Windows 10 on a M17xR4 with a 980 = super slow

I have a M17xR4 (A13 BIOS, i7-3630QM, 16 GB RAM, 2xSSD in RAID 0, GTX 980m, 240 watt PSU) which had been running great on Windows 8.1 with the 345.20 drivers.

I did a clean install of Windows 10, installed the 352.84 modified drivers and noticed that the game performance pretty much sucked.I know that 3DMark isn't the end all of apps, but I at least ran it to compare to my scores from Windows 8.1:

FireStrike
Win 8.1 = 8222
Win 10 = 595

Sky Diver
Win 8.1 = 20,651
Win 10 = 2,137

Cloud Gate
Win 8.1 = 21,014
Win 10 = 5,891

Ice Storm
Win 8.1 = 101,895
Win 10 = 57,024

I used DDU then installed 345.20 in Windows 10 and the numbers really didn't change. My Device Manager shows nothing needing any drivers/updates, but is there some update/patch that I missed that will get Windows 10 back to performance comparable to Windows 8? I keep hearing about people having great (even faster performance) with Windows 10, but I'm not seeing it.

 

345.20 probably isn't supported and was never meant to be for Windows 10

 

No it wasn't meant for it but the horrible performance is coming from 352.80 as well. (I just tried 345.20 as a comparison since others have gotten good results with it)

 

First, What type of screen do you have? (60Hz-Optimus OR 120Hz -3D)
I have the same setup+120Hz display. I'm using driver 352.84 with excellent results + svl7 vbios.
Did you try matching the P-states using Nvidia inspector? (Thanks to J95)
The vbios mod stopped all throttling. A vbios flash may fix your issue.

 

I have the 60 Hz display. I never had to deal with flashing the vbios since I was running 345.20 which didn't have the throttling. Any pointers would would be appreciated.

 

I found the link for the bios on Tech Inferno but still haven't gotten the registration link to start posting 5 quality posts.

In the meantime, I installed the 350.12 drivers from the Eurocomm site ( http://downloads.eurocom.com/support/drivers/upgradeyourlaptop/Alienware/) and seem to be back to where I was before:

FireStrike
Win 8.1 = 8222
Win 10 = 8212

Sky Diver
Win 8.1 = 20,651
Win 10 = 20,746

Cloud Gate
Win 8.1 = 21,014
Win 10 = 20,787

Ice Storm
Win 8.1 = 101,895
Win 10 = 95,802

I'm confused though because I thought that all drivers after 345.20 enabled the throttling (with no way around it other than vbios flash or PState matching), so shouldn't I still be seeing it with 350.12?

 

The only stable driver for Windows 10 is 353.62

 

Isn't this the driver that coupled with windows 10 caused the LCD panel failure?

 

I have the impression maybe your using Optimus, or being forced to use the INTEL GPU or you did not expect losing 15% of your performance because of being in SG mode with the Intel chip. Maybe your not even on the nVidia card, it just assumes all these resources and does nothing meanwhile your on the INTEL chip. Ive seen it.

Did you disable DSE when installing the grapchics driver with ADMIN privilages ?

Are you in SG/Optimus mode or in dedicated ?

Like I compared my stock score 9800 in fire strike, stock, no OC's at all, not even voltage with someone who has same gear as me, but is nopt in dedicated mode. They got like 8500 as a score instead.

They thought they were in dedicated mode. Like 20 people before them, i said, when it says "Hold down the button for 30 seconds.." do not hold it down for 3 seconds and think it worked. Even I made that assumption.
Small details like this screwed me over and many others. when following guides people gave on the forums.
Anyways, the 980M is friggin BLITZ on the M17X-R4. since I've tested and helped install it over 50 times, I've pretty much seen it all on this laptop. Another reaosn why I am selling it. Would like to become familiar with another model. I have had ALL the impressive Alienware's to date but never owned a GT70 or a P377SM or P170EM as an example..

Anyways, if your getting 500 of a score, even my INTEL chip gets 1200. So, sounds like your using the "microsoft basic adapter" default to run the test, LOL.

 

Here: follow this like it was a military precision requirnment :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m17x-r4-without-optimus-working-great.777145/

This thread has other people in same boat as you, who have fixed it.

Then we can get rid of this thread and let it be archived, because there are other threads that solve your issue.

 

This is also not true. VERY not true, and very misleading. Too broad and generalized of a statement, perhaps for you this was what worked.
I have tested maybe 10 different drivers , some of them seem to be very stable in dozens of different examples.
Most notably, I can cite hundreds of examples where the difference between stability and throttling on an Alienware is based on how many USB devices are plugged in and on, and if the lights on and small stuff like that, robbing power.
Every driver is a mix of how you use it, and what its for. In some drivers you might lose performance in one game and gain it in the next, or a previous driver was throttling in and fixed and vice versa next time.
I have found that a properly stable CPU OC and a stock GPU will NET the greater performance and stability, almost not related to drivers. The drivers seem to make these things much more sensitive mind you. Its annoying.

I would never call any nVidia driver stable. its misleading. I would say, instead, that a driver works, under ideal conditions.


EDIT : I also must admit, most of my experience comes from using new videocards and not ones pulled from laptops (I.E I use the higher ASIC versions then the ones discarded to resellers, which I have noticed, fail to operate when not using ideal conditions, most of the time. Ideal meaning, not using OEM drivers or the vbios installed by OEM)

 

Don't know, I don't use Windows 10 on my Alienware 18 and never will

 

Why not try the official Alienware 18 Driver for Windows 10?

Alienware Nvidia Graphics Driver v10.18.13.5354

 

LOL, does it work ?

 

I followed your steps the first time and again followed them twice more with clean installs. Tried both the 352.x and 353.x drivers that you linked, but the only ones that give me the performance I was used to in Windows 8 is the 350.12 ones from the Eurocomm site. Very weird.

 

Just to make sure I didn't miss something:

I have a M17xR4 with the built in Intel 4000 video card and the 980 that I added. I do not have a 3D screen, so I assume that means I am supposed to follow the 60Hz Optimus directions, correct?

1- Unplug power cord
2- Remove battery
3- Hold power button for 30 seconds
4- Remove CMOS coin battery(next to GPU fan)
5- Remove nVidia GTX 980M
6- Reinsert CMOS battery
7- Plug power cord
8- Power on -> Flashes and shutsdown > Beeps -> hold power button until shutdown.
9- Power on -> F2 -> Boot menu (configured as follows)
Add Boot Options = Last
Windows Fast Boot = Disabled
USB Hot Key Support = Disabled
Secure Boot = Disabled
Load Legacy Option ROM = Disabled
Boot List Option = UEFI
9 - Exit menu 'Save Without Exit' -> Power off.
10- Reinsert nVidia GTX 980M
11- Power ON -> F2 -> Checks settings are same, and not reset > shutdown.
12- Re-install Win10/Windows 8/Windows 7