer or tachometer). The icon glows relatively brightly when engaged (slow down mode) and is dim when disabled (normal). It is very easy to hit the Stealth Mode icon inadvertently when pressing the Delete key or other top row key. Try toggling the icon a few times even if it looks dim (off). It can sometimes seem to have a mind of its own, but switching it on and off a time or two will generally restore order. Happens a lot.

    If your M15x is over a year old, there have been various changes to both the system BIOS (now A09) and the 5850M VBIOS (now A02). Updating both will increase performance and facilitate the use of new and improved video drivers. In addition, a thorough cleaning of the fans and vents may reduce operating temps that can cause serious slowdowns.
     
  4. Mr. F

    Mr. F Newbie

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    I haven't installed the Alienware command center (in fact, never had, as soon as I bought the M15x I reinstalled the OS), but I'll definitely try that. Also, I'll update the bios too, and will let you know how it turns out. Thank you very much for the helpful replies!
     
  5. Mr. F

    Mr. F Newbie

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    Wow, I can't almost believe it myself. I went to the Dell site, and installed both the latest BIOS driver and the Command Center. As soon as everything was installed, I started pressing the stealth key, but it was making a sound like it was doing nothing (you know, the windows "something's wrong" sound). So I went into AlienFusion, and noticed they had three default settings: balanced, power-saver and high-performance, among of which one of the items was the videocard. I set it to high-performance and voila! Now it seems to be working properly though I could not do extensive testing, but the games I tried were doing much much better. I'm pretty sure this has fixed the issue, but it did make me wonder when the setting switched itself, and I realized I did move my laptop several months ago and used it without its power cord, which probably set it automatically to a power-saving mode, but did not set it back to high performance when I plugged it back in. Then again, this is just a theory.

    Thank you very much everyone; I'll surely do some more gaming tonight and make sure, but it seems it's already been taken care of.