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Need some guidence

E

Engnr

n00b
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
11
I have a Alienware M15x and it plays games just fine, or did. I have tried everything, new drivers, virus scans, msconfig, removing old software, moving usb plugs around, cooling fans, you name it. Have not installed anything new lately and this has happened before and went away after playing with drivers, I thought. But when I started playing Rift, everything was great, then I moved my laptop, the fps dropped from 30's down to 1, so I messed with new video drivers, seemed to fix it. Happened again, even re-loaded the game, but then other games have issues too now. LFD2, there seems to be a delay with the mouse and keyboard, like a 2 second lag before they respond. Not sure what else to try outside of a clean wipe of the OS at this point. I think I have tried everything....

Any ideas before I get a hammer out?
 
I am going to suggest you rewrite your post to be a bit more clear on what happened and is happening.
 
Engnr said:
I have a Alienware M15x and it plays games just fine, or did. I have tried everything, new drivers, virus scans, msconfig, removing old software, moving usb plugs around, cooling fans, you name it. Have not installed anything new lately and this has happened before and went away after playing with drivers, I thought. But when I started playing Rift, everything was great, then I moved my laptop, the fps dropped from 30's down to 1, so I messed with new video drivers, seemed to fix it. Happened again, even re-loaded the game, but then other games have issues too now. LFD2, there seems to be a delay with the mouse and keyboard, like a 2 second lag before they respond. Not sure what else to try outside of a clean wipe of the OS at this point. I think I have tried everything....

Any ideas before I get a hammer out?
Click to expand...

You moved your laptop? Did you violently move it? Idk maybe you could have scratched the HDD really badly??
 
Have you checked the temperatures? It is possible you knocked a heatsink or something loose so the card is throttling itself to death. Other then that I would say do a wipe and see if the problem persists.
 
Nothing was knocked loose, was a simple take the computer to a friends house to work.

Installed Rift
Everything works great
Went to a friends house with the laptop
Returned home
Played Rift, FPS dropped to 1
Cleaned up computer, checked for viruses, updated drivers, switching between the latest Nvidia and Dell's, moved USB, added a cooling fan under the laptop.
Not sure what fixed it this time but it sorted itself out.
A week later, after a patch or two on the game, one day it worked great, about 30fps, the next morning, dropped to 1fps.
Rinse and repeat trying different ideas to clean the problem up.
Rinse and repeat it sorting itself out.
Now as of 2 days ago, I can't figure out what has changed to mess it up.
The last thing I remember is playing Dawn of War II on the laptop just fine, the next day fps1.
Nothing makes sense, so I thought maybe someone would have a suggestion before I reload the OS. No hardware changes, no viruses, no new programs, video drivers updated, memory check is fine, what else...
 
Engnr said:
Nothing was knocked loose, was a simple take the computer to a friends house to work.

Installed Rift
Everything works great
Went to a friends house with the laptop
Returned home
Played Rift, FPS dropped to 1
Cleaned up computer, checked for viruses, updated drivers, switching between the latest Nvidia and Dell's, moved USB, added a cooling fan under the laptop.
Not sure what fixed it this time but it sorted itself out.
A week later, after a patch or two on the game, one day it worked great, about 30fps, the next morning, dropped to 1fps.
Rinse and repeat trying different ideas to clean the problem up.
Rinse and repeat it sorting itself out.
Now as of 2 days ago, I can't figure out what has changed to mess it up.
The last thing I remember is playing Dawn of War II on the laptop just fine, the next day fps1.
Nothing makes sense, so I thought maybe someone would have a suggestion before I reload the OS. No hardware changes, no viruses, no new programs, video drivers updated, memory check is fine, what else...
Click to expand...

Had something like this happen to a wow guildie. Turns out his alienware lappy had a button that switches from the full GPU to onboard video. Called "stealth mode" or something. You may have inadvertently hit that.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/239552-m15x-switch-between-gpu-intergrated-chip-set.html That may be an older version of the m15x but I assume it's similar.
 
Unreal, that was it! I did not know about that feature. Thank you very much sir.
 
Engnr said:
Unreal, that was it! I did not know about that feature. Thank you very much sir.
Click to expand...

lol that is pretty cool that you got your answer.

I was going to recommend that you check your power chord to make sure it wasn't faulty.
 
It was amazing. This was the last option before a full format. I know I know, no one will believe me, but it is my wife's computer, something she bought on her own. She had forgotten about the throttle button, and the location of said button above the delete key, well lets just say Dell's engineer types have their own ideas... Anyway that you guys so very much, she is one very happy camper having her baby all working again.
 
I think you should still check the "power chord" on it.

Make sure it's connected to a kickass audio system when you do though.
 
TheGreySpectre said:
Have you checked the temperatures? It is possible you knocked a heatsink or something loose so the card is throttling itself to death. Other then that I would say do a wipe and see if the problem persists.
Click to expand...

+1 You should check the temps.....If the GPU or CPU gets to hot then FPS will drop no doubt
 
Engnr said:
It was amazing. This was the last option before a full format. I know I know, no one will believe me, but it is my wife's computer, something she bought on her own. She had forgotten about the throttle button, and the location of said button above the delete key, well lets just say Dell's engineer types have their own ideas... Anyway that you guys so very much, she is one very happy camper having her baby all working again.
Click to expand...

Had the same issue happen with other Dell laptops, for future reference. Our's had buttons(I think sliders really) that would disable wireless. A lot of people would accidentally bump them, kill their wireless, and then have no idea what happened.
 
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