horrible 3dmark Vantage Score on m17x

these are my specs
Alienware m17x
Windows 7 RC x64
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000
4GB DDR3 1333mhz
2 x Nvidia 260M in SLI running 186.18 driver

I had this same problem in vista and that is why I installed Windows 7 to see if that made a difference and it didn't.
I have also tried reinstalling Nvidia drivers and 3dMark Vantage and I get the same results.
I also made sure I am running on the 2 260M instead of the integrated 9400.

Any help would be appreciated. Is there something I am missing?

 

I have no idea, it seems you've checked almost everything.
Did you try running it with sli disabled?

 

I wouldn't even know how to get it that low. It's actually pretty impressive.

Turn PhysX on and see if the CPU score goes up.

 

i mean wow, that is impressive.

 

Wow, you've got one for the record books!

 

Would the score even be that bad on the 9400?

 

Are you in stealth mode with everything idled down?

 

I am in boost performance mode with my computer plugged in to the wall

 

i think you hit it, seems that is the case to me.

 

how do i check to see if that is the case?

 

well if you truly are in boost performance and running your discretes you shouldn't be in stealth mode, have you tried running cpu-z and gpu-z to see what it shows?

also check your device manager, does it show 3 entries under display adaptors?

 

and yes it shows all 3 display adapters

 

well maybe vantage just is not installed corrrectly, did you install everything it asked to? including it's system info crap? if so uninstall it completely then reinstall and run again with default settings.

I'm not sure how to check this but it could aslo possibly be that your vid drivers is not properly changing from 2d mode to 3d mode when it is supposed to but i don't think this would explain why the cpu score is just as low also.

 

I think my palm pre has a higher score??? Maybe there are a few driver issues?

 

i just noticed that in CPUZ that the Core Speed dropped from 2500MHz to 1800MHz after a just a minute of being rebooted. Is there a setting that keeps the CPU from limiting the Core Speed to something lower then what it is set in the bios that I should disable?

 

The system underclocks itself when not used heavily, once you start running something it should boost back to stock or oc clocks, this is normal

 

this is going to sound so ridiculous....

What is his score? I reread the OP like 10 times and could not see it.

Also, was this the result of a single run? Of many runs that gave similar results?

 

screenshot.

this is only one run but every time i try to run it, it runs at at basically 0 FPS which doesn't make any sense

 

OOOOO now it makes sense haha.

I am at work, and most file share sites are blocked so I just see the text and not even a gap in space. For the less fortunate (like me) could you share the score verbally? lol

Thanks

 

lets just say ridiculously low

another note is that it seems to be mainly a problem with Vantage because i can run Counter Strike Source at like 80-150 FPS

 

did you try reinstalling vantage?

edit: yes you did, my bad.

 

i redid my OC the FSB on my CPU to 1200MHz and disabled hybrid graphics and the integrated graphics so only the 260Ms would run.
These are the results.

 

gonna guess another screen shot since I cant see anything?

dam the DOD!

 

P673

GPU: 515
CPU: 8730

 

Now that I see some numbers, that is just weird....

Only thing I can come up with is that it is a driver (or other software) issue - but you said that it works flawlessly in games so I am out of ideas.

According to Nvidia, the latest driver for those cards is 186.03. You are using the desktop driver right? Not the mobile one? Try with 186.03 and see what you get.

For product series select GeForce 200m Series (notebooks)

Doesn't explain the discrepancy between Vantage and games, but is worth a try?

 

i tried installing those drivers but it says that the drivers could not find a compatible component to use the drivers on. I read on another thread that said that said that the m17x isn't compatible with the regular nvidia drivers. they only work with the dell released drivers and drivers with a modified inf file which is what i am using.

This is what i used.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4985798&postcount=85

 

hmmm. In my experience modded files have always (100%) been unstable. Even if supposedly modded correctly. Do you have these problems using the Dell drivers?

 

yes i had the same problem with stock drivers. that's why i installed the modified drivers but did not try the dell drivers with the hybrid turned off and integrated graphics turned off. i am going to try different drivers. if anyone has recommendations for drivers please let me know.

 

There is no way those results are real. Are you a photoshop user? If they are real than you are the only one with such a PC and that's good for us. Just have AW change your PC.

 

you think he would just make this thread for attention?!

lol

 

Looks to me like a bad card that is throttling.

I had an old Hypersonic PC laptop that did that with a 7950GTX. It posted an ridiculously low score like 800 in 3DM03.

 

Is this possibly a Windows 7 problem.
I'm presuming you are running Windows 7 because your Windows Experience scores show two subsections above 5.9
AFAIK for Vista the maximum for any subsection is 5.9

http://www.armchairarcade.com/neo/node/2346

 

i said i had vista and i had this problem. that's one reason i upgraded

i am calling technical support to see if i can get this fixed

 

Sorry I missed reading that line

I hope you find a solution quickly

 

i am silent. i don't even know where to start.
i would reinstall windows.
pack everything up in the box.
put it outside
close the door
open back the door
be surprise that your unit came in and then try again. lol


but for real. try a different benchmark like 3dmark06 to see if everything else is ok. if it works ok then we know it's your vantage install.

if not then uninstall your gpu driver and anything that has to do with it then try dell stocked drivers with the 9400m disabled don't forget to use driversweeper to erase your reg files for the old driver. if it works then your driver install was bad.

let us know your results.

 

If he is getting triple digit frame rates in games, and single digit (1?) framerate in Vantage, seems there is some problem with the 3dvantage install, some missing driver or files it needs to run. Were it a hardware issue , i do not see how he would be able to have such high (real) game scores. Sounds like it could be some wacky installation issue. . . .

I'd just wipe my HD, respawn it back to an "as recieved" state. Download a fresh copy of the 3dvanatage, make sure nothing is running in background and rerun.

An 88 3DVantage score is likely a record , in the wrong way, but a record nonetheless.....

 

MWHAHAHAHAHA... LOL very funny remark!

Second that. Just first try another prog if it show's good results you know Vantage is gone bananas, if not, Don's got a the "Qouted" solution.

 

well that's what i think would be the best solution. it's hard to believe that. i would submit it just for kicks.

 

Fire is always fun, i would try reinstalling windows or vantage, also try running 3m06 and see what happens.

 

i called alienware and they actually helped.
I was on the phone for over an hour and we got it fixed.
We ran through a bunch of tests and ended being that i just had to do a hard reset on my system by shutting down, unplugging the power cord, and removing the battery, then holding down the power button for 15 seconds then releasing it and hold it for another 15 seconds. This solved the biggest problem of getting 0 FPS in vantage but i still had another problem vantage crashed. I ended up downloading these http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4985798&postcount=85 and they were stable. This what my scores are. they aren't great but at least they aren't as horrible as before. time to redo my cpu overclock.

 

ok cool. you was on a record to

but i'm glad you got it fixed.

whats your stocked clocks

 

That's odd. If they had a fix for it that means they've seen this before which is scary.

Congrats on getting it fixed.

 

CPU: 1066 FSB

 

the guy said this is really rare. what the reset does is wipe low level power that is not wiped by simply powering off the computer. He said I shouldn't ever have to do this reset again. It has something to with the way the computer is made.

 

the gpu clocks i meant to ask for.

 

this what i got with my CPU OCed to 1200MHz FSB

 

my gpu clocks are stock 550 950 1350
i might go on to overclocking it if someone can point me in the right direction

 

Time to change drivers, overclock gpu, etc

 

i think i found the best drivers for me until they officially come out with windows 7 drivers that work

 

In all my years and experience I have never heard of what he was telling you.

Seems whatever else they had you do after the battery pull is what really helped.....