Problem with 8600m stuttering/slowdown found

Hello all,

I just recently found this thread, and wow, it has opened my eyes! I bought my 6224W in October 2007 based on the powerful hardware in such a small case. However, as soon as I installed WoW (waiting for age of conan atm ) it all went to hell. At 1400*900 (native) my Zepto performs worse than my old 2.6 P4 with an ATI 9800 PRO.

I get the famous stutters, and most annoyingly, the massive framedrops. Going from a stable 55-60 FPS while raiding to a 10-15 fps is annoying to say the least. It has almost come to the point where I'll be sending the 6224 back to Zepto for a refund and just upgrading my stationary comp.

If anyone has any ideas about what drivers to use for a stutter free, frame drop free WoW on XP, just let me know.

The whole problem is ridiculous, a 1200$ laptop that cant manage an old game like WoW in 1400*900 with low on every setting.

 

Dont expect much, support for products is not something in Zepto's dictionary.

 

Yeah, I figured as much after reading through all 26 pages. Has someone succesfully returned their machine to Zepto and gotten the refund (or, an replacement that works)?

 

Just have a read of the "My experience with Zepto" thread

 

@Zeel

Hello and welcome to the world of disapointment.

I feel with you mate, these laptops should come with a "WARNING - You might be fooled" label.

 

Yeah, they should .

Actually, I just tried the tips with the 163.67 drivers for WinXP 32 but the problem still persists.

Logged on to WoW, put myself in the middle of Shattrath, a stedy fps of 60. Down to 50 if there were a lot of stuff happening. However, at random intervals (1-2 min didnt check to carefully), everything would slow down to a crawl, 15-20 fps for about 10 seconds, and then back up to the previous value.
Can't tell you enough how annoying this is...

 

I'd actually recommend that you send it in. Worst case scenario is that nothing happens. But it sure is worth a try... if they can't fix it, then demand a refund.

 

I'm wondering if the problems would disappear if the graphics card got replaced, or is this a problem connected to all 8600M cards?

 

Are you undervolting your CPU? This sounds like the problem I sometimes have, and its "normal" behavior cause the GPU reaches 96C. By undervolting your CPU you lower the stress on the cooling system thus giving more cooling to GPU.
Search for Blackbirds tutorial on RMClock

 

New info. I have been playing a bit with the powermizer. I started with a fresh install of Windows Vista. After this I installed all the relevant drivers from the Zepto FTP and the original CD that came with my notebook. There was no Powermizer functionality at this point (see my previous thread re "Powermizer???") and had no sign of any stuttering or slowdowns but the card was locked at 475MHz core and 400MHz memory. I managed to get powermizer working again by installing new drivers from LaptopVideo2Go using the modded inf. Now stuttering appears almost immediately after I start playing games. I have installed nTune and running the "NVIDIA Monitor" program I set it to log the Bus speeds and Temp. The event log this produced shows clearly that the card is clocking at 475MHz to begin with followed by a drop to 275MHz almost immediately. I tried the sleep fix and this seemed to work for about 15 mins before yet again the card dropped to 275MHz.
I have found that the Powermizer registry keys are not completely removed when you un-install the drivers as it leaves "PowerMizerEnable" set at 1 and the rest of the associated PowerMizer keys still there. Running Driver Cleaner Pro doesn't seem to help either. Manually removing these keys stops the stuttering for my notebook. (I wouldn't recomend doing this unless you are prepared to boot into safe mode as it buggered my display drivers completely- but at least it proved a point)
Now the big question. Is this related to the GPU's BIOS reporting an error to the drivers? or the drivers themselves failing? Anyone got any ideas?

 

I actually have the stress test on in the background , just switched over to see if there were any replies. And there you were. Ill try out the underclocking and report back. Currently I'm just having the insanely annoying from 60+ fps drops to 35 and back again in a few seconds, regardless of what is actually happening on the screen.

 

Would you guys mind downloading NiBiTor 3.9 from right here ( http://www.chip.de/downloads/c1_downloads_hs_getfile_v1_16106847.html?t=1210352303&v=3600&)
and trying to read your VGA Bioses?

I'm just curious what they might say.

