Official x300/x305 Owner's Lounge

Don't really know if there is a problem with the gpus. I believe there is no problem. I lowered the settings to high and the game run with not a single problem. I turned the page file off and tested it in every setting. I can only go up to high settings with 1680x1050 with page file off... If I go more than that I have a blue screen debugging.. I got low memory as well. Don't know how turbocache works but it certainly eats my memory. Well my computer uses 2gb of ram after restart. So 2 gb are left for the rest of my games and turbocache.. Any suggestions on ram since I would like to upgrade it to 8gb since its bottlenecking my specs..Anitialising is 16x and field view 3 lines.

 

I have contacted toshiba uk for the problem. They seem very helpful. The told me that they will try and solve the problem and that they will contact me as soon as possilbe. When I have news I will update! I believe that the problem still is the vram. It's like the gpus do not use their own vram but only my ram and eventually my hdd...

 

I hope they contact you, they said the same when I contacted them.

However, 2GB after a restart seems a little bit too much for me. My fully loaded OS should not go over 1.6GB I belive. With most of my apps loaded. I can post a screenshot, if you want.

But yeah, I can confirm that turbocach does eat a bunch of memory! My 9800M GTX did the same while I was playing GTA IV. I've always keep pagefile off and while I was playing GTA IV I've always got a little warining that I should close some programs, however, there was only GTA IV running at that list

 

Well I do get that msg and then eventually I get a blue screen debugging mode if I ignore it. Some time I don't even have the time to close the app before the blue screen. More over I used an external monitor to watch my temps fps and ram usage while gaming. What I saw is that when 1 gpu is used less ram is used from my system. When in sli I have double the amount of ram used. So I suppose this is a turbocache problem. Is like the 512mb of ram that each card has is not used at all and the only memory used is my ram. Well I have lots of apps running plus the kaspersky antivirus so a lot of ram is used. Fresh install with minimum apps I have nearly the same as u!(ram used). So I believe they need to release a new bios update to fix the issue with the gpu using its own memory.. I hope they fix the problem since I paid a premium price for this machine. I was always a toshiba loyal customer since my 1st laptop (pentium 1 which still works, even the screen). But if they don't fix it I might upgrade my ram to 8gb which will fix my problem and buy a new laptop in 1 years time (when I have the cash). For now fingers crossed they will help me..

 

Btw wrong observation! The memory usage doesn't change between sli and non sli. I have the evga tool and it shows that my 3rd gpu 9400m g uses memory as well. So it might be my 9400m that uses the ram without being needed.. (don't know how that is possible) but later on my 9800m need more ram as well and so it increases more at a point it uses hdd space. After that if dual 9800m are used I run into the freezing situation then ctrl alt del and the memory goes down and so the game continues fine until memory gets full again. In single gpu logically the 1 9800m needs more ram so the ram is not a bottleneck.. Thats just my theory..

 

It sounds really wired, but still it could be worse.

 

I know it is weird. I have worked for companies building pcs and repairing them (including laptops) and I never came up with the same problem as mine.. I really want to get an answer just out of curiosity!

 

I feel with you there.

 

Well guys I believe I found the solution. After having a freeze even on medium settings I supposed that ram wasn't the reason for the random freezes. I made a clean install of nvidias 267.24 beta drivers and then used the nvpmmanager to disable the throttling of the gpu. Played in sli mode for more than an hour with no crash. I will test it even more later when I have time but now even on highest settings (which lag me probably due to ram since I see a lot of hdd activity) but it does not freeze. I did not believe this would work since I tried it with toshibas 186.42 drivers but it does work with the new nvidia driver! Now I don't know why my gpus used to throttle down since they never got above 60c in call of duty black ops.. Anyway I am now happy again of my sli system! Fingers crossed the problem is not going to come back... And thanks to nvidia again for releasing a new driver for x300 sli laptop!! Correction it didn't use to go above 60c now after the fix it hit 70c but stable there. I believe its not a bad temp..

Problem still exists.. It just needed time to reoccure!

 

I played nfs hot pursuit in sli with no issues. I started to believe that its the game that is buggy with sli. I have found other posts from people having random freezes in sli. Any input would be helpfull! Do u know any optimized sli game so that I can test my dual gpu setup to know if I have any hardware problems so that I can send it to toshiba? Thanks in advance!

