Alienware become very laggy/slow in simple windows operations

Hi guys,

I got Alienware 17, processor Intel Core i7-4700MQ @2.4 GHZ, 24 GB RAM, Nvidia Geforce M770 16 GB i think. Disc C is SSD

Some time ago i noticed that my laptop started to run slow. Was getting laggy while having few windows open and basically did not act like it should for such a fast machine for simple work. I was also running Plex media server and recently every time i was trying to watch movie on my TV in the other room, it was buffering every few minutes wich never happened before. Even in Blu Ray movies. I figured out that it has to be the laptop issue too, since the movies were streamed from it.

So i thought i can reinstall windows. Clean one with full C: disc format. I did it but noticed no major improvement. When i go to random page, say facebook and i want to scroll posts, its not moving clearly, its laggy on such easy task.

I run Support Assist tool, all tests were passed, but i noticed even in the 1st test when there were some video things running on 1024x768 resolution and i had like 3-5 FPS, it was so laggy and i think those were minimum requirements.

I had all updates done. I have also now after i reinstalled windows. I kept everything clean, C: disc was erased anyway.



Any idea what could it be? What can i do/ What tests can i run. Clearly its not working properly and i cant work with everything being so slow

Thank You in advance

 

Long time since you cleaned up the internals like heatsink and fans? Have you monitored how high the Cpu-Gpu max temp go?

 

I have never cleaned it to be honest. Today for the first time i checked hout to tear it down as i finally removed battery(Using it as stationary all the time and killed battery anyway by now)

I will read how to clean the fans and will definately do it, but from what i checked it doesnt look bad at all.

How can i check/monitor CPU-GPU max temp? Can you let me know how to do it and will post the results

 

its basically so slow, evey after restart and have few tabs open in chrome, that i want to just grab it and throw out of the window. It has to be something with SSD disc or Ram, although it says everything is fine. I will run 3dmark benchmarks now just to see how bad it is

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/17380761 - this are mu results. Its laggy sometimes even when i write this posts, unbelievable

2522 Score with Fire Strike 1.1

3955 Score with Cloud Gate 1.1

29822 with Ice Storm 1.2

all this results are complete joke, only better than 11% laptops. In many tests i had 3-5 FPS only

 

@Papusan I found this;

Temp:

upload img

I also did Smart Disc Scan

imagur

 

i tear it down and cleaned both fans. Both were a little bit dirty, but it did not help at all.

I believe it has to be either SSD disc or RAM memory. Looking now for some apps to test ssd disc.

Any idea what could that be? I had a moment when i thought that it has to be SSD disc and that i can buy new one, but if i cant see any errors in any apps i dont see any sense of doing that.

But really dont want to send it to the service as they basically can exchange even working parts and that will cost a lot

 

I had similar problems with Windows updates before. Or could be a memory leak. Check in task manager if you have either near 100% disk or ram used even though you have no processes running.

 

Test one more time with CINEBENCH_R11.5 and CINEBENCH_R15 Run only the Cpu test.
Monitor with Hwinfo or Hwmonitor as you did. Post the results with pict.

Have you cleaned the heatsink and not only cleaned the fans? Because the temp is all too high with low Cpu package power.
Next step will be. Download latest bios and flash. Put default bios settings afterwards.

Put up HWiNFO64 v5.42 like the pict

Spoiler: Hwinfo64 setup for easy monitoring

 

Yes. I mostly cleaned heatsink, it was dirty and i cleaned everything and i put air from hairdryer on both sides. Same with fans, although fans looked fine. I also removed and reconnected both hard drivers and RAM, the ones where the access is easy. I think there is slot for one ore two under the keyboard as well, but did not go that far just for that RAM slots.

During night i did RAM test using Memtest86. All looked fine and all tests were passed

imagen

So i've done Bios update, but i had the latest one wich is AW14 or sth so doubt it could help. Havent touched it afterwords so its on default.

