FPS drops 6990m

Recently, games have started running poorly and I need some advice on what the issue is and how it can be solved.

I'll briefly describe the symptoms I've had when playing two games: Fallout New Vegas and Dishonored.

In Fallout New Vegas, no matter what settings I have the game set on (Very low or ultra), the game hovers around 30-35 fps and then constantly dips into 20s while out in the wasteland. I have tried almost every performance mod, 4GB address, and so on to try to fix this issue but it just isn't changing anything. Fans aren't kicking into high at all and I think the GPU usage was sub 50%.

In Dishonored, FPS is fairly good to start (40-60 FPS) and then constantly dips into the 20s or lower multiple times per minute. GPU temperature maxed out at 73 C for the few minutes I tried running around but sat close to 70 C most of the time. Core and Memory clock speeds seemed stable. Don't remember the values but can easily do another test if someone wants that info. GPU also didn't reach more than 70% GPU usage. Dropped into the 30% range a few times in less than 5 minute span.

I've tried the following drivers: 13.1, 13.4, 12.8 for Fallout New Vegas and none of them changed a thing. I'm really lost as to what the issue could be. My CPU's max temp was 47 C when doing my test in Dishonored. I'm sure that's fine for the CPU. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Couple things to check. Is this when the computer is plugged in and not on battery. Do you have Windows set to High Performance. Do you have the games set in CCC as high performance.

 

The dishonored game i can comment on as i have played it on my clevo with 6990 . There really shouldnt be any dips as you say with this game on the 6990 that card easily chews that game up.I would be checking hdd and if anything is running in the background taking up cpu usage virus,malware? Use malwarebytes to do a check and report back.

 

Not on battery, Windows is on high performance, and does CCC have a performance option? I have system on high (bottom right menu on desktop) if that's what you're talking about Hutsady.

I have Norton in background. Tried disabling it until restart and it had no impact. Not sure if Norton is still being a resource hog in that case though. I will do a malwarebyte check when I get back on (currently using phone to type this)

 

If the GPU seems to be in normal limits, the next job is to monitor the CPU for abnormal behaviour.

 

Just booted up the laptop to check in on this thread and it turns out there was a BSOD on shutdown or when I put it to sleep I think. I'm really tempted to reformat and reinstall windows and do fresh installs of everything. What are some abnormal characteristics for the CPU? All clear on malware by the way. The only strange background process going on is with chrome.exe. There are 8 different instances in Windows Task Manager when looking in processes. Not sure if that's abnormal or how chrome likes to run.

Edit: Added a small test log of GPU performance from MSI Afterburner as an attachment. CPU didn't go above 50% the few times I looked at Windows Task Manager while doing the test. Max GPU temp was 71 C and max CPU was 47 C

 

I would say do a fresh install of windows but if you continue to get bsod then something hardware could be showing early failure.

 

I agree with Tron2, Never hurts to do a fresh Windows install once a year, i'd like to keep it fresh by doing it every 6-12 months. If BSOD remains then report back to us.

 

I actually have another question someone may be able to answer real quick while I'm doing all my reinstalls.

Should the thermal pasting for the CPU and GPU be replaced every few years or can I leave it be until my temperatures are too high? I've had my Sager for 2 or more years now and I've done the occasional dust cleaning but haven't touched the pasting. Would old pasting cause any of my prior issues due to bad contact or something else?

And no BSODs so far but I haven't even poked at the GPU yet.

 

Well as long as you monitor your temps and use ICD7 that paste rox{(had a paste over 12 months ago on 6990m still great temps) and took cooler off today and it's like glue/putty so once it heats up and then cools down its very good stuff}, then there is no need to keep re-pasting. Perhaps clean the grills fans(dust every 6 months more so in dusty areas) with a small brush but aside from that paste it with ICD7 and you are good to go for a long time.

 

Alright just loaded up Dishonored again. Nothing has changed. Running 1920x1080, textures and models on High, rat shadows off, anti-aliasing off and I'm still in the 30s and will dip into the 20s.

3DMark 11 Benchmark: AMD Radeon HD 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor,CLEVO P150HMx
That's really bad it seems. Also while the benchmark was going, I started to hear this clicking noise I don't remember ever hearing before. I think it was coming from the power supply but I'm going to run the benchmark again in a second anyways to get more information such as temperatures. I'll report back.

Edit: Meant power supply not battery

Edit 2: Alright the power supply starts clicking only on the very last test where the GPU and CPU are tested together. CPU usage was around 70% and GPU around 50%. GPU temp for the last test didn't surpass 70C and for all of the tests, the max GPU temp was 75C while the CPU max was 48C

 

WOW!

It's hard to believe everything runs twice as well when I'm unplugged and running on the battery! I now know the power supply is the problem...

 

i also think ur cpu load temps are way too low. i mean cmon, 48C during load? that would be my idle temp! run cpu-z and check if ur cpu is stuck on idle@800 mhz even when u put load onto it

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Well the cpu wont have to work hard if the gpu is in low power mode.

 

If heat is not an issue in crashing then repasting is not necessary maybe even harmful. Remember the old expression "if it ain't broke don't fix it". I work with plenty of machines 10+ years that have never been repasted.

 

It can depend on the compound used. Usually in notebooks they do use longer lasting ones than the white goop.

 

Well haven't had a single other blue screen since the original I posted about earlier. I'm pretty sure it's the AC adapter at this point. I went ahead and ordered a PA9E Dell 240W adapter as discussed in this thread since I'm not looking to spend another $100 on a possibly flawed stock adapter.

It should be more than up to the challenge. Just have to wait for some parts to ship so I can make myself a adapter with the proper connector so it actually fits with my NP8150. Gaming is at a stand still pretty much at this point. Battery will only last 30-45 minutes and then most of the time the computer doesn't have time to hibernate before it completely runs out and crashes. Rather not risk creating other problems from the forced shutdowns. May go ahead and do a CPU or another 3DMark test on battery though.

Edit: Tested CPU while on battery. 800 MHz idle, 2500 MHz or so during 3DMark on battery. Max CPU jumped up considerably to 69 C. GPU is limited to 400 MHz on the core clock while on battery which I think is normal.