Question Massive FPS drops on Alienware 13 R3 ?

[Cubixty]

Hello there ,

So Ive owned this Alienware R3 13 for about a year now with constant use. When I first got it the temps would always be around 90-99 while playing games without any FPS drops . I do realize that this is a bit on the hot side but I asked on the forum a while ago and people said it was normal for a laptop. Anyway so even when it was at those temps it never used to have any FPS drops , games were smooth , but recently (around 3 weeks now) its been having really bad FPS drops on almost every game I play (Fortnite , Valorant , CSGO) I used to play fortnite on a solid 120FPS and now it dips to 2-5FPS in irregular intervals its just random .

I was wondering if there was maybe a update that I installed that is conflicting with the system in order for these FPS drops to happen and maybe if a format of the laptop would be any help ?

Any help would be much appreciated . Thank you

 

[uWebb429]

@Cubixty - Run ThrottleStop and turn on the Log File option.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

Try to play a game for at least 15 minutes. When finished testing, exit the game and then exit ThrottleStop. Copy and paste the log file data to www.pastebin.com and then post a link here. Also post some pictures of the various ThrottleStop windows including the main window, and the FIVR and TPL windows.

It is not unusual for Dell laptops to develop some strange throttling problems over time. Quite common actually. The log file will help explain what the problem is and what needs to be adjusted.

 

[Cubixty]

@Cubixty - Run ThrottleStop and turn on the Log File option.

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-throttlestop/

Try to play a game for at least 15 minutes. When finished testing, exit the game and then exit ThrottleStop. Copy and paste the log file data to www.pastebin.com and then post a link here. Also post some pictures of the various ThrottleStop windows including the main window, and the FIVR and TPL windows.

It is not unusual for Dell laptops to develop some strange throttling problems over time. Quite common actually. The log file will help explain what the problem is and what needs to be adjusted.

Pastebin link - https://pastebin.com/KHce2j6M . I ran this for about 15-20 mins.

Imgaes TPL/FIVR -

https://imgur.com/a/48buALQ

View: https://imgur.com/a/48buALQ
.

Thanks for helping

 

[uWebb429]

If you look at the far right column of the log file you will see lots of AVGTEMP warnings. What do you think that means? The Average Temperature of your CPU is too hot. This is triggering constant throttling and poor performance.

Look at the temperature column in the log file. The CPU is constantly 97°C, 98°C, 99°C and even 100°C. Dell has set the thermal throttling temperature to 97°C. Not a chance that a CPU is going to perform properly or smoothly when it is running this hot and constantly thermal throttling. You need to redo the thermal paste with something decent like Noctua NT-H2.

Your CPU has a 45W TDP rating. A properly engineered heatsink and fan are supposed to be able to dissipate this much heat so the CPU does not overheat. Your cooling is struggling when power consumption is only 28W.

Dell disabled CPU voltage control so that is not an option to cool things down. Consider installing a previous BIOS version to get this feature back. Either that or you can unlock this feature but that gets complicated.

https://brendangreenley.com/undervo...hermals-battery-life-and-speed/#cpu-undervolt

 

[Cubixty]

If you look at the far right column of the log file you will see lots of AVGTEMP warnings. What do you think that means? The Average Temperature of your CPU is too hot. This is triggering constant throttling and poor performance.

Look at the temperature column in the log file. The CPU is constantly 97°C, 98°C, 99°C and even 100°C. Dell has set the thermal throttling temperature to 97°C. Not a chance that a CPU is going to perform properly or smoothly when it is running this hot and constantly thermal throttling. You need to redo the thermal paste with something decent like Noctua NT-H2.

Your CPU has a 45W TDP rating. A properly engineered heatsink and fan are supposed to be able to dissipate this much heat so the CPU does not overheat. Your cooling is struggling when power consumption is only 28W.

Dell disabled CPU voltage control so that is not an option to cool things down. Consider installing a previous BIOS version to get this feature back. Either that or you can unlock this feature but that gets complicated.

https://brendangreenley.com/undervo...hermals-battery-life-and-speed/#cpu-undervolt

How would I go around installing a previous BIOS version? And how would I know which BIOS version to install? And what do you mean power consumption is only 28W , am I not giving enough power to the laptop? Ive got the original charger for it

 

[uWebb429]

CPU power consumption has nothing to do with your power charger.