It works pretty easy, you just have to unzip the program and execute it. Then you select Tools>Read BIOS>Select Device and then Tools>Read BIOS>Read into file.

Then you can open it with File>Open BIOS and have a look at it. I'd like you to examine the Temperatures part where it says Core Threshold. Mine is 110°C, just curious if there are some differences to be noted.

So please post your exact graphics card version, (as in 8600M GT 512MB DDR2 or 8600M GT 256 GDDR3), your BIOS version and that threshold thing.

Thanks in advance.

 

Not under clock, under volt

There's a huuuge difference.


To gr33nf4c3:
I tried the program but I got an error about the driver when I tried to select device.

 

Yeah, thanks anyway. I recently found out that it might not be possible to read the G1s GFX BIOS using that tool anyway since it does not seem to be a standalone one but rather integrated into the main system BIOS.

A few other infos still wouldn't harm of course.

 

I tried the program you linked, but everytime I run it my laptop freezes and I have to do a hard reboot. So no, I dont have any info for you to compare with .

Btw, I emailed Zepto about the fps issues, and I actually got a prompt reply, and a very friendly one at that. So far my experience with their support has been very good.

From my description they thought it sounded like a heat problem, which of course would explain the extreme drops in fps after a long time of gaming, but not the random drops that are happening all the time.

Anyways, since I still got my warranty the offered to take a look at it (they would pay fpr shipping ofcourse), but it would take a minimum of 15 days. What do you guys/girls think I should do? Press them for more information about the problem? Ask if theyre willing to change the graphics card?

Any input is helpful

Z

 

Odds are that they won't come up with a magic solution for what basically seems to be an engineering fault so I'm not sure whether it'll help you to send your notebook in. However, I've heard that most Zeptos of that very series seem to suffer from some really cruel misplacings of heatsinks and such, so maybe they can fix at least that...

As for the program, don't worry. As I said, I'm afraid that people with a GFX card similar to mine won't be able to dump a decent .rom of their BIOSes anyway, so don't worry.

Just in case anyone is interested: I just played a perfect two hours without any stuttering thanks to the fact that I put a cooling pack for portable fridges under my notebook. Kept the temps at ~93°C and ran totally stutter free- Just confirming what has been more or less known anyway.

 

Im just curious on how you managed to put an refrigerator iceblock underneath your laptop and still managed to use it? The whole contraption seems a bit... unsteady to say the least. Got any blueprints to share? I'm pretty handy with a hammer

 

loading the original bios file (e.g. from the ftp) with nibitor "helps" in this case, but its not perfekt because its still not usable, only has less faults

 

Put some sort of cloth between the PC and the pack to suck the moist up.

And yes, if you by any way manage to keep the GPU under 96C, it wont stutter as @ 96C it lowers clocks to cool down

 

Hey mates, been awhile since I last checked this place out.
Can't bother to read though the whole thread, so I'm just kindly asking if there has been any update on the stuttering/heat front?

Last I checked here was when the "sleep mode" fix was found, where you put the computer in sleep mode and then wake it up. Which worked fine fo me, except for one problem, heat :x. My laptop is really getting warm using that fix, around 95-105 playing games/doing intense computer things.

Any other fixed u've come up with since then? any drivers that work, decreases stutter/heat.
I know I'm on a G1S-A1, but I got the some problem as you guys :x.
Hope I at least can get an answer .

Yours, Phol

 

First of all, sprint is right, I did it exactly that way.
The pack looks like this: http://www.asmc.de/images/product_images/thumbnail_images/35210_0.jpg

Also, the moisture was no problem because I noticed that the laptop case itself works pretty much as a heat spreader anyway so I just put the pack under the case right where the GPU can be found. There are no vents anyway so no problem with the water.

See, the funny thing is I have yet to meet a program that actually displays that downclocking. For RivaTuner indicates that the card is running on perfect 534/700 all the time. Of course the magic 96°C do something to the GPU but I dare doubting that it's really got something to do with downclocking, even if it would make perfect sense.
Another thing that speaks against the downclocking theory is that manually fixing your clocks and negating the dynamic reduction won't help too.

