The Graphics on my Vaio S13A premium (or SVS13A16GGB in AUS) is confusing the hell out of me..

Hi guys, new poster here. I've tried to research this problem but couldn't really get much, so I'm crawling to you guys for some help/insight.

So here is the mystery. My Vaio S13A (SVS13A16GGB), like most of the latest S series models, have dual performance modes: stamina and speed. When I play games on the Speed mode, which runs on the GeForce GT 640M LE, the games start off fine, but after about 10 or 20 minutes into the game, the whole game starts to get laggy and the fps drops by almost half.

Now, my prediction is that when the GFX card heats up as the game progresses, the laptop confuses(?) itself as to whether it is supposed to run the GeForce 640M LE or the Intel HD 4000. Now, this conclusion comes emerges from the fact that as soon as I alt-tab out to the desktop when the lagging starts happening, the Intel HD Graphics icon is visible in the task bar as if the Intel HD 4000 card is in use

My S13A is only a couple of days old. Do you guys think its a faulty laptop?

I forgot to mention, the games I've tried were HL2:EP2 and CS:GO so far.

I don't have many high performance games yet.

EDIT: Okay, so after a few hours of gaming (when I should be working on my bloody uni essay), I can definitely confirm that a little heating of the GFX during gaming fuks it up bigtime. I need to alt-tab to desktop to wait for the GFX to stop running a bit, in order for me to bring down the heat a little and get the FPS back to normal.

I'm just curious as to whether anyone else is having this problem? Surely, a laptop with i7 technology, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM didn't account for some usual component heat as it runs some games? (btw, it's pretty chilly in my room at about 18 degree Celcius)

 

You need to set the fan mode to "priority to ventilation" for speed mode in the VAIO control center.

 

Ah right. I think the fan mode was on "balanced". But one thing which I don't understand is my friend has a slightly older S13 which has almost the exact specification, except that it has the Radeon 6630M and a slightly worse CPU. There was no problem playing the same games on his computer for hours straight, with the fan mode still at "balanced". Why the disparity?

 

I think it's due to Sony's software interacting strangely with Nvidia's Optimus technology, which automatically disables the GPU when it isn't in use. In any case changing that setting solves the problem with no increase in fan noise.

 

Thanks for the reply kanuk.

Does anyone know if this is a common occurrence with the Nvidia 640M LE?

 

I don't have any problems with mine

Get CPUID HWMonitor or GPU-Z and monitor the temperatures (I recommend the first since it shows you temperatures for everything). On my S the GPU never gets above 77C. The CPU gets to about 89C which is kind of hot, but I'm not too worried. After all, I come from the ASUS-105C-is-totally-fine-camp...

 

Cheers for that info. I don't have the vaio with me atm so I'll try it when I get home.

I also talked to Sony Care just then, and the guy thought that it may be somethign to do with the RAM allocation.

If theres anyone else out there who's using a Vaio S13 with 640M LE for gaming, could you please comment on whether you are experiencing this problem (the fps plummet) please?

 

Hahahaha...RAM allocation...yeah right. Check the temps and report back.

 

Cheers mate thanks for your support. Will do as soon as I get home tonight

 

Okay guys I was an idiot. I should've used the search function before posting up this question in the first place. It seems that the problem was due to the ventilation setting. Temps are okay, with max CPU of 90 degrees and GPU of 71.

thank you to those who helped out with my query.

 

I have S15 model and I don't see the "ventilation setting" function in vaio control ....?

So it only for S13 right ..?

 

No "Priority to Ventilation" is available on the 15 as well... hit the VAIO button next to the power button select Power Management and then Cooling Fan Control...