please help with slow M15X

hi and thanks in advance,

i have bought a seconed hand alienware M15x of a "mate" i have been trying to play games however it is so slow and chy when trying to play games such as medevil totalwar so i tryed command and conquer genorals, now this runs fine on my low end laptop but again runs so bad on the M15x even with the settings on low.

I have updated from windows, direct x, dell and NIVIDA websites. i have run diagnostics in the set up with passes, i have tryed everything i know.
please please sombody help as this is driving me crazy, any help or advice is welcome, and thanks again for your help

the specs are:
inte(r) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 740 @1.73 Ghz
installed memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
System type 64 -Bit operating system
Nvidia Geforce GTX 260 1GB GPU,
160Gb HDD.

 

Is stealth mode activated by any chance?

 

na cheacked that.

 

double check stealth mode, run wattos stealth mode indicator to be sure and check for a green alienhead. red means stealth mode is on.

also, if you could, download hwinfo64 and install. run it and leave it open with the sensor window showing. check your max temps after playing a game.

if you could, it would also help to post a log from throttlestop and gpu-z during gaming to help further identify the problem.

just a quick question, do you notice the fans spinning loudly during idle?

 

I'm facing the same problem.

I have the same configuration except mine is 1.5GB GTX460m / 500GB HDD

EDIT: i will try wattos stealth mode.

 

i believe it requires alienware command centre in order for it to work correctly.
just a heads up.

with the i7 740qm you should not be experiencing power throttling with either the 260m or 460m (or very rarely). With your configs, chances are its either a heat problem or an issue with stealth mode.

 

Sounds like stealth mode to me too, but also confirm that PowerPlay is Enabled and set to Max Performance when plugged in and that Intel SpeedStep is enabled in the BIOS.

 

ok so i can conferm a green light on the stealth mode lol and i ran the other program and saved the results but i cant upload them coz there a csv file and im a compleate mong!! lol

sorry but had to cut and paste (this is before game)

Temp 0 Temp 1 Temp 2 Temp 3 Temp 4 Temp 5 CPU GPU1 PCH Temperature
48.0 °C 53.0 °C 55.0 °C 57.0 °C 44.0 °C 47.0 °C 4261 RPM 4686 RPM 62.0 °C


and below is during (medevil total war)

Temp 0 Temp 1 Temp 2 Temp 3 Temp 4 Temp 5 CPU GPU1 PCH Temperature
56.0 °C 54.0 °C 55.0 °C 57.0 °C 45.0 °C 48.0 °C 3286 RPM 3695 RPM 62.0 °C


again sorry for the above ; ) the game was ching/freezing again anyway

 

thanks, whats this Powerplay and where will i find it? think i recall cheacking the BIOS but will try again.

not to be a suck up , but thanks for the help been readng the other threads and i feel way way out my depth.

knowlede is power and all that!

 

just cheacked the BIOS and all settings are enabled. and the fan was running hard prior to reboot now silent.

 

PowerPlay is included in Catalyst Control Center (right click on desktop, top selection).

​

 

yep thats set up ok too, i kinda feel stupid coz i think i know the problem, i havnt updated the BIOS from dell.

i tryed but when i unziped the file ( M15R1A09 )it didnt work saying it wasnt compatable. any sergestions?
cheers

 

i looked and the R279747 seems to work is this the latest one? should i install?

 

The M15xA09.iso file ( Drivers & Downloads) is the one you want. But it is not a zip file. It is an .iso file which has to be burned (not copied) to a CD/DVD. Just insert a blank CD, right click on the .iso and select Burn, then follow the directions. That will create a bootable CD with the A09 BIOS and the files needed to flash it. I would recommend that you read the A09 Bios thread before starting ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/549258-m15x-bios-a09-discussion-thread.html)). Plenty of help available here.

 

yea ive done the above and still no joy, i have just bought 8gig RAM and installed that in a bid to speed things up....no joy lol

do you think i should try speeding up the CPU/clock?

im totaly at the end now..

 

Ive tried the Throtlestop program, and still nothing, looking at the system its kicking out the GHZ,s all the tests are coming up OK, Ive installed more RAM Ive updated all drivers and still im getting chy performance and not only in games but Ive noticed it whist serving the web.

ANY advice/pointers would be well appreciated!!

 

u r running an nvidia 260m im not very familiar with the card. grab a program called gpu-z go to sensors and click on log now go back to playing your game for about 5 to 10 mins. exit game and check your sensors check to see if the card was throttling andor achieving max clocks(check log aswell). also after booting up ur system tick stealth mode on a couple of seconds later tick it back off. and post an pick of your hwinfo32 summary

 

ok ive done that an attached it, just so you know i was playing Medevil total war on low settings however the vidio settings on auto detect say that it should be high on all.

the game was unplayable with the voice repeating them self over an over on a loop, and the game was unresponsive taking about 5-10 sec to responed to me clicking on a unit.

 

this is a long shot, but do you have McAfee Antivirus Plus installed?

In addition to McAfee, do you happen to have HP Printer drivers?

 

Probably your HDD. I don't think 160GB is what it came with originally. I experimented on switching my 7200rpm to a 5400rpm HDD. And guess what, performance degrade drastically on Crysis 2.

It is a possibility, but probably not the case.

 

thanks for the pointers but ive had some devolopment, i took it to a computer repair shop and he opened it in front of me and there was ALOT of dust in the outlet vents also he said that there was too much thermal paste on the CPU. so a happy man i took it home and the game worked for approx 5 min and then it started doing the same thing again, freezing, ching ect ect.

i took it back today and he is saying it could be either a bad section in the Hard drive or Graphics card.

Does this seam likley or is having my pants down? he aslo said that if it was graphic card it needs a "special one to fit". can i buy this myself a link would be awsome

again many many thanks i would have thrown this thing at a wall if it wasnt for your help!!

 

I would suggest swapping the HDD if you have a spare. Or just borrow one from any other notebook. If this doesn't fix it, only then you should consider getting a new GPU / swapping with someone else who has an M15x or M17x..

Only buy the parts when you're sure it's faulty. Unless you have alot of money to spend