 

Don't know about SLI but, Left 4 Dead 2 has NEVER crashed here. Never on my Qosmio, never on my current laptop. I mostly play online with my class mates.

 

Well when I use single card mode all games run fine! Its the sli mode that doesn't work.need for speed hot pursuit is the only game I have tried recently that works okay. I started believing that its something with the power consumption. When on battery even on sli the pc doesn't crash (although it must undeclock cz my fps get a lot lower). Moreover when gaming in sli or not the 9400m g gpu temp rises. Don't know y.. Even its voltage goes from 0.900 to 1.01v. So I don't know if that is the problem.. I am certain that the problem lies in the power.. When toshiba contacts me I will let u guys kow what they said! I think that they need to change either my motherboard or gpu for this to get fixed...

 

@judgment
Are you still using the original power supply for it?
I ask because the Sli and non Sli systems used different power supplies. The Sli power supply is about 25% more powerful.
If you had replaced it, it might have been with the wrong one.

 

That is a good point and good spot

However, how much do you have left of your warranty judgment?

 

I have not replaced the power supply. Furthermore I have another one and a half year of warranty. Is there a way to check which power supply I have? Maybe I was given the wrong one? Btw I have sent my laptop to toshiba before for a repair to overheating. Maybe they gave me back the wrong power supply? Can u tell me how I can check it?

 

It is good that you still have that much left of your warranty. If you get any reply from Toshiba, I've might contact them as well for my issue. I still got no phone or email or NOTHING!

I have the intel version with singel 9800M GTX, I can post a picture of my power supply if you want

 

I would be happy if u post me the part no so I can check with mine! My laptop came with an extended warranty of 3 years + 1 year accidental damage...

 

My power supply says that it has output 19v and 12,2A so this totals 320watt if I am not wrong.. So is this the correct one? I cannot find part number on other sli systems to confirm with mine

 

It did take little bit long to upload My net is not good today, but here it is

 

Yep. It actually seems like your is more powerfull

 

So back to 0... No idea of the problem again

 

Yeah :/ back to the start again....
However, if there is anything else you want to compare to my single GPU X300, I'm glad to help you

 

Well I have no idea as to what to test anymore. Tested the 186.42 drivers from toshiba and they freeze. Tested the new nvidia 267.24 the same thing (at least they don't crash as the modified ones did). Force them not to underclock and the freeze came again. Closed all startup programs from msconfig and the freeze came again.used throttle stop to force the cpu not to underclock the freeze arise again. I tried a clean install of windows without the power saver mode of toshiba and the chipset and gpu drivers the problem arise again! Tested with different nforce drivers the problem still exists. The weird thing is that on battery it has no problem.. I have been watching my gpu temps which don't go above 70c so its not overheating problem. I have even installed the toshiba hardware setup which was available in windows vista and the problem still exist. The power supply is autosensing as to what voltage to give. Maybe it gives lower voltage for some reason. Really I have no clue! The only thing I have not tested is windows vista which I don't have the discs with me..

 

btw does anyone know what was the fix of that guy who is selling it? I might try that... (Since I am kind of desperate!!)

 

I think you have to pay him first for that

However, I asume that you have a Vista Key, you can always (leagly) download it and try that? Actually, for me also it seems like you have allready tried everything which can be related to this problem. I would try Vista, and if that does not work I would wait for the reply from Toshiba, if even that does not fix it I would send it in to them. Again, the problem is, what if Vista does fix the problem? Are you going to use Vista untill Windows 8? However, if you think it is the OS, you can also try to upgrade to SP1, if you not have done it allready.

 

I am already using windows 7 sp1. I dislike windows vista but if it is the only way for the laptop to function as a gaming laptop then I would go back to that. I have been using windows 7 from day 1 on this laptop (with the rc1 release) since vista were too laggy. I supposed that when windows 7 were released since I had an upgrade coupon from toshiba (which they send me windows 7 + driver disc) they were suppose to work fine in the end. I will probably sell the laptop for 1000 euro if it does work under vista (it still has warranty and it looks like new not even a scratch) and I will go with the alienware m17x r3 as much as I don't want to since I believe they are overpriced and they are stealing from us ;p

 

Where can I download the windows vista? I am living in the uni house and they blocked the torrent ports. So even though I have the legal key I don't know where to download vista from!