I've done the tests you asked for and did both actually Open GL and CPU

11' CPU - 6.27 OpenGL - 15.18 FPS
15' CPU 582 cb Open GL - 25,59 FPS

free screen capture

free screen capture

free screen capture

free screen capture

Its same still, all working way too slow, clear example. When i try to open File Explorer, it takes about 4 secs until folder pops out

 

@Papusan This numbers dont tell me much, besides the fact that i dont think the temps are too high, looks ok to me. I've made an appointment for tomorrow to the service.

I made major improvement to the overall perfomance as i wanted to give them clean laptop without any of my data in the history on C disc so i made clean format of that disc, the more advanced from the options. After i did that and reinstalled windows i've noticed significant improvement. More or less the overal perfomance of the laptop is like it should be. At least i think so, but..

I made few more 3d mark and pcmark/cinebench tests and although i cant verify the pcmark and cinebench results i am sure that 3dmark ones are way below average. I am sure i had higher results before and definately seeing few fp's on Fire Strike is not right for this setup

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/17423125

This are the results for 3dmark 11

3500 for Fire Strike, 14500 for Cloud Gate and onlu 80000 for Ice Storm

Pcmark 7 gave me results of 5050 score

Cinebench 11: CPU 6,84 pts Open GL 51,58 FPS
Cinebench 15: CPU 642 cb Open GL 78.00 FPS

I am starting to think that i actually fixed the main issue of laptop running slow, but there is a bigger issues with my nvidia card that i basically havent used in the past as i dont play games on it, but it makes me think its not right and that it could e connected with other issues on the laptop

Any ideas about that?

I also found this topic, but not quite sure what is paste job and what are people talking about there. Might ask tomorrow when i go to the service, but maybe there is a chance we can diagnose it here?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-very-low-3dmark-scores-on-780m.727867/

I have attached you guys, as i cant reply on that topic. Big thx in advance for help

@teslaenergy @Dusk Star @flingin @MickyD1234 @Red Line @Robbo99999

 

I have also made benchmark on 3dMark update 2.2 Time Spy

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/17423962

1086 result, better than... 2% of all results

 

With the exception of Ice Storm, all of your scores are on point for a GTX 770m

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-770M.88995.0.html

The Link you posted is people talking about the GTX 780m which will score higher.

A "paste job" is referring to changing the the thermal paste on the GPU and CPU dies that make contact with the heat sinks. This is something that should be done about once a year for optimum thermal performance. Most people here would tell you to think of it like an oil change on a car.

 

Thats the anwser i did not expect to see So you are basically saying that everything here is fine, and all i can do is to give it to the service for paste job and some professional fans/heatsink cleaning? You said it has to be done once in a year. My laptop is working nearly 24/h and i havent done it since i've purchased it about 3 years ago

As for the results, i remember having 1200 FPS in first tests in Ice Storm- Now its 400max, also overal result was 120000+. I have it saved but cant send password reminder to 3d website

Is this graphic card that bad that when i do the benchmark on that Time Spy its lagging from start to finish and gets the result better than only 2% of the tested machines? If its like that only with graphics, i will leave it as like i said i dont play any games at all, but due to multitasking i want machine to work as fast as possible.

 

Yes, Time spy is very demanding. It is a DirectX 12 benchmark. The most modern GTX 1080 desktop card only gets about 50 FPS on it. It is mostly a benchmark for enthusiast desktop systems.

Yes, your computer likely needs a service with new paste and cleaned fans

 

Thx a lot. Will update it i guess in 2 days when its done

 

Both the CPU and GPU is within the normal. And the temps are as well ok. You could try high performance profile in Windows power plan and put high performance in NCP. Otherwise everything looks ok. Tell us how it goes

 

They did it on the same day. I've just recieved it and tested, but results are exactly the same, not even slight improvement. I even got cooling stand for the laptop with 3 additional fans that i use, but no improvements. I am sure i had 120000 score on Ice Storm before, now cant reach 80k.

But... You are saying that this results are normal for my laptop so i am not sure what can be done more. Maybe i am wrong as i thought its that strong that this results should be way higher. I will look for some more only perfomance benchmarks, that are not focused on graphics as i said i dont play games. Just was doing it as i thought it can be connected on all the aspects of the laptop perfomance.

