Samsung 700G7A choppy graphics at max settings

Hi, I posted this in another thread but it was for the newer model. The forum search function apparently hates me and won't work so my apologies in advance if there is a proper thread for this.

I've had this laptop close to six months. Been running DC Universe Online on this machine at maxed out settings without any problems but since a month or so ago, the frame rate of the game suddenly stopped being smooth. I've now been forced to play at a lower res to achieve the smooth game play I used to have.

I thought it was a driver issue because I am running Windows 8 consumer preview but I've already updated my drivers for that and still I'm getting choppy gameplay. I have no idea what the problem is and I have no idea how to go about fixing it.

Any advice from the tech gurus here?

 

You should know that Windows 8 CP does not prove to be stability in a long term because first, it is a beta, second, the driver does not really compatible to that version. Eventhough you once played that game at max without problem in Windows 8, that does not guarantee that you can run over again on a experienced Windows.

Above is my opinion how you could get that problem. Here might be the way to solve it. Check to see if you can roll back to whatever the graphic version that worked really well before. Keep in mind that Windows 8 CP has automatically update, which some of the updates might contain the VGA update. I did get a look on specs of this model, turn out it is an AMD VGA. AMD currently does not have suitable driver like Nvidia for Windows 8, despite it claimed it worked. Some S7 users have been struggling to get the AMD working in Windows 8, but I've never seen anyone success with S7 yet. Moreover, I am sure you get the lagging because of the Intel HD Graphic. Windows Update tend to suggest on Intel graphic update, and somehow you could triggered that. As I said, the driver from AMD is not really good for W8, that led to the incompatible of CCC and switchable graphic, which is a key in this problem. Without the switchable configuration, Intel graphic would take over the AMD card for any application.

 

Thanks for the reply, spincel. I am nowhere near proficient enough to go tracing back which drivers worked initially...I guess my other option is to roll back to Win 7?

 

Or you could wait another month until the RC of Windows 8 come out . RC is actually would be equal to RTM, just missing some components, but overall, the driver should be completely compatible by that time. However, that is only AMD driver. The driver we use is from Samsung, which has the Intel HD include and support the switchable graphic. I don't if Samsung gonna plan to release another VGA driver or they actually wait until Windows 8 to release a new one to compatible with both Windows 7 & 8. Either case, using Windows 7 for gaming until Windows 8 can be proved to be stabilized enough for gaming and support variety of device.

 

Yeah, I don't think Samsung is in a hurry to release drivers to accommodate Win 8 previewers haha...I'll just remove Win 8 and use Win 7.

I mean, what's the point in having a powerful machine if I can't run my games at max settings, right?

 

I would not say this one is a perfect to run games because of the VGA driver . But we did not have choice at first. Now they release a S7 with Nvidia graphic and Nvidia driver I would say is more reliable than AMD, eventhough in some case, AMD card is more powerful than Nvidia.

 

Hi guys I have a small problem, I tried opening a new thread but somehow can't so I decided to put it here:

My samsung series 7 gamer (NP700G7A) stops my desktop background slideshow whenever I switch to Game mode and back. The game mode has its own background and effects that I do want to keep, at the same time I want my wallpaper slideshow when in other modes. I thought maybe this is a bug that Samsung has not thought of? Because in Easy settings, you can only choose 1 desktop background and don't have a theme to start with in the first place. However, under the Win7 personalize setting, I unpacked my theme pack and it works just fine. Only the gaming mode somehow disables the slideshow and leaves the last wallpaper permanent. I really don't want to uninstall easy settings because it's really handy plus only it can handle the express cache. Is there anything I can do? Thanks in advance!

 

Game mode from Easy Settings? If so, I rather config different component by hand. The thing I keep Easy Settings is for keyboard backlit and Silent Mode because I used SSD, therefore I don't need the EC. You better be off to modify each configuration by yourself in order to retain your customization.

 

What do you mean by configure different components by hand? I only use easy settings for the SSD cache, otherwise I don't use it really. The problem is that the laptop is very dependent on Samsung's software to run the features such as gaming mode etc. If I uninstalled samsungs software, how do I change the keyboard lights, SSD cache etc.?

