Problems with Graphics on M17x R4

Question

Recently bought Hitman: Absolution and installed it on my M17x R4 (i7 processor, GTX 675M graphics card + 16GB RAM) and for some reason the frames per second comes up quite bad. The game looks good but when I try to move Agent 47, the image becomes quite laggy (even with the lowest possible graphics setting). I don't know why this is happening.

While mingling with it though, I got a PC Health message telling me to update my BIOS, which I thought was weird but since it looked legit, I clicked OK. The usual "are you sure you want to install this, etc, etc" prompt came up. I had a bit of a doubt when the Publisher was "unknown" but clicked OK nonetheless. The laptop's fans started to rev up a lot when the update was being downloaded/installed. I thought it was going to explode! When it prompted me to restart it, I did, but since then, the graphics don't work properly. I didn't check the game before doing the BIOS update so don't know if that was the cause or not. Did I just mess up my laptop :/ ? if I did, what can I do to restore it?

Also, one of the games doesn't launch anymore (Bulletstorm) which is quite worrying as well. I've tried everything I can to fix the problem but nothing seems to work. Any help?

DELL-Chris M · Answer

Pikachimba, What was the exact name of the Bios file you loaded? What is the driver version for your GTX675m?

Pikachimba · Answer

I can't remember the exact file as it just said "BIOS update" and I clicked OK... :S

The graphics card has the latest Version installed (306.97)

I haven't turned it on for about 2 days now so I don't know if the problem is still there (or if the file is still in the downloads, I'll have a look when I get home tonight).

Another thing, since we're here, is why do I have to plug the charger to play certain games? Like Bulletstorm, before this whole problem, when I wanted to play it, the same thing would happen to the game (laggy image) but when I plugged it to the mains, it would become normal and I could play it. Is that supposed to do that?

DELL-Chris M · Answer

You can turn the system on, press F2 to enter the Bios and it should state on the main page what version your running. Correct. On battery, the system reverts to the Intel video rather than the discrete GTX675. All gaming should be done with the AC adapter plugged in.

Pikachimba · Answer

I'll check that and let you know what version of BIOS the laptop is running.

And thanks for explaining the battery/graphics thing. I just thought it was odd as that was the only game that would require me to plug the PC to the mains. Any other game ran well with the laptop's battery (games like League of Legends, Guild Wars 2, Max Payne 3, Dishonored, etc)

Pikachimba · Answer

Just found the file name (it's still in the downloads carpet). It's called "M17R4A09WIN64" and as the name suggests, I checked the BIOS version and it says "A09". I don't know what version was installed before.

I just ran the game again and the problem is still there. Not only that but games that ran well previously, now have the same problem (Dishonored, Max Payne 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, to name a few)

What can I do to fix the problem?

Thanks

DELL-Chris M · Answer

* Be sure to connect the AC adapter to the system
* Open the NVIDIA Control Panel
* Select Manage 3D Settings
* Under the Global Settings tab, select High-performance NVIDIA processor
* Click Apply- OK
* Close the NVIDIA Control Panel

Test some games.

Pikachimba · Answer

Hi Chris, I did exactly what you posted but the graphics still don't work properly... could it be a hardware failure? Or maybe I'm missing something... Anything else I should try?

Pikachimba · Answer

I just tested the game at work (I work for a gaming café) and the game ran beautifully even though the PC's are not as good as my laptop (i3 Processors, 8GB Ram, GTX 460 Graphics Card)

There IS something wrong on my laptop but I can't figure what it is :(

DELL-Chris M · Answer

* Insert any Dell CD in the drive* Close any windows that appear* Restart the system* At the Dell logo screen press F12* At the One Time Boot menu, press the Down arrow key to highlight Diagnostics* Press Enter to begin the Diagnostics. Post the results

