DELL XPS 9560 GTX 1050 4GB - Low FPS - Horrible Performance

[mufox77]

Ok to start off I'm new to this so sorry if I posted this wrong.

I have a new Dell XPS 15 9560 4k 16GB 512SSD with the 1050 4gb card - Windows 10.

Right off the bat I had problems with the graphics card giving very low FPS and performance in benchmarks. To make sure It was not bloatware or a software issue I did a FRESH windows 10 install. Fresh drivers from Dell and updated the geforce drivers etc from Nvidia.com.

Even after all that I am geting 10FPS in Unigine Superpostion benchmark. I am also getting horrible scores in 3dMark and others.
I was using a USB-C dock for charging the unit BTW. After messing with ALL the settings, from nvidia ones to power settings to old drivers NOTHING worked.
On a whim I unplugged the USB-C dock and BOOM! FPS went up to 25-30 immediately! literally durring a benchmark I did it and it went from 10FPS to 30FPS!
Now this is odd in and of its self but still 30FPS isnt right... It should be more like 40 or 50.

The odd thing is the FPS almost seems to be stuck at 30 and wont go above although it does dip down to 23 at times. I checked Nvidia Experience and the FPS lock was disabled so its not that. Dell support also messed with nvidia settings (lowering qualify etc) but still nothing. I made sure Windows 10 is on Performance with no "battery saving features" enabled (as far as I can tell).

Like I said before I updated ALL drivers, uninstalled, reinstalled over and over and still cant get above 30fps.

The Dock issue is a whole other animal and I'm not going to worry about that right now but if anyone has an answe to that great!

BTW, my benchmarks for CPU are AWESOME elthough I had an issue with CPU origonally which was resolved by unplugging the battery. The CPU was stuck at like 400mhz but now is full throttle no issues there.

I know this 1050 card should be performing MUCH better so it seems like something is throttling it etc. Again, everything has been reset to defaults in all settings and still I get 10FPS with USB-C charger connected and 23 - 30fps without it.

Notes: The Temp is around 60c durring benchmarks. Here are my GPU-Z scores which change when i unplug the USB-C charger/dock.

With USB-C dock plugged in:
GPU Core Clock:1632mhz
GPU Memory Clock: 1752 mhz
GPU Temperature: 57*
GPU Load: 100%
Memory Controller Load: 14%
PerfCap Reason: Idle
VDDC: 1.0250 V
FPS: <10


Without Dock
Core Clock: 1657mhz
GPU Memory Clock: 1252 mhz
GPU Temperature: 65*
GPU Load: 99%
Memory Controller Load: 54%
PerfCap Reason: vr, Thrm, VRel
VDDC: 1.0620 V
FPS: <30


Anyone have any ideas about this before I have Dell swap it out for a new one?

 

[rgd1101]

Are you running the benchmark in 4k?

 

[mufox77]

Good question but it's running in 1080 (1080 Medium) is the specific option in Unigine. In 3DMark I changed windows resolution to 1080 so in both cases its running in 1080.

 

[pete91]

I have been having the same problems it’ll run fine for a bit then FPS drops randomly. One thing I got to work is I unplugged the power and plugged it back in. Seemed like the fans were slowing down on the gpu or something cause once I plugged it in they kicked up and FPS was fine maybe try this and see if we have similar issues??

I have almost the same setup on my other pc desktop with a cheaper cpu and never have problems so I’m thinking some sort of dell software issue?

 

[mufox77]

I have been having the same problems it’ll run fine for a bit then FPS drops randomly. One thing I got to work is I unplugged the power and plugged it back in. Seemed like the fans were slowing down on the gpu or something cause once I plugged it in they kicked up and FPS was fine maybe try this and see if we have similar issues??

I have almost the same setup on my other pc desktop with a cheaper cpu and never have problems so I’m thinking some sort of dell software issue?

So I figured out part of the problem... I was running the benchmarks while plugged in with USB-C thunderbolt Dell Dock.. as I mentioned before the FPS was at 10 WITH the dock and 30 without it... I finally got it to show performance it should when plugging it in with the ORIGINAL power adapter! Who would have thought my problem was the power source. It still doesn't explain why the dock causes it to throttle SOO much but at least with the OEM power adapter (and not Dell USB-C dock) I get normal performance. Needless to say for it to "let loose" it needs the full power of the charger and when disconnected throttles down to the 30fps.

 

[nibb0r]

You called it, mufox77. I've just been experimenting with my own 9560 w/ 1050, and find that with a certain GPU benchmark, I'll reach 12 MH/s with the original charger, 8 MH/s on battery, and 6.5 MH/s when charging via the USB type-C port using USB power delivery.

My USB type-C power meter says the laptop pulls 3 A at 20 V, not even 65W though my charger is rated at 90W. The GTX 1050 should, from what I see online, use about 70W normally. This performance issue seems to be a combination of two things:

1. The XPS 15 only pulls ~60W over USB type-C (more testing necessary to understand why)
2. The Dell engineers seems to have chosen to prevent battery draining while plugged in, so system performance is reduced dramatically to ensure total system load stays below the power pulled from the wall

 

[thomas.payne]

I have been having the same problems it’ll run fine for a bit then FPS drops randomly. One thing I got to work is I unplugged the power and plugged it back in. Seemed like the fans were slowing down on the gpu or something cause once I plugged it in they kicked up and FPS was fine maybe try this and see if we have similar issues??

I have almost the same setup on my other pc desktop with a cheaper cpu and never have problems so I’m thinking some sort of dell software issue?

So I figured out part of the problem... I was running the benchmarks while plugged in with USB-C thunderbolt Dell Dock.. as I mentioned before the FPS was at 10 WITH the dock and 30 without it... I finally got it to show performance it should when plugging it in with the ORIGINAL power adapter! Who would have thought my problem was the power source. It still doesn't explain why the dock causes it to throttle SOO much but at least with the OEM power adapter (and not Dell USB-C dock) I get normal performance. Needless to say for it to "let loose" it needs the full power of the charger and when disconnected throttles down to the 30fps.

I have noticed poor performance when running audio software in my studio when connected to the TB16 but I need the additional ports & HDMI.
Is it ok to use the power adaptor at the same time as the dock?

 

[simgauvin20]

I have been having the same problems it’ll run fine for a bit then FPS drops randomly. One thing I got to work is I unplugged the power and plugged it back in. Seemed like the fans were slowing down on the gpu or something cause once I plugged it in they kicked up and FPS was fine maybe try this and see if we have similar issues??

I have almost the same setup on my other pc desktop with a cheaper cpu and never have problems so I’m thinking some sort of dell software issue?

So I figured out part of the problem... I was running the benchmarks while plugged in with USB-C thunderbolt Dell Dock.. as I mentioned before the FPS was at 10 WITH the dock and 30 without it... I finally got it to show performance it should when plugging it in with the ORIGINAL power adapter! Who would have thought my problem was the power source. It still doesn't explain why the dock causes it to throttle SOO much but at least with the OEM power adapter (and not Dell USB-C dock) I get normal performance. Needless to say for it to "let loose" it needs the full power of the charger and when disconnected throttles down to the 30fps.

I have noticed poor performance when running audio software in my studio when connected to the TB16 but I need the additional ports & HDMI.
Is it ok to use the power adaptor at the same time as the dock?

Any updates??

I’m having the same problem, can’t reach higher than 30fps.