@Lord Phol:
I'm on a G1s as well so don't mind posting here.
Still I'm afraid there's no big news concerning this as of now.

 

@gr33nf4c4

You have notice the same as me I see, good to read... all that about downclocking seems very logic, however never seen it happening with any software ive tested either. However there is no question that its all about heat, 96 degrees and something screwing up when we hit that.

I still have a theory that its more about Santa Rosa chipset + BIOS than the gpu getting too hot hardware wise.

 

I'm not to hot on the chipset names, but I checked what mine is. Its listed as an T7250 2.0 Ghz, named Merom-2M according to Wiki. Could that be something, seeing as its not a Santa Rosa?

 

The Mobile CPU Guide indicates that the T7250 is Santa Rosa, but the essential component is the Intel 965 chipset (CPUz's mainboard page will tell you that).

If you have the 6625WD or the 6x624W then they are both Santa Rosa.

John

 

I think you should try undervolting your CPU first. It's a very simple process and it might do the trick:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235824&highlight=undervolt

 

Im using Rivatuner and it clearly displays the throttling, Ill put up a picture when I get one (dont have one saved and its kinda late). Running 174.74 on Vista 32

 

Greets all,

I'm new to this thread, have a G1S-X1 and have been having the same problems as you all (it's got the 8600m GT). There's another thread that might benefit some here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=220953

There's tons of different fixes, some specifically for the G1S, some for the 8600m in general. I've got some entries toward the last couple pages. At the moment I've got all my games running smoothly(my heart goes out to those that don't). Specifically, some of my fixes come from editing the games engine directly (mostly the Unreal engine .ini's), and it's really helped out. GoW WAS totally unplayable for me, now I run everything maxed @ 1680X1050 ~ 30fps w/ mild OC (still getting HD access lag due to 2gb ram being stuffed).

I came upon this when I installed UT3, and got the exact same stuttering as when in GoW. Same engine = same problems. Then I updated UT3 with patch 1.2, and to my surprise, ran like butter. So, I got to thinking same engine=same fixes? I copied some of UT3's .ini file settings (mostly how it handled streaming textures). Also, I'm not sure why in GoW I HAVE to run it in WinXP SP2 compatability mode (that means no DX10 features). But, at least I can play it. I got a LOT of info from this site on how to tweak some games, and what their settings do:

http://www.tweakguides.com/

Just click the game you want to tweak in the left-hand column and you're off. I will post my .ini files for anyone interested having problems with GoW, as it might work for you. Oh, and I'm running FW 174.93 at the moment.

(edit Crysis is NOT working on 174.93, but 175.63 = yes)

 

Hey everyone, I know this is not explicitely about the G1s/G2s but anyone who is on this thread and using one anyway: Please head over there to this other thread and take the poll. Thanks!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=249503

 

I've been reading a lot on this "sleep-fix" manouver, and I honestly dont understand it. Let's say I'm gaming, my temp goes up and the GPU starts to stutter, lag, call it what you will, how do I fix it? Just exit game, close the lid on the laptop, start up the game and resume gaming?

 

start - sleep mode.. wait for it to go into sleep mode, and wake it up from sleep mode again, you just need to do this once after every reboot.. has nothing to do with what, when and for how long you have or will be gaming

all it does is push the limit where the gpu will start ****ing up, from 96 degrees to 110 degrees.. if you gpu reaches 110+ anyway then it will only take a few more seconds until you encounter the problem. But thats how it works.

 

Just have to post now since I havent been this angry ever!!!

Tested CoD4 here at a LAN. And I thought it owned. But after getting fragged like a fly I started whining and blaming my computer for the CRAPPY FPS!!!!!!!!!!! Like 5-15 when heavy shooting in CoD4. And around 30 in general. (had 60 in a little room once in 4 hours gameplay). And my mates got mad about me whining at them of luck and I having a worthless laptop. So I wanted to prove myself. I went back to a 3 year old desktop which performed with GOOD fps!!! And voila! I was able to play as good as everybody else.... a "gaming laptop" not able to run games... is just hilarious.

Im so tired right now. Gonna try to fool someone on an auction site to buy this piece of junk and I'm gonna spend €1100 on something that WORKS. Or maybe? Can we claim back money for false marketing. A gaming laptop that cant run games?

