M9750 - Call of Duty 4 = Choppy

I've seen plenty of posts around here saying their m9750 runs this game flawlessly, and one guy even claimed that he could max everything out with 1 7950 GTX at 1920x1200 resolution. Why is it that I get really choppy play with 2 7950 GTX's using SLI at AFR1, AFR2, SFR, and Single GPU configuration? My FPS goes all over the place from a smooth 80 something in buildings to roughly 20-25 when I am outside, it seems like turning down all the decals and models to low makes the game run slightly better, but its still choppy. I have even run the game with SLI disabled and the performance is much worse.

What gives? What is the definition of running flawlessly? I think its a smooth 30-60 frames per second but maybe I am wrong.

Setup

m9750
2 7950 GTX's in SLI (167.46 Alienware Beta Drivers)
2.16 C2D
2 Gigs of Ram
Windows XP Pro

Before you make the suggestion that I update my drivers to something more recent from Laptopvideo2go, newer drivers have NOT solved my problems with any of the games I am having trouble with so far, including Unreal Tournament and Quake Wars Enemy Territory(in QWET the framerate goes all over the place as well.)

 

is it in SLI mode?

 

I said it ran smoothly with everything up EXCEPT anti-aliasing, which is a big except.

Do you use AA?

Is SLI enabled in COD AND in the nvidia settings?

And I assume you mean both multi & single player? Or is it only one?

 

Check your PowerMizer settings to make sure they are at maximum performance. Right-click Desktop -> Nvidia Control Panel

Even though you already updated drivers, I'd suggest the 174.82 drivers because those worked well for me with the last SLI notebook I used. Install Driver Cleaner Pro and have it remove the drivers for you:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745
Then follow the stickied SLI guide and install new ones.

Lastly, run 3DMark06 and see what your score is.

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention I was not using any Anti-Aliasing. I tried max Anistropic Filtering, then tried it with none but noticed little to no difference in performance, and yes Dual Video cards is enabled in the options.

 

We have already problem with Powermizer...

 

NEVERMIND.. I was too hasty claiming my problem had been solved. I guess COD4 runs great on some maps and TERRIBLY on others. I usually get a sustained 27-30 fps on average in the map Bog at a native resolution of 1440x900. I do NOT have Anti-Aliasing enabled, only Anistropic Filtering. SLI is also enabled and it is enabled in the nvidia control panel as well.

What kind of frames do you get usually mjl2142? I cannot comprehend how you can run it on max settings at 1920x1200 and have a stable framerate, what are your settings? Is my m9750 the only one that does not run games smoothly for some reason?

This happens on Singleplayer mode as well, for instance I start out on the map Blackout in Act 1, immediately it starts at 21-24 frames per second and sometimes I will get a spike up to 30-35 frames per second (woohoo!) on the map.

Also, what is your definition of a smooth frame rate, 30? 60? Atleast this computer can run unreal tournament 2004 and counterstrike source at max without any problems! YEAH!

 

It might be time to call TS. It sounds like a hardware issue. While I do have the odd problem here and there due to drivers my games run smoothy for the most part. I don't play COD4 much but when I have its been pretty smooth when I have played. Assassin's Creed is just about flawless. You should really check to make sure your video cards are in good working order.

 

Well Frag, I decided to call TS. Apparently, my laptop was reaching critical temperatures of 215 degrees Fahrenheit, which in turn would cause the card to downclock, or melt. Welp, I am shipping it back and hopefully they will fix the issue. They are even cool enough to play COD4 themselves on my m9750 until it runs like it should. Well, that pretty much solves the mystery on whats been causing my poor performance in UT3 and now COD4. On a sidenote, Alienware's tech support is awesome!

 

Hmm.. I think I'm reaching critical temperatures as well.. while playing I do see 97-101C using Rivatuner and I occasionally get graphical anomolies. I consider smooth framerate to be 30+ fps even at the heaviest game scenarios and I don't accomplish that without turning off shadows and dynamic lighting at WUXGA resolution. Turning off those two settings gives me solid gameplay.. the question really is should I have to?

Edit - I did put on my own arctic silver onto the heatsinks and both my cards generate the same level of heat. They are not 5-10C off but are VERY consistent with each other. I'm not sure if this is normal since the second card should run cooler. Am I wrong?

 

The tech support guy told me that the GPU's should both run near the same temperature. In my case, one was running at 101 C, and the other was at like 85 or 88 C. If I were you, I would talk to tech support as well, might as well fix it now instead of getting hit with the same problem in the long run.

 

a few hints to get better FPS in COD4:

turn off the shell ejection so your fps doesn't drop so much when you fire. i can't remember the command for it but if you type brass in the console it will pop up with the command.

also, turn off things like specular map because you really don't need the fps drop it causes during multiplayer. however, it looks great during single player, so keep it on for that. but during multiplayer you really don't need anything that will cause a sudden 10-15 fps drop even for a few seconds.

i'm managing to crank out about 90+ fps solid no matter where i am (unless in a croweded gunfight), with all the textures and detail on max, and most other settings on max.

 

Levenly,

I've been spending a lot of time trying to get better performance out of CoD 4 without resorting to the console. I've found that I even get BETTER frame rate without SLI that with. Here are my settings:

1920x1200
No AA
No Shadows
No Spec Light (I want it on because it's so cool)
drivers: 175.63
FPS: 30-60 fps

How the heck can you be playing with shadows and spec lighting on and STILL get good framerate? What drivers are you using?