7970m and Alan Wake

First let me say that if this issue has been brought up, I apologize for asking again.

I just got my Sager NP9170 with the ATI 7970m upgrade. I haven't tried much yet, but I just installed Alan Wake (the gog.com version if that matters) and the first thing I noticed was that it said my hardware didn't meet minimum specifications. I then tried playing it on max settings at 1920x1080, and averaged about 2.5-5.0 FPS.

I updated the 7970 drivers to the beta version (12.7) and then tried again. This time I was between 15.0-20.0 FPS.

Also, I have the 3610QM processor and 8GB of ram. Does 20 FPS at max settings sound right? I was expecting more out of this laptop.

 

You should almost be maxing it. Are you sure it's the 7970m running the game and not the Intel?

 

I thought that might be the problem, but the graphics switcher has the 7970 selected. Also, when I updated the drivers for the 7970 the framerate went from 2.5 to 15. Judging by that large change I would assume that the 7970 is being used.

 

I'm averaging 55-75 FPS on highest. 20 FPS is much too low, doing something wrong.

 

That .. can't be.

Check if there's any RAM issue when playing ( alt-tab and go to task manager ).

If no issues, use MSI Afterburner and check what's your GPU Usage in game. It should be 90%+

 

It runs around 70fps for me with 99% GPU utilization with everything maxed. It really sounds like the game's using the Intel GPU.

 

Are you sure that you are using 7970m?
Because 15 FPS is approximately the performance of integrated card intel hd4000: Intel HD Graphics 4000 Benchmarked - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Using MSI Afterburner it looks like my GPU usage tops out at 99% while playing. And I'm not sure how to check for RAM issues.

I appreciate the help, this is quite disappointing.

 

Tell me what driver version you're using.

And follow these steps: right click desktop -> switchable graphics:

If "Alan Wake" is on the list select High Performance, if not add it to the list and do the same thing. Provide a screenshot (use Gyazo freeware for example) and show us you did this, just to be sure it's the 7970m working

 

I am using the 12.7 beta driver, under device manager it lists it as 8.981.2.0 with a date of 6/26/12.

And under switchable graphics Alan Wake is on the list and is categorized as High Performance. Here are some screenshots of my settings and then a screenshot of my FPS. Lastly is a shot of my graphics switcher. This is right at the beginning of the game.

 

It sounds like you are running Intel HD, not 7970M.

 

He clearly is not UNLESS in Power -> Powerplay you don't have Maximize Performance when plugged in ( assuming you are plugged in.. tell me you are. )

 

I may have figured it out. In the graphics properties I somehow had selected Super-Sample AA under 3D Application Settings. Changing that to simple Multi-Sample AA upped my FPS to around 30-40.

 

I have Unigine Heaven 3.0, but I don't have 3dmark, vantage, or 11. I don't have fast enough internet at home, I'll have to download them tomorrow. Would the Unigine be of any use?

 

As long as you can compare your score to others' it should be fine.

My knowledge is ending soon, sorry :\ I hope some pro can help you, else contact your reseller

 

you either messed up setting in amd catalyst or you didnt add the game to ccc panel and select as high performance. Note alsom did you chanage your windows power option to performance?.

 

When I first got my machine it was having this issue as well. 15-20 FPS was what I was getting and definitely means you are using the Intel card. My switchable graphics options are sometimes buggy whereby it doesn't remember what setting I have it on for certain games. Also my powerplay is buggy, I cannot set it to anything other than the default setting. That is, max performance for plugged in and max battery life for on battery. Changing any of those powerplay options results in my machine using the Intel card in-game.

 

Try setting Tessellation to 0. Uncheck the box and drag it down. Give it a shot and see what happens.

 

I'd say reinstall the drivers, especially the profiles, but you should do everything. And here's a usefull link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...ve-amd-nvidia-drivers-using-clean-method.html

 

Do you have PowerPlay enabled in CCC? If not, that's why.

 

Thanks to all those who responded. I checked, and I do have PowerPlay enabled, and set to performance. And my laptop is plugged in, and has been every time I've tested. I am about to run a Unigine benchmark, which I will post here when it finishes.

 

I apologize for the delay in getting this up, but I had a busy morning. Here is a screenshot of my Unigine results. One thing that stood out as odd is that it does list my GPU as the Intel 4000. Anyhow, here are the results:

 

Hi! I'm not sure if this would help. I'm also a noob when it comes to gaming laptops. And I found this out by accident.

I was running bf3 ultra settings and I was only getting 6-9fps.

I clicked on the battery icon on the lower right of the screen. And I had mine set to power savings. So I set it to performance and my fps shot up to around 40-50..

I hope this helps a lot.

PS. this was the default configuration when I got my laptop. Not performance mode. So this may or may not apply to you.. But I hope it does and solve your issue.. =)

 

I recently beat this game. It ran pretty good for me. The only drivers that seem to give me anything near what I paid for are the "AMD Catalyst 12.6 9.00 BETA June 12 – 7900 MOD".
I was able to max out the game and even do some tweaks in CCC.