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StrandedSurvivor
8 Posts
1
1917
October 15th, 2021 12:00
m15 R2, misreported GPU clock speed, input voltage and power usage
Hi, I recently noticed my GPU clock speed, voltage and power consumption all get misreported when playing games or doing anything that uses the dGPU, and it seems to be causing massive performance degradation in games that I play. I'm currently getting about 1/3 of the original performance that I used to get. The issue started when I installed the GeForce 472.12 driver, and persisted after a driver uninstall using DDU, then installing the previous driver version from Nvidia's website. I recently updated to the 496.13 driver in hopes that it might solve the issue, but it didn't unfortunately. I'm hoping this is just a software issue that can be solved without having to return the unit or reinstall windows, since I also depend on this laptop for university work and currently don't have a backup solution available (literally and metaphorically). Attached is an example of the misreported values that I saw when playing War Thunder, the power even sustained itself at "326W" shortly after for as long as the game was running. I've found this same behaviour across all the games I have installed, it's not fun. Since the screenshot cut off the full name of the GPU, it's an RTX 2080 Max-Q. For this example, I'd typically get ~150FPS in War Thunder with the current settings I'm using, with dips to 60 in gameplay. I now get 'this' framerate, with frequent dips to 15 in game. Any help would be appreciated.
Edit: oh, and just to get it out of the way, the SupportAssist GPU video and system board tests both passed with expected results, real world usage indicates it's a false negative. Also on Windows 10 21H1 build 19043.1288
1014
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Posted October 15th, 2021 14:00
By re-image do you mean reinstall windows? If so then I can’t really do that as I have nothing to backup my data to.
1077
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Posted October 15th, 2021 15:00
I don't see this option labelled as such in either the boot manager or the UEFI. what should it show up as, and where exactly? (could you attach a photo or something to show me?)
1075
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Posted October 15th, 2021 15:00
Ok...so every Dell SSD comes with a separate partition with a complete Image of the OS partition, as it came from the factory. It only takes a few minutes.
IF you have changed the HDD then you lost that partition (unless you imaged the original Dell drive, with the factory-reset image on it.)
Otherwise it should work fine. I'm not sure where it is on an M15 R2. I assumed, like most systems, it was under F8. You could ask Tech Support, or perhaps someone here knows the procedure for an M15. The Knowledge base just comes up with people that have reset an M15...not how they did it.
It's a great procedure though, I do it once a year.1008
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Posted October 15th, 2021 15:00
Re-image is under the F8-at-bootup menu.
If not, try F2 or F12 at bootup.
It will solve all your problems and more. Many drivers and firmwares don't always remove themselves very well. It can really affect the machine. Registry, conflicts and just general gremlins.
Plus you get a completely defragmented new drive with only the NEWEST updates. No remnants of old updates.1053
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Posted October 15th, 2021 19:00
This is Dell's instructions to complete a factory restoration of the OS.
How to restore the Dell factory image with Dell Backup and Recovery | Dell Canada1029
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Posted October 16th, 2021 04:00
Thanks, just started it and I’m just waiting for it to finish.
1021
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Posted October 16th, 2021 08:00
well I just did the reset, no dice, the values are still being reported incorrectly.
1004
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Posted October 16th, 2021 11:00
When your installing the driver for NVIDIA select the latest option and do a clean install using the GEFORCE EXPERIENCE application in the driver custom installation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOjeE4wY-1I
*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!
725
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Posted October 16th, 2021 12:00
This partially solved the issue, performance is much better than before, but still not at the same levels that it originally was. the values are still being misreported as well.
AWX17
2 Intern
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154 Posts
1011
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Posted October 15th, 2021 13:00
Driver issues...they can be impossible to undo, right into the registry and firmware.
Me? Since I KNOW that it was working fantastic. I would re-image. I hate a dirty OS. Gremlins.
Plus it's easy.