Studio xps 16 4670 FPS Dips and slow downs in games

Hello,
I just got my xps 16 a few days ago. Straight out of the box everything looks and runs fantastic, however I am experiencing some FPS dips and slowdowns and I would like to know if anyone else is having the same problem and if they know how to fix it. A few of us have commented about this in the studio 16 thread... but with all of the other chatter it became a bit cluttered. Here are some quotes:

Quote:
Originally Posted by asianguy63
hey guys i just got my xps in today and have been tooling with it for the better part of 8hrs straight. my configuration is the p8700 with 4670 1gb, 4gb ddr3, 500gb 7200rpm, and 16" rgbled.

i was just testing out left 4 dead and was fairly disappointed with the performance. running at 720p with all details on high including shadow, 2x filtering, and no AA i was barely keeping 50-60fps indoors. outdoor environments forget it, averaged about 30-40 and taking big hits that would even dip down to 0fps (depending on fire and zombie volume). i tried a bunch of other combinations with the most effective one being to take shadow to low and leaving filter at trilinear. and even then i was still dropping to 30s with onscreen chaos. i re-installed the drivers and set power to 'best performance' with marginal results.

i havent tried any other games out yet and overall im loving the system minus the much-maligned heat (the transfer under the palmpad is pretty bad) and minor calibration issues... and let's face it the screen still looks damn good. spent most of the day transferring files from old pc and installing apps. suprisingly, despite what many have said, there really isn't all that much bloatware to speak of; i revo uninstalled maybe a couple things. i plan on undervolting tonight but before i do, just a quick few questions!


1) is that gaming performance the norm? if not what can i do to boost performance in that area?
2) can anyone post idle and load temps for cpu/gpu pre-undervolting?
3) how much of the pre-loaded support software is worth keeping?
4) what proggies are best for driver detect and auto-updates?

last note, the comp i've been using up until now was a dell dimensions 8200, bought brand new in 2002, so this is my first time tooling with vista and my knowledge of it is pretty limited.

again overall, i love it!


"I'm also experiencing some fps slow downs. The fps overall is good... but for some reason it just dips out of no where. I'm not quite sure why but if anyone could help us that would be great. Even in World of warcraft and heroes of newarth my FPS dips out of no where.... The loading times are great, the game looks great, and the fps in general is great... but dips and slow downs are fail."





Ok guys.... In world of warcraft my FPS Dips out of no where from 80's to 30's. The dip lasts for about 2-3 seconds... but it's annoying. I also play heroes of newarth in which the FPS dips in random locations for no reason - AS well as counter strike source. The FPS is great the game looks great.. but the dips are retarded.

Should I try out the new ati catalyst drivers? I am using vista 64 bit, 4 gigs ram, 500gb 7200 rpm HD, ati 4670, 2.4 ghz processor.

Thanks for any help.

 

have you tried a clean install (reformat) that usually seems to do the trick.

 

i have not, but i'm thinking about it.

Should i try out the new drivers?

 

If you are getting random dips in fps make sure you monitor heat whilst you play the games. I use HWmonitor on my studio 1555.

I get exactly the same dips on the studio 1555's ati 4570, whilst monitoring temps I would see them creep up to 94c then i would get massive drops in fps and my temps would drop to 80c. This is obviously the temp where my laptop downclocks.

My high temps were due to the studio 1555's abysmal thermal design and a copper mod sorted my down clocking

 

Are any other studio xps 16 owners having these issues straight out of the box?

 

my framerate dips too in games.. i really dont want to do a clean install becuz i have already dled so many things that i dont wanna redownload

 

btw just curious, how long would a clean install take with a ssd?

 

formate your harddrive, (get rid of all crappy extra programs and your laptop will get better). my games runs with very stable FPS, (no drops, nothing)

besides, Ati newest drivers will sometimes actually works a bit worse then older drivers. (with Nvidia GO-cards its really a fact) so try out some older driver who have got a lot of positive response might help

 

Yup based on testing I've done, the drivers on Dell's website are faster than getting the newest Catalyst off ATi's site and modding them with mobility modder. 3dmark06 score dropped by 600 points and game performance also showed a decline. I've decided to revert back.

 

You could buy a cooling pad which might stop it getting as hot so stop it down clocking?

 

hmmm If the problems persist tonight i will reformat my computer. Thanks for the help, if anyone else has had this problem let us know if reformating has helped!

 

Everyone OEM machine I've ever owned, used or had the "pleasure" of troublshooting a clean install has ALWAYS helped.

Just backup your files to an external disk and have at it.

 

I think it is a design flaw, at least for me. I got the random slowdowns gaming as well no matter the resoultion. Now I did not get this problem when running the game out through the hdmi and thus the lid was totally closed completly unblocking the rear vent.

I really believe this to be a thermal issue. Not at least for the most part software.

edit: actually Ill make a video of this when I get home.

 

Usually extreme dips in framerate are due to heat. But is this just with Source Engine based games? Thought I've read where people had to do a reformat to get Source games to run properly.

 

Could be just source based, Ill try loading up something else Quake3 etc see if it does as well.

