17 R4, Poor performance

Question

I have this Alienware 17 R4 for a quite long time (since 2017), and was always able to play all sort of games on it, without any problems. Even using high video profiles. My preferred games where always the Call of Duty saga.

But, for almost a year, I have tried to play my games, but with no success. I started to experience very low FPS performance during the games, 40 FPS in average, but when things get hotter during the game, with more activity nearby, the game hangs for a while and fps goes down bellow 5 FPS during small intervals of 2s to 5s.

For the last year, I have been searching on forums like this and others, tips to troubleshoot my system, and have tried several approaches, but none fixed it. I tried installing Windows 10 from 0, undervolting, change my powercable, lots of configs, tried to change my energy power plan. I have the state of my cpu at 95% because when i set to 100% my cpu almost reachs 100° when I play and the frequency is over 3400mhz (when my cpu frequency is 2.80), and the temps goes down suddenly to 60° and so the frequency too, loosing almost all my fps. Ive put it new thermal paste yesterday

I have no idea where the issue is, and very disappointed as I bought this expensive pc exactly to avoid this kind of situation, but here I am.

I have performed Dell Video stress test, and it pass successfully.

My specs are:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz, 2801 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB

GPU Geforce GTX 1070

Need assistance to get my system back to normal. Thanks in advance.

crimsom · Accepted Answer

Hi @Nahueldgo thank you for sharing update.

Here are the Dell part numbers of new OEM replacement battery:
New Alienware 17 R4 / Alienware 15 R3 Original 4-cell Laptop Battery 68Wh - DP/N 44T2R
New Alienware 17 R4 / Alienware 15 R3 Original 6-cell Laptop Battery 99Wh - DP/N 9NJM1

Getting Genuine OEM Parts is currently difficult, they should include a 1 Year Warranty. On arrival, check that replacement has the correct Alienware appearance, information and connection. Check that the white label includes DP/N and beneath the square matrix the Year/Month should be less than 6 months.

Alienware Support: Alienware 17 R4 Battery Disassembly - YouTube Video.

crimsom · Answer

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

17 R4 has Hybrid Power Design and requires both battery and ac adapter power to play power hungry games. The battery charge will reduce and playing games for long durations will see a drop in FPS. The ability of battery to hold its charge will degrade over time, and replacement is required.

Dell Laptop Battery - Frequently Asked Questions

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.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Nahueldgo thank you for sharing update.

Here are the Dell part numbers of new OEM replacement battery:
New Alienware 17 R4 / Alienware 15 R3 Original 4-cell Laptop Battery 68Wh - DP/N 44T2R
New Alienware 17 R4 / Alienware 15 R3 Original 6-cell Laptop Battery 99Wh - DP/N 9NJM1

Getting Genuine OEM Parts is currently difficult, they should include a 1 Year Warranty. On arrival, check that replacement has the correct Alienware appearance, information and connection. Check that the white label includes DP/N and beneath the square matrix the Year/Month should be less than 6 months.

Alienware Support: Alienware 17 R4 Battery Disassembly - YouTube Video.

Nahueldgo · Answer

Is there any way to test my battery to confirm that is the real problem?

Nahueldgo · Answer

I did the online battery diagnosti, says:

Battery charging to only 44.00% of design capacity.

But when i download the Dell power manager says that the battery is 100% and working fine. How can I test my charger?

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Nahueldgo thank you for sharing update. AC Adapter for your Dell laptop PC - Troubleshooting.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Nahueldgo to test ac adapter:-

The F12 (ePSA) Diagnostics will test ac adapter and battery. Press and hold down F12 key at splash screen, when boot menu appears, select Diagnostics and press Enter to run, when diagnostic window opens, cancel test all hardware, click on test icon in bottom RH corner, when test window appears, look at icons in LH column, select ac adapter / charger and test. The test status window will appear, and the test results. Select Print to save a copy.

ejn63 · Answer

The one thing you haven't mentioned is maintenance -- a thorough internal clean-out of all dust, along with replacement of the thermal pads that fit between the heatsink and CPU/GPU heat slug. The system has been in service for 4-5 years now -- and these do dry out over time.

You may find that a thorough overhaul internally solves the problem, though your battery report means a new battery is due, likely sooner rather than later.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @ejn63 OP says already repasted. This will have included internal clean, to remove dust & debris from vents, fans, etc.

For the typical user, noticeable reduction in run time generally will be observed after 18 to 24 months. For a power user, reduction in run time generally may be experienced within 18 months. Dell recommends installing a new Dell OEM laptop battery when the run time does not meet user needs.

Nahueldgo · Answer

Ive installed that sowftware, those are the values:

A51-06 · Answer

I also recommend while you're replacing the Battery that you repasted everything with some good thermal paste and clean out the fans. That should help with heat issues and also remember this: Your CPU speed can be at 2.1Ghz and still preform good at 1080p ultra settings at 60fps on games like fortnite or anything else because its not CPU reliant basically meaning Speed.

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17 R4, Poor performance

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