m17 R4, have really bad in game FPS

Question

Hello everyone,

I bought Alienware m17 R4 a month ago. With RTX3080 laptop GPU and 500-nit HDR 60Hz screen.

At the beginning I played Darksiders, It takes two etc. felt weird about why so lagged??

I use GeForce Experience to monitor my "average fps" and "99% fps", the average is about 59~60, never surpassed it. The 99% fps is half of it, 25~35 fps only.

Lag comes from the worst 99% fps I get it, but it happens all the time. LOL, Darksiders II, Hollow Knight, Hades, Nier:Automata etc.

What am I using, RTX 3080? I didn't test Cyberpunk 2077 because I know it's too hard for 3080 runs at 4K, but LOL can't be a problem, right? Meanwhile, GPU usage is always 45~50%.

I don't get it, we could all remember when we shopping online, DELL said," XXX game could runs XXX fps on this laptop." Now they're all scam? Because all I can see barely 60 fps.

At the first I thought I get a fake RTX 3080 until one day I connect Alienware to my TV. GPU usage goes up to 99%, fps gets normal.

TV is Samsung UA55TU7000W, an ordinary one.

I search online, ask for help, call for DELL agent. Change settings from GeForce Experience, NVIDIA Control Panel, Graphics settings. Didn't work, the performance on laptop is poor and gets good when I connect to external monitor.

Graphics settings.png

And Yes!! Of course I disable V-sync all the time!

NVIDIA Control Panel P1.png NVIDIA Control Panel P2.png NVIDIA Control Panel P3.png NVIDIA Control Panel P4.png

Disable all saving power options.

Geforce Experience P1.png

Here's my screenshot for settings.

Advanced display settings Alien.png Advanced display settings TV.png

My tests are below,

Darksiders II

(System block me right now upload later)

Darksiders II from Alien

Darksiders II from TV

Hollow Knight

(System block me right now upload later)

Hollow Knight from Alien

Hollow Knight from TV

All tests are run at the same settings, turned the game on, took a picture, that simple. The only difference is "connect to external monitor". From the test I can tell, GPU don't want to work on Alienware screen.

Darksiders II 99% fps is 39 consume 111 watt, but 91fps + 151 watt on TV.

Hollow Knight 99% fps: 27fps with 59 watt, but 236 fps + 134 watt on TV.

We can see even if there's a lot range between 59 and 134 (watt), but GPU is saving its effort for no reason.

BTW, AWCC only change the noise of the fans. Can't change the GPU usage.

(System block me right now upload later)

AWCC

There's no reason I buy a laptop take everywhere. However playing games need having a external screen, right? Especially this laptop isn't cheap, no refund policy.

I didn't get it, the ultimate laptop? Only on price?

Maybe next time I purchase a "Gaming laptop" I should run several games see if it can perform well. Witness it with DELL Salesman in person.

My Dell Agent now send me an email a day, and I can see that she wants to get rid of me because I am basic warranty policy client.

I build my own computers for ten years and expect nothing like this. I admit I didn't think Premium Support is necessary before hand. Alright, I changed my mind, I don't mind pay more to upgrade to Premium Support Plus but, what if I pay and the agent still don't have any clue.

What then? Please help.

Thank you for your patience.

RainingDot · Accepted Answer

Pardon? You mean project the screen without connecting wire? I think that will perform worse because of bandwidth bottleneck. I tried once with my PC while using RTX 3090, the frame rate, the contrast, or lag somehow.

Fortunately, I solved it!!

Though, the engineers are doing their research, I pressed Fn+F7, switch to Alienware On-Screen performance mode. And it works!!

Hollow Knight runs 4K@200+fps, LOL works really fine and so on.

Before the MB been replaced, laptop runs unstable at this mode, so I guess the MB had some issue.

I think that's it.

No matter what happen, just tell them it's hardware issue, and then use Fn+F7.

Thank you all you guys.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @RainingDot welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.

Guess that your Service Request is still open, within the first 30 days you can Reject and request a new replacement or a full refund. Dell policy = Refunds, System exchanges

From your description, the transition from CPU's graphics to discrete RTX3080 GPU is disabled for the laptop's screen, but the HDMI out port will connect the RTX3080 GPU to your external monitor.

Your Alienware m17 R4 has a fault, and you should reject this new laptop and request a new replacement asap.

Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from user that is not employed by Dell. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.

RainingDot · Answer

Hello,

Thanks for your response.

Unfortunately, this laptop over 30 days since I received. I just got an irony myself. I am a little faithless to that service agent, so try to find other solutions elsewhere. I will contact to the local technical support see if I can get a repair or something.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @RainingDot thank you for sharing update.

Your opening post says "bought Alienware m17 R4 a month ago", guess that your Service Request was created within 30 days. There is a good prospect that your request to Reject and get a new replacement will get authorised by Dell. If you never ask, you will have missed this opportunity.

RainingDot · Answer

Hi, HAHA, sorry about my opening description. I simplified the time line, my warranty starts at 2021/05/07 that day I registered on the laptop. But why not, I will try it out. Thank you.

A51-06 · Answer

Bruh you know your forcing 1000FPS for the GPU to process right? It literally is telling the game to always try running at 1000FPS.

Also check your thermals and please check out this post for recommended settings.

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware/My-fix-for-low-FPS-in-games-Enable-these-NVIDIA-settings/m-p/7911922#M43946

RainingDot · Answer

well......

An engineer replaced the motherboard today in my house.

He's kind but not professional enough, he said, "Oh, the fps problem......maybe you should search on the internet."

I think, "Your Bechalor's Degree earned on the internet?" and gave him a smile goodbye.

Hopeless......

Fortunately, I upgraded to Premium Warranty and will request service again and again untill this is fixed.

RainingDot · Answer

Thanks for your advise,

I tried the options you mentioned, makes no difference.

And yes it forces Alienware runs at 1000 fps but only 60fps it can reach, if I particularly record 99% fps it will way worse than 60.

Still, thanks, looking for agent support again.

A51-06 · Answer

playing at 4K is kinda hard you know. Since you have a monitor or basically a tv connected to it, why not project the screen to the tv instead of the built in laptop screen and the tv.

robertrocks2342 · Answer

Its totally based on the Device standard. If your device has high FPS, then you will not enjoy the game streaming smoothly. You must have High FPS device for better enjoyment.

robertrocks2342 · Answer

Thanks a lot for the information. A high FPS game has good control and smooth gameplay.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks a lot for the information. An excessive FPS recreation has excellent manage and easy gameplay.

jerry6565 · Answer

I'm having a major issue with my FPS while playing games on my Lenovo Legion Y540-17IRH laptop. The laptop has an Intel Core i7-9750H processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card, but I'm still getting really bad in-game FPS. I've tried adjusting the settings and updating the drivers, but nothing seems to be working. I'm not sure what else I can do to improve my performance.

Alienware

m17 R4, have really bad in game FPS

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