How can i improve overall perfomance if i decide to? What can be done here to get the laptop work faster? Its ok now after that clear format. Would i have to add more Ram to this 24GB or get faster SSD disc? Maybe tweak processor?

 

You can disable some background Windows services that sometimes clog up systems.

SuperFetch and Windows Search come to mind.

Also see how many apps are enabled on startup; disable everything but the essentials.

If you don't mind spending some money, get rid of that spinning plate HDD and put in a SSD, can get 500 GB SSD for about $150

 

And you have put high performance profile in Windows power plan(Not balanced or own created) and use high performance in NCP? Your cpu work as expecxted, but will probably work better in high performance plan in Windoze.

For test of your OS disk AS SSD Benchmark v1.9.5986.35387 - CrystalDiskMark v5.2.1 You can find benchmarks results for your OS ssd and compare on the web.

More tests for your processor wPRIME v1.5 (Run as adm - select 8 threads and run 1024M)
http://www.putme.net/wPrime210.zip (select 8 threads and run 1024M)


And if you run Windoze X. Stop unwanted crap O&O ShutUp10 v1.4.1386.1 [Do not use Windows 10 without this, helps you get rid of all the Windows 10 shenanigans]

And Clean windoze X guide http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/nbr-windows-10-clean-installation-guide.781178/ Give a Big thanks to bro @Phoenix

 

Yes i got both set at High perfomance. I cant run this wPrime, tried both but i get error "unexpected error; quitting' straight after clicking on the .exe files. Tried on different websites but all downloads are directed to their website and same file is being downloaded.

I downloaded O&O and every option, but Smart Screen is disabled.

I did make tests for the both disc benchmarks you mentioned and here are the results. From what i checked the score on OS SSD disc is low

SSD C: San Disk





And my WD 2nd disc that i use for movies/storage etc(skipped 4k-64Thrd test here)

 

I'm on my little phone.. Post your ssd model and brand name. Same for your HDD. The OS ssd score is terrible. I will search it up. For Wprime.. right click and run as adm. Then Follow the tutorial in previous post. Well done so far.

 

SSD - SanDisk SDSSDP128G

the 2nd- storage disc is WDC WD7500BPKX-75HPJTO 750,1 GB

wPrime 2.1 - 1024m on 8 threads - 257,643 sec
wPrime 1.55 - 1024m on 8 threads - 225,494 sec
(My bad, havent noticed that "run as adm" earlier)

Before doing that wPrime i've also run some Perfomance Test 9.0 by Passmark and here are the results:

images

 

@Papusan My overall laptop perfomance is ok now after all the cleaning, hard format and instructions provided here. My only concern is now if i should change this bad SSD drive. I can get new one if it really helps in the overal perfomance and it will run smoother and faster. But should i just do the one for C disk or just replace both discs(including D:- HDD) into SSD. I also have 2 HDD discs connected to laptop as i use both for Media and use my laptop as Media server for Plex, so that i can watch movies on my TV, but it would be possible to get SSD for main media that would be in place of the HDD, and just have one more HDD connected for important files/storage etc.

also are this wPrime results for CPU ok?

 

Nice everything went well
If you have the money... Replace both. You can have up to 3 ssd's (1 of them M-sata). Even 4 if you scratch the ODD. But you definitely need a new OS ssd. Only 2 choices I will recommend. Sandisk Extreme Pro or Samsung 850 Pro. Minimum 240GB size. Both have MLC nand.

Get 2 of those http://www.anandtech.com/show/8170/sandisk-extreme-pro-240gb-480gb-960gb-review if you have the money. If not... 850 Pro as said. Remember if you go for 3 ssd's, one of those must be M-sata if you don't replace ODD.

Edit: Your Wprime 1024M scores is as well ok and within normal
http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/core_i7_4700mq/

 

M
Thank you once again or Your help and to everyone that contributed in this post. I'm glad everything is ok and i can only upgrade now to get it better. I will have final question with it. San Disk extreme is not an option as i dont see any places in my country to get it right now, no idea why is that. I will be in the UK for few days but decided to go with Samsung. And here is the question that probably many asked before.

