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July 3rd, 2013 09:00
PEG Setings vs. SG - Question help (2 part question)
First,
So after much heartache of reformating, repairing, reformating, sending in for repairs, reformating, repairs I might have a system that works.
M17xR3, Nvidia 460m video card
lately with the OS installs and Bios settings, I've been asked to keep the display set as PEG, rather than SG, although I find that while gaming, PEG tends to put tons of strain on the cideo card when switching to the browser, and tons of slowdowns.
Is there any reason why SG is not liked? seems like it is causing problems with the Dell techs that they always want it off.. so why put it into the system to begin with?
Also, the tech reformatted and reinstalled drivers while the setting was on PEG, and even with the intel drivers, if I switch to SG, I have to reinstall both the intel and nvidia driers to get them to work?.. I am missing something?
also, second question, my other M17xR3 has a 560m, but I find that while gaming, it slows down from 100fps to 10, for about 30secs then the screen flashes black, then back right away and back at full speed. I get that it is throttling, but I dont see how it is getting too hot.. 100% clear from dust, and have it on a laptop bottom thingy (words escape me right now) :D , even pushed over the edge of it to ensure that all vents are 100% completely lifted
I haven't check to see if the Vbios was updated for it yet, any idea if they tweaked the throttle settings in the update (if there is one)?
Incinador
15 Posts
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July 3rd, 2013 10:00
1.) reload as in reinstall the drivers, or is there a 'detect hardware changes' that would apply?
2.) heatsink/paste was applied when card was installed about 2 weeks ago, would it still be likely?
NataliaatAW
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835 Posts
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July 3rd, 2013 10:00
Hello Incinador :)
1. PEG is for it to run on the discrete card rather than the iGPU. It will make the discrete card the main one. This will make the computer forget about Optimus and force it to work on the best performance possible all the time.
When you change the setting the O.S looses connection with the hardware that it had (changing a setting in the BIOS will be recognized by Windows as a hardware change) therefore it will need to reload them.
2.It could be that the heatsink isn't dissipating the heat properly and you may need to replace it or to apply new thermal paste
NataliaatAW
2 Intern
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835 Posts
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July 5th, 2013 14:00
Hi,
1. Yes, by reload I meant re install :)
2. Well, everything is possible, but have you tried a clean boot to disable the programs running on the background? It could be that causing frame drop.
Incinador
15 Posts
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July 8th, 2013 05:00
Ill have to give it a shot with the clean boot. maybe help me figure out what, if anything, is slowing it down.
Ive currently taken to reducing the max fps while the game is running to between 40-60 fps, as it was currently bottled at 100fps, which is entirely unnecessary for the game,
it seems to have slowed down the events, but they still occur..
I should restate that the video is running fine, the game starts slowing down (the fans completely stop), then 20-30 secs later the fans kick back in at full speed and the fps goes back to normal. I would think that if it was throttling, the fans would still be going 100% to cool it down before it would go back to full speed? It doesnt seem right to sit with the fans OFF waiting for it to cool down. perhaps there is something else, maybe the drivers or a bios setting that could be fixed with updating the vbios of the card?
would a 3rd party program to force 100% speed of the fans be allowable under warranty (if there is such a program) and which would you suggest?
NataliaatAW
2 Intern
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835 Posts
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July 9th, 2013 13:00
You can try updating the Video BIOS and then the System BIOS, check out the article below:
How to update the video BIOS of an nVIDIA video card in an Alienware M17x R3 and M18x computers?
and here's the link for the downloads:
Nvidia 460m Video BIOS
ALIENWARE M17XR3 A12 BIOS
We do not recommend a 3rd party program to force 100% speed on the fans, so it wouldn't be covered under the warranty.
Incinador
15 Posts
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July 10th, 2013 05:00
Well, the System BIOS is already the latest version, havent touched the VBIOS yet either., changed settings from PEG to SG, started in safe mode and cleaned out the intel drivers, reinstalled, and let the nvidia drivers refresh, restart again, and voila.. everything is back to normal.
games are running perfectly so far, no slowdowns or video card kicking off...
I find it strange that this is the solution, it doesnt seem right to me that the video card is having such a hard time by itself that it would kick off like that. games were ran fullscreen, so i dont know if aero effects or anything desktop related would really be utilizing the card that much to slow it down.
since ive reset everything, I bumped all the settings back up, and took off the 60fps limitation just to see, and Ive been able to run at 100+fps without any issues, and around 30fps in rift on ultra with all the goodies like ambient occlusion and fx/shadows/etc turned up, even in busy areas with lots of lighting and particle effects.. strange how things work at times.
might wait to update the vbios until it seems necessary, the only info ive been able to find about the vbios update is that it adjusted the temp at which it throttles the video card down (allowing for a higher temp), so ill just keep it at the lower one until i find it an issue.
same with driver updates. i dont think ill be enjoying any nvidia driver updates until i run into a game that requires a higher version to work. too many headaches and poor development quality from them to make it worth it. If the game starts and runs, and smoothly, im happy. dont care too much about the 5% increase here or there.. unless its a game like black ops 2 that wouldnt even start unless it had 310.xx or later drivers, cuz, yeah..