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Go to Solution15 R4, poor performance
I got an Alienware 15 R4 in June 2019 running a GTX 1060. For the past few months, I've been having gradually degrading gaming performance. I started noticing it about 6 months ago when I would get random FPS drops in Rainbow Six Siege, almost as if this all started when my warranty expired. Now, Rainbow Six Siege doesn't even go above a certain FPS in the main menu on the lowest settings to the point that it's completely unplayable; games that can easily run on a 9xx series GPU like Civilizations V lags 100% of the time and never maintains 60FPS or above.
I tried tweaking the settings on my NVIDIA Control Panel as recommended elsewhere and using a high power setting for my power plan, but nothing has made a difference. I also did a full reformat sometime in the past months and, if anything, it made the laptop's performance worse.
Would appreciate any help.
Hi @Mitsuya welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.
When playing power hungry games, laptop ac adapter power is supplemented by battery power. From your description, It seems that the battery useful power is getting lower with use and age. Please create Windows 10 Battery report. The final section of the battery report gives battery life estimates at full charge, compared to the designed capacity. This area gives a clear outlook of how well battery life is holding up over time.
[This user does not work for Dell and volunteers their free time. Please remember to say thank you by clicking on my thumb up icon.]Gelbuilding
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Posted April 6th, 2021 03:00
Make sure all your drivers are up to date.
When windows update your operating system be sure to have problems.
I have noticed this every time windows updates.
After doing to the Dell support page and update their version of windows i.e. from Dell you will notice a considerable stabilization of your system.
Always look at updating the driver when available.
@crimsom sorry, am I not meant to post my query here? I noticed other users had similar questions in the past, though none of their solutions works.
The battery report indicates that my battery is operating at ~97.5% capacity. I can't see how this could be an issue.
UserBenchmark places my GPU at a 3% bench, which leads me to think that my GPU is fried. For reference, the Intel GPU benches at 5.61%.
Hi @Mitsuya guess that you are referring to the first line of my post. This is an English forum that is not specific to the USA. There are many international visitors, some of whom think this is an official Dell Support webpage, when it is just a user to user discussion forum. Please do not take offence. Please keep using the free discussion forums that Dell has provided.
[This user does not work for Dell and volunteers their free time. Please remember to say thank you by clicking on my thumb up icon.]@Alienware Area-51 ALX 2006 Yeah it seems to be thermal throttling. I ran the benchmark again after shutting down the laptop for a half-hour and it performed as expected. Operating temperatures while gaming are between 89-92C, not sure if that's high but I'll check out the thermal pasting. Thanks!
No problem.
*NOTE: I am NOT a Dell employee, But I am a Community Rockstar*Quick Tip: If your laptop has voltage / charging issues, try shutting it down, unplugging power from laptop, hold power button down for 30 seconds to do a full reset!
A51-06
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Posted April 6th, 2021 05:00
I'm having a thought that maybe its thermal throttling. repaste the GPU and CPU and connect the 240w adapter that came with the system. Thats also strange on how it places a 1060 below an intel GPU.
*NOTE: I am NOT a Dell employee, But I am a Community Rockstar*
Quick Tip: If your laptop has voltage / charging issues, try shutting it down, unplugging power from laptop, hold power button down for 30 seconds to do a full reset!