 

The only thing that Gaming Mode will do is setting everything to maximum performance, including the battery, GPU card, CPU, brightness. You can do those thing by manually going to each option in Control Panel for those that belong to Windows like battery or brightness and modify that. For GPU, maybe sometime they will keep the base clock so they won't overclock it using their own software. For CPU, there is Turbo Boost already. Gaming Mode would do those thing for us automatically, but if it annoys you because of changing wallpaper or something, you could just do it by yourself.

 

Hi guys, I had to bump this up again because I'm having trouble installing updated drivers from ATI.

I've tried uninstalling the previous drivers before updating but it still won't work. I'm getting an error msg from the ATI installer that the driver is incompatible with my hardware when it clearly isn't. Any advice?

 

you cannot update the drivers on the chronos. If you still have the option to return your laptop do it and get the newer version with nvidia

 

This happened to me, The Installer just closed after displaying an incompatible message.........You obviously have not completely uninstalled the drivers. Make sure you check in Program files and Program Files(x86) that no trace of any ATI folder is left on your machine. Try uninstalling/installing in Safe Mode (f8)..... Also use a good reg cleaner (Ccleaner is quite good) and either Drivesweeper or the ATI crap cleaner .bat file. Trust me there are some .dll files running somewhere preventing the install.

Cheers
Steve

 

I'm not using the Chronos. It's the original Samsung Gamer laptop with ATI 6970M.

Hi Steve...sounds good. I tried using ATIman uninstaller but I don't know if that did anything at all. Where can I find this ATI crap cleaner .bat file?

 

Paste this into a notepad format and rename it ATI Cleaner.bat :

@echo off
echo -------------------------------------------------------
echo Please make sure that you have UNINSTALLED all ATI
echo drivers and software through windows at programs and
echo features before continuing further.
echo -------------------------------------------------------
pause
@cls
taskkill /F /IM atiesrxx.exe
timeout /t 5
echo -------------------------------------------------------
echo Cleaning registry
echo -------------------------------------------------------
REG DELETE "HKCU\Software\ATI" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\ATI" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\ATI Technologies" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ATI" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ATI Technologies" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\AMD" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\AMD External Events Utility" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\amdkmdag" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\amdkmdap" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Atierecord" /f
REG DELETE "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\AtiHdmiService" /f
echo -------------------------------------------------------
echo Cleaning Files
echo -------------------------------------------------------
del "%windir%\system32\ati*.*"
del "%windir%\system32\drivers\ati*.*"
del "%windir%\ati*.*"
del "%windir%\sysWOW64\ati*.*"
rmdir /S /Q "%APPDATA%\ATI"
rmdir /S /Q "%LOCALAPPDATA%\ATI"
echo -------------------------------------------------------
echo Please remove this/these folders manually. You need to
echo take ownership of the folders before removal is possible
echo command is takeown /f /R
echo folders are printed if found below line after this
echo message
echo -------------------------------------------------------
dir /b "%windir%\system32\drivers\DriverStore\FileRepository\C7_*.*"
dir /b "%windir%\system32\drivers\DriverStore\FileRepository\CH_*.*"
echo -------------------------------------------------------
echo **** cleaner complete please reboot your system and
echo reinstall ATI drivers.
echo -------------------------------------------------------
pause



Run it a couple of times oh and also make sure that in msconfig you dont have kdbsync.exe running.
You can tell if it is because a black cmd box will flash on startup. Untick it and f**k it off as its been there since 12.3 updates
Cheers

 

Hi Baggy. So I have to uninstall the drivers via windows program removal first, check for any ATI folders as per Steve's instruction and then run the .bat?

 

Right Mate......