Pikachimba · Answer

Run the tests (extended thorough) as you said and here are the results:

ePSA Pre-Boot Sytem Assesment / Service Tag HC****1 / Build 4220.10 uEFI Rom

Cables = Pass

Notebook Panel = Pass

Hard Drive 0 = Pass

Hard drive 1 = Pass

CD-ROM Drive 0 = Pass

OS Boot Path 0 = Pass

Video Card = Pass

Primary Battery = Pass

Charger = Pass

CPU Fan: Pass

Video Fan: Pass

Processor: Pass

Memory: Pass

Battery and AC Adapter = Normal

Fans = Normal

Hard Drive 1 - DST Long Test = Pass

Hard Drive 0 - DST Long Test = Pass

Video Card - Video Card Connection Test = Pass

Video Card - Video Memory Test:

Vendor Name: uEFI / Product ID: Graphics Protocol / Vendor Version: N/A

Memory Start: 0xa9000000 Memory Size Tested 14.00 MB = Pass

DIAG Data: Pass v4220 ePSA Extended Test = Pass (x4 logs at different times all showing the same result)

Pikachimba · Answer

I also ran a 3DMark11 test and here are the results:

Full System Info:

Alienware M17XR4

Intel(r) Core(TM) i7-3720QM CPU @ 2.60 GHz 260.60 GHz (Quad core)

RAM: 16.0 GB (8192 MB Samsung 9 @ 800 MHz x2)

64-bit OS (Windows 7 Home Premium SP1)

Hard Drive: 1.000GB M17XR4_RAID0 (Dual Hard Drive)

GeForce GTX 675M:

Driver Version; 306.97

DirectX support: 11.1

CUDA Cores: 384

Graphics clock: 670 MHz

Processor clock: 1240 MHz

Memory data rate: 3000 MHz

Memory interface: 256-bit

Total available graphics memory: 4096 MB

Dedicated video memory: 2048 MB GDDR5

System video memory: 0 MB

Shared system memory: 2048 MB

Video BIOS version: 70.24.43.00.0D

IRQ: 16

Bus: PCI Express x16 Gen 2

3DMark11 Results:

Score = P490 3DMarks

Graphics score = 418

Physics (CPU) score = 8420

Combined score (Graphics + CPU) = 442

Detailed Scores

Graphics test 1 = 2.02 FPS

Graphics test 2 = 1.99 FPS

Graphics test 3 = 2.55 FPS

Graphics test 4 = 1.24 FPS

Physics test (CPU) = 26.73 FPS

Combined test = 2.06 FPS

I can't figure out exactly what's wrong here. The PC works wonderfully while doing anything else but as soon as I have to use the graphics card it doesn't respond correctly.

Pikachimba · Answer

I've also tried making it work by re-installing the latest Driver version as well as fiddling with the graphics switcher (FN + F7) to change between the Integrated Intel and GeForce 675M cards but still nothing... I'm running out of options lol

DELL-Chris M · Answer

This sounds like a driver/game issue, not a hardware failure. The gamers on the NRF (Notebook Review Forum) are very knowledgeable. Ask them out there if they can provide us some help troubleshooting the games. http://bit.ly/oWz9v3

Pikachimba · Answer

Hmm, if it is a game issue, why is it that I could play the same games I've been testing out to no avail? Bulletstorm played beautifuly before but it doesn't even launch now, Dishonored and Medal of Honor looked and played very good but I now have the FPS issue all my games have...

It might be a driver issue though, as I tried to update to the latest BETA version to give it a go but it didn't let me... Anything I can do there?

KriS_TsT · Answer

Hi Pikachimba,

It's not a game issue. I have a similar problem with my M17x R4 and GeForce 680m. After upgrading to A09 my graphic performance is very poor (3dMark dropped from 6300 to 2950). Battlefield 3, NFS and other new games almost unplayable (60fps before upgrade). I found that installing Windows 8 in UEFI and fast boot enabled can help with 3dmark score (yesterday score: 6100) but I didn't try any game yet. If you change from UEFI to Legacy your score will drop again. So its an issue with BIOS/mobo. I'll do a little bit more investigation today evening...

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Problems with Graphics on M17x R4

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