As a CPU runs faster and works harder, it will consume more power. Your CPU is already overheating and slowing down when it is only running at half of its rated power. When you have poor cooling, the CPU cannot run at its full rated speed.

A computer that includes a 45W CPU should be able to run at the full 45W indefinitely without ever overheating. If it cannot, that is bad design.

 

[Cubixty]

CPU power consumption has nothing to do with your power charger.

As a CPU runs faster and works harder, it will consume more power. Your CPU is already overheating and slowing down when it is only running at half of its rated power. When you have poor cooling, the CPU cannot run at its full rated speed.

A computer that includes a 45W CPU should be able to run at the full 45W indefinitely without ever overheating. If it cannot, that is bad design.

So do you think thermal paste would do the trick?

 

[uWebb429]

do you think thermal paste would do the trick?

If your laptop used to work OK and now it does not, something has changed. Thoroughly cleaning your laptop and replacing the thermal paste is normal maintenance. This should be done every 6 months or more often if you are having problems.

 

[Cubixty]

Im bumping this since the problem is still occurring and is now much more common

EDIT : I have since reapplied the thermal paste and thoroughly cleaned the laptop multiple times and the problem still occurs. Im starting to wonder if my CPU is just dead or something

 

[uWebb429]

reapplied the thermal paste

What thermal paste did you use? Some popular thermal pastes will pump out and give horrible long term results in a laptop. Noctua NT-H2 works well in laptops. The previous formulation, NT-H1, was a real problem.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrtkiBwQV-U


Run another ThrottleStop log file. Does it show constant throttling notifications once again? I have seen some thermal pastes last less than two weeks before temperatures start to go up and up.

Im starting to wonder if my CPU is just dead

There is nothing physically wrong with your CPU. You have a laptop with a poorly engineered cooling system or the thermal paste needs to be replaced, again.

 

[Cubixty]

What thermal paste did you use? Some popular thermal pastes will pump out and give horrible long term results in a laptop. Noctua NT-H2 works well in laptops. The previous formulation, NT-H1, was a real problem.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrtkiBwQV-U


Run another ThrottleStop log file. Does it show constant throttling notifications once again? I have seen some thermal pastes last less than two weeks before temperatures start to go up and up.


There is nothing physically wrong with your CPU. You have a laptop with a poorly engineered cooling system or the thermal paste needs to be replaced, again.

I used the Arctic MX-4. Ive repasted it 3 times already within the span of 6 months .I also want to try to underclock my CPU with Throttlestop since thats what helped alot of people with these kind of temps but its all greyed out for me for some reason.

 

[uWebb429]

Arctic MX-4

A lot of people have had problems using this paste on a laptop CPU. It might work great on a desktop CPU that has an integrated heat spreader. For many people, it does not work well long term when applied direct die to a laptop CPU. It can start to fail in as little as two weeks or less. You need to try something else. Noctua NT-H2 works well long term in laptops. It was specifically designed to work at high temperatures without degrading like MX-4 does.

Dell released a BIOS update that locked out CPU voltage control. This same fix also locks out the turbo ratio adjusters. To control CPU speed, open the TPL window and check the Speed Shift box. Lower the Speed Shift Max value to whatever speed you want your computer to run at.

 

[Cubixty]

A lot of people have had problems using this paste on a laptop CPU. It might work great on a desktop CPU that has an integrated heat spreader. For many people, it does not work well long term when applied direct die to a laptop CPU. It can start to fail in as little as two weeks or less. You need to try something else. Noctua NT-H2 works well long term in laptops. It was specifically designed to work at high temperatures without degrading like MX-4 does.

Dell released a BIOS update that locked out CPU voltage control. This same fix also locks out the turbo ratio adjusters. To control CPU speed, open the TPL window and check the Speed Shift box. Lower the Speed Shift Max value to whatever speed you want your computer to run at.

Would there be a recommended speed to run it at by any chance?

 

[uWebb429]

recommended speed

Any speed you like. A slower CPU consumes less power and will run cooler.