1.Uninstall catalyst drivers via the windows installer.
2. Shut down your computer and restart in SafeMode (f8 key).
3. Run the ATI.bat file.
4. Run CCleaner (download via the 'piriform' website) and delete registry entries. Make sure all ATI folders including ATI APP, ATI AVT etc have been removed. If Not delete them from where you installed them......normally program files(x86). If you cannot something related to ATI is still running in your task manager.
6. Reboot normally and run CCleaner again to check for any leftover registry entries.
7. Install ATI drivers via the windows installer.
8. Your drivers should install correctly but if it does not work repeat the process from Step 1 until it does.



BaggyBizzle is Steve BTW.

Cheers
Steve

 

Sorry buddy...had a brain fart moment so I didn't notice you are Steve. I did as you instructed but when I ran the .bat file, I get an error message saying atiesrxx.exe not found...still can't install the drivers from AMD.

 

Make sure your driver is a full package, not the web installer. Also, currently, there are 3 versions that can be installed into the S7: 8.930, 8.940, and 8.950. 8.940 is the most stable one. 8.950 is a little bit buggy, but other OpenGL or game can recognize the card. 8.930 is the bad of those. Also, if you have the previous driver inside, make sure you use any driver sweep applications to clean out the driver completely and do a restart before doing any installation.

 

Will these drivers work with the Gamer?

 

Yeah you got the not found atiesrxx.exe because it has been uninstalled with step 1. Other leftover registry value and .dlls will be uninstalled with the bat file.

You really must not have any remnance of any ATI software for a fresh install to go smoothly. Double check

OK, The only other program i can suggest is 'drivesweeper'. Google and download it from phyxion.net. Run it in windows safe mode and check the box at the top for 'AMD Display' and nothing else. Analyse, then clean. Run the ATI.bat and Ccleaner afterward. Reboot normally. Try and install the drivers from the 'easy software' menu or disc. I would suggest that if this does not work you revert back to Windows 7 if indeed you are still persevering with Windows 8.

These methods always works for me using Windows 7 or earlier windows versions.

 

I'm using Windows 7 now. I thought the ATI drivers from easy software manager aren't the latest ones from AMD?

 

No they are 11.12 i think from memory. Anyway if your back on win7 download the 12.4 mobility drivers from the amd catalyst website AMD Catalyst™ Mobility Display Driver. Then install these AMD Catalyst Application Profile - 12.4 CAP2 download from Guru3D.com too. These on my system are excellent.

 

Duly noted. I'm gonna run through your latest advice now. Hope it works.

Update: Ran drive sweeper...got a popup saying "desktop gadgets not available in safe mode" while cleaning.

2nd update: Still getting that freaking incompatible hardware/software message. Blearghhhh!

 

Right i think that when you uninstall the drivers something is being defintely being leftover its gotta be. I guarantee a penny to a pound when you uninstall via windows that after the reboot and you go back to add/remove programs in your control panel, that ati catalyst is still listed. Make sure you delete this, if it wont then run 'ccleaner' click on tools and highlight ati catalyst and delete. Then just to make sure check in Device Manager that you are back to Standard VGA Drivers.
If not back at VGA, uninstall/remove devices manually via device manager. Type device manager in the bottom left windows icon 'run' box and highlight 'display adapters' and this should get you back to VGA after deleting.
You will know because when you reboot the display will be horrid and blurred.
Then proceed with the steps in my previous post.

Concerning the desktop gadgets its probably because youve got 'gpu temp' or similar related gadgets to this running on startup. Nothing to worry about.

Let me know how you get on.

Steve

 

Steve, I followed everything to the letter. Still getting the dreaded incompatibility error. At this point, I'm beginning to think this Samsung laptop is cursed.

Would it be possible that there are ATI folders/files from my previous system files when I went from Win 7 to Win 8 and back to Win 7?

 

No mate its a fresh install isnt it?

Try this download from Guru3D.com

If it still doesnt work :

I suggest backing up your important files and a fresh install of Win7.
TBH i had the same problem as you a while ago and it was because ATI catalyst wasnt uninstalled correctly. It tool me a long time to figure out that for some reason it was still present in add/remove programs. If you have followed the correct steps then maybe your windows folder is corrupt or some other driver is missing.

Steve