Zepto should get the nobel prize if they EVER(????) fix this issue with overheating and fps droppes.

 

I don't think Zepto people browse these forums anymore as they don't want to own up and face the heat.

I'm sure one of them will read this comment and claim "We are working on it". Well that would've been acceptable a year ago, now its just plain ignorance.

It would be best to call them, or if you have to, use the law.

 

So it will be pointless to send my 6625WD to zepto because it has the problem of GPU overheating to 96 and my FPS tanking in WOW after that while the GPU winds down and cools to 91.?

 

Hard to say, mine lasted 3 months undervolted to max and sitting on Zalman turned up full.
Since then it has returned to Denmark 3 times for GFX/Mobo replacement.
This last time a PRIORITY took 2 weeks before someone looked at it, then a week of testing after replacement of GFX/Mobo and since then a further week of sitting there waiting to be cleaned and shipped.
It takes a week for UPS to ship Ireland/Denmark and extra day on return so this turn around will be 6 weeks - Zepto notified 4th April - maybe I get it back 20th May at earliest. If so my weeks of use will be 16 weeks out of 36 weeks since purchase. Zepto say it is only very small % that fail so bad well remember cancer is the same but when it affects you or yours the incidence may as well be 100%.
Zepto by Royal Appointment to the Danish Court like B & O, Carlsberg or Anthon Berg - no time soon !!

 

On http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=185106 Rene-Zepto quote "There is a 14 day return policy. After that the only way to get the money back for the machine is if the machine has been in for repair on the same issue 3 times or if there is a history of far too many repairs within a short period of time."

My use of 6625WD in 2008 4 weeks total, number of repairs 3 with GFX/Mobo replacements each time.

Is my 6625wd fit for purpose? NO !! Yet denied refund !!

 

Rene Zepto said that they were looking into it but I guess it was just talk.

 

Well, haven't they gotten their new Titan line to worry about now

 

Me too! When i play WoW for 15 minutes, it then starts to stutter TERRIBLY around 3fps...

 

I started having this problem after I updated my bios to 015. Off course I can't compare it well because I reinstalled my os too. But I can't run HL2 without serious slowdowns with minimum details. Never had this problem before with the same laptop...

 

Have you checked if you laptop has gathered dust? it's properly because it has been just near the limit in temperature before, and now since its a bit older it has gathered some dust and thereby the cooling is just slightly less efficient, which means more heat = over the barrier of 95-96 degrees on gpu = slowdowns.

 

I run fine on most of my modern games, but damn, I'm pissed off because MoH:AA keeps suttering/jumping every few seconds. Lasts less than a second but ergghhh, it's so distracting.

 

I bought a Zalman notebook cooler plattform and now it works much better

 

funny thing is, when i use such a cooling device, my cpu temp rises about 4-5 degrees and so does the gpu. but the bottom of my notebook is cooler than without. strange, cause on my old dell the temps are going down instead of going up.

 

Does your laptop take the air from beneath? The cooler and the laptop might start to compete for the air = higher temps

 

i'll reverse the 2 coolers, and have a look again on the temperatures..

 

I have been out of touch recently, has there been any news GPU overheating?

 

don't think so.

 

Well I think Im lucky as I have really low temps, even if its allmost 30C outside (no cooling systems in the house)

 

Hi,

Apologies for not letting this thread R.I.P....

I very recently purchased a (second hand) Zepto 6224W with NVidia's GT8600m/512Mb. The laptop has yet to arrive, but I recently came across this thread and have been reading very worrying problems about overheating! I have also read about NVidia's 8xxx problems, and am having trouble separating the two problems. Could someone please clarify:

1. Is the stuttering problem to do with NVidia's 8xxx series, or is to do with poor cooling facilities in the 6224W?

2. If it is NVidia's problem, what are the chances they will recall/replace the GPU on "older" laptops such as the 6224W?

3. Are there any mods I can buy and install into to my laptop (if it overheats) that will better cool the thing? I suppose I am out of the warranty period now. If I am not, is it possible to extend the warranty? I was considering a CPU upgrade a while ago...

Thanks guys!