Evo or Pro. You said Pro as recommendation. I was thinking about few options like Pro+evo, Evo+evo but those will cost a little bit too much and a little bit of waste at this point especially as i have 2 external HDD drives(one bought like a year ago My Passport Ultra-wich is complete joke from what i see now and have like 60/40 results for read/write and those are way worse than the other one that is like 5 or more years old wich is S2 Portable 3 and will probably just get rid of it or use it for backups) And due to the amount of the movies/photos i wont be able to match all on those ssd drives.

I am closest to the option of buying Evo 850 500 GB as system disc wich is more or less at the same price as 250 GB 850 Pro, and use it for system, apps- current data and new movies to watch on the media server in other rooms. And then just use the other HDD i have now inside wich is that Western Digital and the S2 Portable as external wich have similar results to the WD at 100/100 about for the other storage/photos that are not used on regular basis. I understand the most important one and the one that is responsible for the perfomance is the system disc.

Is this EVO 850 500 GB fine over 850 Pro 256? I've seen many tests/benchmarks, on many i saw that this both discs are a completely match, on some Pro is slightly better, but the difference is very small. It has that 5 years more warranty but i doubt its an issue for me at all. Saw that this 500gb and 1tb are a same competitor to Pro, 256 have worse results

Thanks!

 

@Papusan or anyone please ? Just holding myself from confirming the order

 

Sorry. I still keep 850 Pro and Sandisk Extreme Pro as best choice for me, you and other persons. I would not select anything else for my AW17 - Clevo P870. I wouldn't buy another type ssd. I will always by ssd's with MLC nand!! I've always had good experiences with them.

 

Damn, thats not making this decision easier. From all i read i just dont think i can go wrong with that evo or that i would notice any difference betwwen this two and the price difference is quite significant. Theo only place that said pro with mlc is faster was anandtech. In most benchmarks comparisons both are so even. Way sooner than 5 years of gurantee i will probably get new machine anyway or can then in a year or two go with the pro and use evo as 2nd ssd instead of hdd that i will still have now.

Hard to pick now the other option than you recommend but i think i would just waste money on that difference :/

 

FYI. MLC nand has not directly as much with the speed. It has more with reliability and <often can be used harder> aka a safer choice. SSD's in the premium segment also comes with better warranty.
As said up to yoou my friend. I have already made my choice.

Info for you http://www.anandtech.com/show/9799/best-ssds Good Luck with whatever choice you do

 

So, due to the budget i've decided to buy that 850 500 EVO now, and then PRO in few months, most likely at black friday. Will then use Pro for as main system disk and Evo as the secondary. Had a good deal on evo, and once the pro move down in price, i will get it.

I've made clean windows intall. Everything looks fine and the results are better then before. I've managed to get 5700 on Pcmark7 comparing to 5000 on the previous test. Graphics one are more or less same, although after installing all the drivers i was able to switch graphic cards by fn+f5 again, and after that and one test the Ice Storm results jumped to 110k comparing to 80k before. For all the other tests Cinebench etc, even when i moved this graphic cards back to the switchable option i guess results remains the same. Passmark showed way better disks results but thats obvious. My laptop is working really nice and i would like to Thank everyone and @Papusan in particular for all the help in this topic

I've decided also to use that old 128GB ssd disk as the secondary one until i buy that Pro in few months. Results in crystaldiskmark are at 500/340 right now after clean format so think its better to use that one instead of the bigger hdd one, wich i can connect anyway.

Instead of that, i bought pocket or sth to connect that HDD as external by USB cable. Until now i used 2 externals connected, one was S2 Portable and the other one was My Passport Ultra. Will check what are the speeds for that WD one that i had inside my alienware earlier and will just pick 2 fastest one and sell the other one.

I have also set OS optimization for that Evo disk in Samsung Magician app for Max Perfomance