 

guys as I said in the previous page, I get exactly the same with the studio 1555's ati 4570.

The best way to test is to run furmark 3d stress test whilst watching your temps.

With mine it will run happily for 20mins at 20fps until the gpu hits 94c then suddenly drop to 8-9fps and my temps will also drop approx 15c. It will then slowly repeat this process over and over.

A copper mod solved my problem

 

My replacement studio xp16 had the same problem you guys describe. It was peaking at really high fps in games like left 4 dead and then all of the sudden the fps would drop to 15-20 and then jump back to 70+. At first I thought the system might be overheating so I checked temps through HWMonitor and they were fine. So next I disabled windows firewall and updated vista 64 to service pack 2. Once I did the latter two things as well as undervolted the CPU, the frame rate stayed steady in left 4 dead at 50-60+ and there was no more erratic fluctuations. I suggest you guys try the same thing to see if it fixes your issues.

 

Hi,

I have a XPS16 with the 3670 and I noticed that when PowerPlay is enabled under the catalyst settings the CPU is always throttled down when a 3D application has focus, regardless of the power plan you have selected. This has major impact on performance. The only workaround I've been able to find is to disable PowerPlay.

You can test this by running CPU-Z and a windowed 3D application, and something else that stresses the CPU .Selecting the 3D application window, you'll see that although the CPU is still at 100% utilization, the clock will go down to the lowest possible setting. Disabling PowerPlay will correct this.

 

Pointer on disabling powerplay?

FYI, my 4670 with a 6-cell and no cooling pad is only peaking around 70 Celcius on the CPU using HWMonitor.

Edit: I meant to add that every once in awhile when I'm in a graphically intense spot of Neverwinter Nights 2, I get a sharp slowdown that affects gameplay and my ability to rotate my viewpoint. But it's consistent with the screen I'm in, and goes away as soon as I change where I am in the game. (i.e. go indoors, leave area)

 

In Catalyst Control Center (advanced Mode), you should have a section "PowerPlay". Uncheck the "Enable PowerPlay" option and click "Apply"

 

i just did a clean install to win7 and i just have to say those throttling issues i had before...gone. runs nice and smooth (relatively) in 1080p on high settings with 4x AF =)

Reformat? It's definitely worth it, IMO.

and btw im not sure what the deal is but my core temps have been running significantly lower since the clean switch to w7, even while gaming l4d i've been getting max core temps of 53-58C

 

I just installed an X9100 CPU in my 1640 and experienced the same massive frame rate drops. It must be heat related as my P7350 ran perfectly. I suggest you undervolt and apply AS5 to both your CPU and 4670. Having applied AS5 to my reinstalled P7350 temps have dropped by about 5 degrees. Plus no more massive frame rate drops.

 

we can upgrade the cpu to an extreme core a quad core?

 

I'm not sure about quad core but my X9100 worked perfectly apart form the GPU downclocking. I forgot to check the BIOS to see if it could be overclocked before I reinstalled my P7350. Not that you would want to overclock in this laptop anyway.

 

Some good tips to try, thanks for the suggestions. Though I did do a reinstall, Vista64, before installing any games and haven't really had any issues. Been playing Age of Conan and Lord of the Rings Online, both run well especially Conan. I do wish 1600x900 was an available resolution for the 1080p RGB screen, but that's so far is my only real complaint.

 

just finished testing out fear2 project origin (all settings enabled on max minus AA and 720p res). It looked great and ran smooth 45-55fps average. unfortunately the throttling issue reared its head once again and the physical heat of the laptop really was pretty significant. even still, core temps did not exceed 65C.

vsync is disabled as well as battery optimization features in CCC, AI is set to performance, mipmaps @ performance, no antivir support running. currently running on clean win7ultimate install.

also i had dl-ed the original dell video drivers and was having issues with the videocard not being recognized. i then auto loaded new drivers from device manager which cleared that right up.

will that dell ati driver have any adverse conflict effects?
going to try and undervolt later tonight. anything else i can do to help clear this issue?

 

I tried turning off the feature in ATI options to help the FPS slow downs and it worked. I no longer have any slow downs. If it becomes a problem again i'll reformat. I uninstalled mcafee and turned off power play and it worked amazing.

 

which one was that?

even tho L4D runs great in full 1080p with everything on high and even 4-6xAA, FEAR2 is still throttling with all settings on medium and AA off @ 720p...not quite sure what the deal is there.
hell even CCC chugs when flipping through 3d settings after playing fear...temps are all cool...cpu usage low. mipmaps set to performance. powerplay disabled. vsync disabled. no fraps. no AV running. i dont get it...ppl are out there running crysis on gamer and getting 22-25fps.

anyone else having these issues and/or know how to fix them?

 

It was the power play option that they were talking about on page 2. After turning it off and deleting mcafee my games have been running great. I haven't tested many games but the games I WAS playing are no longer having issues.

 

How did you disable powerplay and what exactly is it for?

And yeah, McAfee is a piece of crap that hogs resources. If you're looking for another antivirus go for http://www.free-av.com/ . It's much better in that it has way higher detection rates than McAfee and most other antivirus programs and it is extremely lightweight.