 

From reading windows 7 don't support hybrid sli. I have heard people using sli in windows 7 (desktop systems) and freeze. The fix was to update the gpu firmware which I cannot do since toshiba didn't release one!

 

K000062400 Laptop AC Adatper: 19 Volts, 230 Watts, 12.2 Amps, Power cord not included. SLI


K000052160 Laptop AC Adapter: 19 Volts, 180 Watts, 9.5 Amps, Power cord not included non Sli

The Sli power supply is also physically larger and has a course ribbed texture while the non Sli version has a smoother texture

 

Go to a local PC shop and ask them to sell you a copy of the Windows Vista installation disc for your system. Tell them you already have a legal key for it. Most shops will sell just the disc for a few bucks if you already have the key. Also you can get recovery discs from Toshiba for about 25 bucks.

 

That is not good to hear. Hmm, are all the sites blocked? And I do think it should be a therad on OS section, here on NBR!

 

I got the disc from a friend at uni! I have the cd key since the laptop was shipped with vista! Its just that I never used them! If the problem is in windows 7 then I believe I am going to be very disatisfied since I dislike vista... I believe that hybrid sli is my problem. If they only put an option in the bios to disable it as all motherboard manufacturers do... I will test the machine 2night with vista and let u know of the results.. If vista is the solution I will have both os each on a separate hdd so when I need the machine for gaming I will boot in vista... Toshiba has not yet replied to me. BTW I have the correct power supply so its not that the problem!

PS: I have the vista recovery discs since I burned them on dvd but I left them in my country since I guessed that when I moved to windows 7 I would never need them!

 

hey judgement sounds like you have a 9800m gts and a 9400m in sli i have heard of the problem before not sure how to fix it tho

 

Actually gpu z reports as the 2 9800m gts in sli and 9400 alone. Anws I have tested vista and it was a waste of time. Tested it with original display drivers, with 186.42 and with 267.24 . None of them fixed the freeze problem! So I suppose the problem is hardware.. I would like to know if any of the others with an sli qosmio x300 have the same problem.I am really dissapointed! I have spend a lot lot lot of time on this and its not working!

 

COD black ops when in single player does not freeze. Can the freeze be caused by the nforce ethernet?

 

I am out of ideas and options here!! Anything can make my day!! Just give me an option...

 

Wow, if even that did not solve your problem I'm out of ideas as well. I now think, as you said that this is related to your hardware. I do not want to say that but it seems like that is the problem :/

 

I will wait to see what toshiba has to say! They have not contacted me yet but they said that they needed 48hours so their time is out 2morrow ;p

 

lol, to mee they said 1 week. It is about 3-4 months later, I have still not head anything

 

Well I will send it back for service in my country in the summer if they don't reply in uk.. I believe that they need to change my mobo or gpu or power supply cz something is going very wrong..

 

Hmm, where are you from?

 

I have disabled the ethernet port and played sc2 offline. No black screen as it does when the ethernet is enabled. Black ops single player does not freeze. So any ideas if it is the ethernet and how can that affect my gaming experience? I don't have wifi around here to check the online thing...

 

To be clear, Black Ops did never freeze for me on single player either. As far as I can remember!

 

anyone knows the latest nforce smu driver?

 

smu?
You mean chipset?

 

Yes! that's what I mean! SMU and SMBUS usually manage the power and operations of the cpu gpu and mobo(pci,pci-e etc) so it might be there my problem...

 

nForce Chipset Driver v15.49 WHQL
This is what I've found in my driver folder for my laptop in my signature. This is downloaded from nvidia.com, I do not know if there is any new version of this, I have not reinstalled my OS for long now, so haven't checked.

 

I have that one installed and still same problem. I got a reply from toshiba that they send my case to their headquarters to find a solution. I will let u know if I get any resolution to this problem. I believe that all qosmio x300 sli versions have the same problem because a friend of mine with the exact same model had the same freezes in batman arkham asylum. We then said both that it might be the driver support for win 7 and the game bugs etc.. In fact its our laptops fault! I don't know if I will ever go with toshiba again.. I am very pissed off having an sli laptop that can only work as a single gpu laptop..

 

I'm a bit happy that I did go for a single 9800M GTX and not SLI model which was sold in my country.

 

Well I paid 700euro more for a machine that can't be used in sli! And the single card is inferior!