Major problems with games and I-600M

Question

Ok, first off I love this sytem, it's quiet, compact, light and powerful. That being said, the system plays games like a 5 year old laptop. When I received the laptop I upgraded the bios to A09 from A03. I checked all the drivers to ensure they were current on Dell's site and downloaded all updates from Microsoft, including DirectX 9.0b. I joyfully loaded 2 of my favorite games to check the system out, (Warcraft3 and Age of Mythology) to my amazement after playing about 5 minutes into the game, BAM. The system suddenly reverts to some kind of retro P5-233mhz mode. The system chops and the mouse skips about and then only way to get it to stop is to shut down the game and about 2 minutes later, the mouse and system revert back to full speed. It appears after using it now for a week, that playing my games are the only problem with the system. Fed up with this problem, I started from scratch. I did a clean install of Windows (XP Pro SP1a) and installed all the latest drivers and patches (again). Same problem. I am worried that there may be an overheating problem or a bad MB. Since this problem only seems to effect games it's hard to tell. I am using the machine while it is docked to the Advanced Port Replicator if that helps. Dell Inspiron 600MPentium-M 1.7768 MB DDR 266mhzATI Radeon 9000 64 MegFujitsu 40gb HDHL-DT-ST 24x Combo CD-RW/DVDSigmaTel C-Major AudioDell TrueMobile 802.11b/gWindows XP SP1

Sterlin254 · Answer

The BIOS was the problem once it was downgraded it plays HALO+BF1942 like a charm!!!

inspiron600m · Answer

hmm...that's weird

i posted earlier in another 600m post

i have an older 600m and i can play warcraft 3 with absolutely no issues at all

it is a little bit slow when loading the game and exiting the game

but in the actual game itself, I noticed no lag and no other problems at all

here are my specs again if they would help

1.3 ghz , 256mb , 32mb ati

slowecsl · Answer

Can you downgrade to A03 without a floppy drive? All I have is a 128mb USB key.

Dell Inspiron 600M
Pentium-M 1.7
768 MB DDR 266mhz
ATI Radeon 9000 64 Meg
Fujitsu 40gb HD
HL-DT-ST 24x Combo CD-RW/DVD
SigmaTel C-Major Audio
Dell TrueMobile 802.11b/g
Windows XP SP1

Sterlin254 · Answer

on my 600m i upgraded to A09 and it ruined all games causing freezups every few minutes. So it is safe to downgrade to A03 if using the floppy disk method i did it my self that fixed all my problems

onlymobile411 · Answer

I see alot of posts with people having trouble playing games... and I just don't get it.  I don't play the newest stuff... But I play Warcraft 3 and Medal of Honor (w/ all expansions) on my 'old' Latitude c610 with very few problems.  I get some weird discolored patches in MoH every once in a while... but for the most part... it's great.  So my question is, for all the guru's out there... What is going on with these newer systems?

spiked_martini · Answer

onlymobile411, I agree. I play WC3 on my system at 1600x1200, medium details, and don't have any slowdowns or any other problems, and my system, at 2 years, would be considered old as well. Maybe it's the drivers? Maybe in pushing for top performance with the most up-to-the-minute games, some stability is lost for older ones like WC3 ad MOH?

Sterlin254 · Answer

You could try it by using the other method which is just installing it (like you originally did with the A09) although when downgrading without the floppy method that is done AT YOUR OWN RISK. IT MAY NOT WORK AND MAKE PROBLEMS WORSE I DON'T KNOW!!!

Akashra · Answer

I too came across this problem after the second day having my system. A08 and A09 both suffer from the problem, however A06 does not, so you're safe to go up to A06.

Hopefully dell can release A10 without this problem, because my system is affected by a number of the issues addressed in A08 and A09 :(
Unfortunately, a P100 is just not acceptable!

slowecsl · Answer

Hellooooo, Dell. Is anyone at Dell actually aware of the problem with the latest bios. I agree with Akashra. You can downgrade back to A06 but there are significant changes made to the bios up through version A09. My system is used as a work machine first and an entertainment system second. I don't want to risk the old problems that are associated with the older bios releases just to play games (though at lunch I am going through game withdraw). Could someone at Dell give an update to the status of this problem owing to the fact that this problem effects many Dell customers.

Sterlin254 · Answer

I'm still fine with the A03 I play HALO and BF1942 great with it

galland101 · Answer

I think the problem started with the A07 BIOS: '2. Optimized the thermal control algorithm.' Dell, you guys better optimize the optimization...I don't want to be stuck at A06 forever.

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