Games slow down, 8400m M1330

Hey everyone, this problem has been annoying me for a while now. Im currently trying to play Dragonage Origins. I can barely play it at 1280:800 res on all of the lowest settings. However it will go for about 30 seconds and then decrease to half the fps. Any ideas how to fix it? I think its some sort of thermal throttling... Im using 186.82 drivers in Win7 x64. I can overclock the card to 625/1000/1500 without any problems but I still get the same problem. It will run for a little while and then bog down. Hopefully someone can diagnose this. Thanks!

 

Temperature problem. Extremely common on the 8600M and 8400M. Check your temperatures with CPUID Hardware Monitor.

 

I was afraid it was thermal scaling. Is there a way to turn the scaling off without blowing another fan on my comp? (rivatuner or something)

 

You'd probably have to modify the BIOS, which I would not recommend. Besides, the 8400/8600m GPUs are notorious for self-destructive overheating, even at stock speeds and with cooling modifications.

 

Time to go to dell and demand a replacement.. after all they did sell you a product with a faulty GPU and will kill ur comp sooner or later.. try and see what dell says.. might get a new Studio XPS13 which doesn't overheat..

 

I have the same problem, would Dell actually replace the entire laptop?

 

I agree that its a overheating issue.

... mainly because that the 8400M and 8600M graphics cards had a high percentage of faulty GPUs.

definitely contact Dell and have them repair/replace the videocard.

 

Dude dont overclock!!!! You have a faulty gpu with heat problems and you just generate more heat!. Time to grab the phone and call Dell.

 

did you update drivers or the vbios recently?

Nvidia probably is trying to protect those chips with throttling.

Going back to older drivers or an older vbiod could stop it.
But your GPU will die if you have it too hot.

Undervolt it and turn up the fan speed, also copper mod.

 

I called Dell yesterday asking what my replacement options were, they said that since a certain amount of time had passed between each GPU fail, they wouldn't replace the system, just the video card (for the third time now). In order for you to get a full replacement it sounds like you have to prove to them that the problem is screwing up your entire experience--low FPS in games isn't enough for them, that will just get you a motherboard replacement. If you can show them that your PC is basically unusable, then you could get a new laptop. As far as I'm concerned, tell them whatever you want in order to convince them. After all, they sold you a defective product and should be held responsible!

 

Just try to replace it with a new one. Plan on buying sell your laptop then buy another. It will be a just a repeating problem for it's one of the flaws of that laptop. Try to get a good cooling pad if it helps.

 

I have had them replace the mobo/videocard a few times now but for other reasons. Getting a replacement sounds highly unlikely. Though if anyone has got one im all ears. At this point im open to any suggestions no matter how extreme.

 

I would just sell the notebook after it has no more warranty.

and use the money to buy a comparable notebook that has no faulty GPUs.