Alienware M14X / AW14 Gaming Discussion Thread

[EvilFacialHair]

The GT 555m is basically exactly equal to the desktop 9800 GT except for the fact that the former has more memory, DX11 support, and handles heat and energy better. Additionally, Anno 2070 is very CPU heavy as with most strategy games, so that might help to post.

[Ninjahunter]

I like to compare a well overclocked 555mgt to a 450gts, the 450gts is a bit stronger(10-15%~) but is generally used at higher resolutions. So on sites like Nvidia optimize its makes it really easy to get a solid ballpark for what settings you should be using.

[mw86]

You need to test to know if cpu is causing excessive gpu temps. Turn turbo off with Throttle Stop and restest or even drop it lower with Throttle Stop so you can see if gpu still hits those temps on stock and overclocked.

Sent from my Paranoid Samsung Galaxy S3 on Sprint using Tapatalk 2 Jelly Bean flavor included

[xavvy]

I'm not sure if anyone plays Dota 2 here but the game runs at extremely low fps on m14x on High settings. I think it's not optimised to run with Nvidia Optimus as it suffers an inconsistent fps the longer you play.

[Xtra Big Kahuna]

Anybody else have a really hard time running GTAIV? I am lucky to get a 30fps and I usually hang around 22fps with drops. It doesn't really make sense to me since it is such an old game but I guess that could be a problem right there.

[mw86]

Anybody else have a really hard time running GTAIV? I am lucky to get a 30fps and I usually hang around 22fps with drops. It doesn't really make sense to me since it is such an old game but I guess that could be a problem right there.

Its not the problem that its old but poor written. The prob is rockstar never applied enough work to get their last patch or update to fix all the problems. Its unoptimized. It uses 4-8threads heavily and sucks up all gpu and cpu power you have. I suggest turning off shadows or down to almost none. Lower resolution helps keep vram low enough... If its too high you will be skippy or crash since it doesnt load the gpu vram as well as our modern games. Try setting reflections down from max to maybe two options below max. Turn off that one option thats called something like High resolution textures or something. Use half the amount of cars on screen you can use maybe 20 or less is better. View distance keep very low only high enough that you can see whats necessary in front of you. Hope this advice gets you over the fps you were at.

Paranoid Galaxy S3 on Tapatalk 2

[Xtra Big Kahuna]

Thanks, that helps quite a bit. Now to just wait for GTAV and hope they optimize it for pc and not just push out a terrible console port.

[mw86]

Your getting better FPS now? Great if so... Yeah the PC version of IV was not worked at enough so i hope if there is a V that its supported better.

Paranoid Galaxy S3 on Tapatalk 2

[chillekasper]

Its not the problem that its old but poor written. The prob is rockstar never applied enough work to get their last patch or update to fix all the problems. Its unoptimized. It uses 4-8threads heavily and sucks up all gpu and cpu power you have. I suggest turning off shadows or down to almost none. Lower resolution helps keep vram low enough... If its too high you will be skippy or crash since it doesnt load the gpu vram as well as our modern games. Try setting reflections down from max to maybe two options below max. Turn off that one option thats called something like High resolution textures or something. Use half the amount of cars on screen you can use maybe 20 or less is better. View distance keep very low only high enough that you can see whats necessary in front of you. Hope this advice gets you over the fps you were at.

Paranoid Galaxy S3 on Tapatalk 2

I hope rockstar will aply more work on the new GTA game next year, i have already pre ordered that game! so i'm glad if it will rune fine on my m14x r2....

[bluehorizon.dm]

Personally I agree with some other posts here telling that PC games aren't optimized at all.

I have been an happy M14X owner almost from the day one, I think that's an amazing and very powerful machine, it can do almost everything, but I always find something "weird" behaviour in-game: the last i can mention is Risen 2, where I experience drop of FPS in less complex sceneries (ie village at night pointing the character toward a blank wall) while in other cases (more complex scenes to be rendered, ie jungle at daylight with lightbeams, shadows etc.) this issue doesn't show up.

Same for other games, same situations....

[Darkxtrem]

Hello ! I do think , I might have some issues. I do have an M14XR1 8gb , 55M 3gb and a SATA III SSD. However, in almost every game i do play, I do have some really bad fps. I played skyrim on low setings and I do have 22 FPS, Guild wars 2 on low at 24 FPS, minecraft on normal at 23 FPS... My computer is not that hot, so I'm not convinced it's a repaste issue. Any idea ?

Thanks !