 

Powerplay is the software which controls the gpu clockspeed on mains and battery. Its in the CCC software.

Point of note, I turned off powerplay on my studio 1555 and although it stopped my downclocking it was because it was not running at full speed. If you run GPUZ there is default clocks and current clocks, on the 1555 the default clocks are lower than powerplay enabled clocks.

A good way to test is to run 3dmark06 with it on or off. I lost about 15% performance with powerplay off.

 

I left PowerPlay enabled, but checking the setting did tip me off that the Active Power Plan was Balanced instead of High Performance when plugged in. Also i have to leave Windows Firewall enabled otherwise my wireless connection won't stay "Private". With Firewall off, Network and Shariing Center continues to attempt identifying Public networks instead of staying locked into my Private network.

 

I'll try running 3dmark and testing with it off / on on the 4670 and i'll let you know how it works out. I'll post results here tomorrow night.

 

if someone would give the fear2 demo off steam a shot, i'd be interested to hear how their system performed

 

I will be getting my xps 16 this week, will also do some testing.

I will also compare with powerplay and see if it is like my 1555's ati 4570

 

well my sxps has arrived today

I have been monitoring temps and mine are shocking! I just ran furmark and this machine downclocked after about 20mins.

What surprised me the most is the CPU reached 92c and got throttled. This then locked the cpu at 6x multiplier and only a reboot returned my machine to the 9x multiplier.

The cooling system is pretty shocking with the way the lid completely blocks the vents.

I did find raising the rear of the laptop 2" stopped the downlocking but temps were still really high with my CPU reaching 86c and ACPI TZ02 (gpu I believe) reached 83c

I am going to remove the heatsinks later and apply AS5

 

I'm starting to think that just elevating the back of the laptop may be addressing one heat area but creating another. Raising the back means less airflow at the bottom vents which probably should be allowed to breathe. I've been using the Antec Cooler to Go with good success but I'm beginning to think something like the Zalman NC2000 may be the better method of cooling since it will keep the lower vents from being covered.

 

Yep I think I'm finally going to cave and purchase the Zalman soon.

 

Weren't people getting noticable temperature drops when they elevated the rear with the 9 cell? I thought several people had commented on that.

 

I've read the same but I just noticed that the bottom area with the vents is angled so it gets optimal air flow when the laptop is flat. If you raise the back you cancel this out.

 

True, but the rear has to be better with 1/2" of space under it versus 1/8". I'm sure I read some were getting measurable differences in core temps. Oh well..

 

I did find raising the laptop by 1/2" stopped the throttling.

I am still really unhappy with my stock temps though so will be stripping it down and applying AS5 later to see if that improves things.

Just installing windows updates my cpu is at 75c and idles at over 50c.

 

Have you undervolted your CPU ninja? If not you should - can shave off around 10 degrees.

 

iaTa - I only received it yesterday and have just been mucking about with OS'/benchmarks so far. I am just disappointed about its performance out of the box! I have always tweaked to gain performance not a case of having to tweak to get normal performance!

I am dropping in a P9500 cpu tonight and will apply AS5 at the same time, I will then benchmark to see what difference that makes.

Finally I will then undervolt and benchmark to see what difference that makes.

I am hoping by doing this it will also reduce the palmrest/touchpad temps slightly as they are currently uncomfortable to use

 

I'm thinking about trying undervolting, how hard is it? I think I saw a howto in this forum and it looked pretty inolved. I do recommend the Zalman NC2000 for a stationary SXPS 1640; offers more physical stability than just propping up the back, effective and silent cooling, and attractive looks.

 

Undervolting is not difficult at all, just take it in careful steps. Here is the guide:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824

I am considering getting a cooler for home but I travel a lot with my notebooks and dont want to have to lug a cooler around too!

 

Yeah I do know what you mean. I had an X9100 lying around so I tried it in my 1640 and there's just no way this laptop can run a CPU that powerful and hot. The 4670 was downclocked within 2 minutes of gaming and that's with a laptop cooler and AS5 installed on both the CPU and GPU.

I'm quite happy to keep the standard P7350 which keeps things nice and cool, especially when undervolted to 1.0V.

 

Definitely, the NC2000 is for the 1640's stationary spot. For on the go, the Antec Cooler To Go is a good solution. It is small and packs well and does a better job of cooling than simply lifting the back.

 

you right....SXPS runs nice and cool with this P CPU (have it myself, no undervolt, stock setting).
my friend have a T9600 and it gets warmer without any doubts.

like i said before. SXPS use only one fan, and there by small things like fast T-series CPU will make it warmer.

 

Right well I have just stripped down my sxps and wow! I think Dell employ monkeys to install the thermal paste, it was caked on both cpu and gpu.

I cleaned it all off, put my p9500 in and reapplied AS5.

My idle temps have dropped over 10c on my cpu, it idles at 36-38c (intead of 53-55)

My gpu idle has dropped from 57-60c to 48-50c.

Just about to stress the system to find my max temps and see if I still get downclocks, will post back in a bit