[itsmejaks]

CS:GO maxed runs 50-60 fps on the 555m

[j0ak0]

anyone try to play metro2033"? any idea what is the best configuration?

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[Ninjahunter]

Metro 2033 works best on either high or medium in dx9 depending if you prefer graphics or performance. (750/1080 clocks 555mgt)

I found that on high it would occasionally dip into mid/high 20's For FPS(26 to be exact), and averaged about 40 FPS, while medium would never dip below 30 and hovered around the 50-60 fps mark.

This was with the I5 Model, so if you have an i7 model, or a 650m you will have no problem with high settings, but very high and DX11 effects are probably still too demanding in this game.

[Woups]

I agree with Ninjahunter.

I used to play with an i7-2630qm and a non overclocked gt 555 with high settings (dx10) and I always get between 30-40 fps.

But when I try to put dx11 option, fps felt to 10-13 so I never try again.

Hope it helps.

[Flav106]

M14x R1 is still good for 2013's games. I actually run Crysis3 and Tomb Raider with maxed high settings to an average 30FPS !

This is really good for an almost 2 years old laptop !

[frankmanguiob]

For anyone who wants to play SWTOR, stay away from the game if you have overheating problems. The game has gained notoriety with overheating (desktops even) and might make matters worse. I have encountered throttle-related lag spikes in PVP and crowded maps. Otherwise, the M14x R1 and of course R2 can handle "High" settings with 2x AA and high shadows at 1366x768.

My temporary fix was to disable Turbo Boost and will try modded BIOS until my next repaste. This is on a system That plays BF3, ME3, Skyrim and the like with good and steady FPS.

[Mesengeros]

M14x R1 is still good for 2013's games. I actually run Crysis3 and Tomb Raider with maxed high settings to an average 30FPS !

This is really good for an almost 2 years old laptop !

I don't know how you can run crysis 3 on max settings with 30fps.

I have i7 2,20 GHZ , Nvidia GT555M 3GB and standard lcd 1366x768 and even if i overclock (without vmods just afterburner and standard bios) i get 15 fps avarage.(anti-aliasing - off)

[kaykay05]

flav106 is right. i have 34 fps average in crysis 3 too. what is your 3dmarks score or other benchmark score? ı didn't understand why you get low fps.

[Swanny]

Has anyone got War of the Roses running really well on their r1? It lags quite a bit for me, especially on certain maps. There doesn't seem to be much difference between high and low settings.

[axlastro]

I'm trying to get Tomb Raider to run on maximum @ 1200x1920 on external display, but it struggles a lot. I'm only OC'ed at the locked bios at the moment, waitng for modded A12. How is your performance?

[Swanny]

After I installed my ssd I noticed a massive improvement in War of the Roses. It's now running smooth on high settings (30+fps). When I reinstalled windows after changing to the ssd I did get a newer driver for the graphics card than the one I was previously using, so that might also be linked to the better performance. But then the driver I had been using certainly wasn't old...

[Pathfindercod]

My 14 came in earlier this week. I gave my step daughter my Asus g75vx to justify getting a new laptop I play 2 games, COD2 online with some old clan buddies ive been playing online with since cod2 came out 2005 and Battlefield 3. This little machine is simply amazing! Run BF3 on high and it never dips below 45 fps in online 64 player maps.

It does run a little warm, so put it on my cooler master sf17 cooler and the gpu temps max 65c. Without it runs around 75-80.

[Toomin22]

My 14 came in earlier this week. I gave my strep daughter my Asus g75vx to justify getting a new laptop I play 2 games, COD2 online with some old clan buddies ive been playing online with since cod2 came out 2005 and Battlefield 3. This little machine is simply amazing! Run BF3 on high and it never dips below 45 fps in online 64 player maps.

It does run a little warm, so put it on my cooler master sf17 cooler and the gpu temps max 65c. Without it runs around 75-80.

Question: Do you start to see throttling issues when you get to the 75-80 ranges? I'm curious about the newer 14 models as I currently am on a M14r2

[JoyfulOwl]

First make sure that you selected the high-performance Nvidia graphics card in your nvidia control panel. If that doesnt solve it, then try overclocking your GPU with MSI Afterburner and Furmark, as well as disabling Turbo in the BIOS and BD Prochot with ThrottleStop. I had the same problem, and in my case at least, it was due to the CPU overheating and throttling the GPU. Before I overclocked my GPU, I could run Metro Last Light with no problems whatsoever, but The Witcher and Skyrim both lagged terribly at even the lowest graphics settings. Afterwards, they run fairly well at High settings (I have around a dozen mods active in skyrim atm)