New gaming laptop, low fps

[realredjohn]

Hi everyone,

i just bought a laptop(MSI ge72vr-7rf) with the specs;
i7-7700hq
GTX 1060 3gb
16 gb ram
...

the thing is i didn´t think i would get 120fps on CS:GO.
Ingame Settings: http://imgur.com/a/rUBqA ( don´t be fooled by the 200 fps in ss 🙂 )
CS:GO launch options: -novid



I read so many things about "good specs but low fps" and done the following:
-laptop is always plugged in
-power options on high performance
-disable xbox dvr


Vallez benchmark: http://imgur.com/a/rUBqA

Any help would be appriciated
ty

 

[Eggz]

Hi John,

I would start by doing a clean installation of the graphics drivers. You should be able to run CS:GO at 720p with no issues whatsoever. Follow the steps below. Good luck!

-Eggz

_________

(1) Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) from this link (note: download will automatically start)

(2) Download the latest Nvidia drivers from this link (note: instructions recommend backing up configurations)

(3) Run DDU, and let it restart your computer into "Safe Mode" (don't run in Windows without Safe Mode)

(4) Once in Safe Mode, select all options in DDU to remove Nvidia stuff, and then let it restart you into normal Windows

(5) Install the Nvidia drivers downloaded in Step 2, selecting "Clean Install" when given the option

(6) Restart your PC normally

 

[realredjohn]

Hi John,

I would start by doing a clean installation of the graphics drivers. You should be able to run CS:GO at 720p with no issues whatsoever. Follow the steps below. Good luck!

-Eggz

_________

(1) Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) from this link (note: download will automatically start)

(2) Download the latest Nvidia drivers from this link (note: instructions recommend backing up configurations)

(3) Run DDU, and let it restart your computer into "Safe Mode" (don't run in Windows without Safe Mode)

(4) Once in Safe Mode, select all options in DDU to remove Nvidia stuff, and then let it restart you into normal Windows

(5) Install the Nvidia drivers downloaded in Step 2, selecting "Clean Install" when given the option

(6) Restart your PC normally

Thank you for your reply, i have done everything exactly step by step but it didnt change anything.

 

[realredjohn]

Another thing is my friend gets 300fps on CS:GO and when he does the same valley benchmark(Extreme HD) he gets 30fps, which is half of what i get.

 

[Eggz]

Thank you for your reply, i have done everything exactly step by step but it didnt change anything.

Okay, well the good news is that you know your GPU drivers are now installed properly, and thus not the issue.

Try to ensure that CS:GO is using the Nvidia GPU, rather than the Intel integrated graphics, by assigning it in Nvidia Control Panel. This video shows how to do that.

 

[realredjohn]

Thank you for your reply, i have done everything exactly step by step but it didnt change anything.

Okay, well the good news is that you know your GPU drivers are now installed properly, and thus not the issue.

Try to ensure that CS:GO is using the Nvidia GPU, rather than the Intel integrated graphics, by assigning it in Nvidia Control Panel. This video shows how to do that.

I have done that also after clean install.

Is it possible that the problem is not at gpu but at cpu? Is there anything i can do to make sure they work ok?

 

[Eggz]

I have done that also after clean install.

Is it possible that the problem is not at gpu but at cpu? Is there anything i can do to make sure they work ok?

You can check the CPU usage in task manager (Ctrl+Shit+Esc) to see if it's maxing out. As for the Nvidia Control Panel, go through the settings for your game and make sure everything is geared toward high performance. One important setting is Power Management Mode, which you should set for games to "Prefer Maximum Performance."

 

[realredjohn]

I have done that also after clean install.

Is it possible that the problem is not at gpu but at cpu? Is there anything i can do to make sure they work ok?

You can check the CPU usage in task manager (Ctrl+Shit+Esc) to see if it's maxing out. As for the Nvidia Control Panel, go through the settings for your game and make sure everything is geared toward high performance. One important setting is Power Management Mode, which you should set for games to "Prefer Maximum Performance."

Thank you for putting time to help me, nvidia settings, game settings etc. everything is set for the highest performance. I start to think maybe there is something wrong with the device overall.

 

[Eggz]

Thank you for putting time to help me, nvidia settings, game settings etc. everything is set for the highest performance. I start to think maybe there is something wrong with the device overall.

So strange! Does this happen with other programs or games?

The first things I'd check for at this point are throttling (viz GPU or CPU temperatures greater than 80 or so), out of RAM, and whether game is stuttering because it's running off an HDD rather than an SSD.

Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps there is something wrong. If the computer is still new and within a return period or warranty, then try to exchange it. There likely is not too much to backup, so that's easy. If you exchange through MSI, see if they can do an advanced shipment on the RMA to send you a new one before you send back this one. That way you won't be without a computer like you would be on a standard RMA, which won't ship a replacement until your laptop arrives.

Good luck!

 

[realredjohn]

Thank you for putting time to help me, nvidia settings, game settings etc. everything is set for the highest performance. I start to think maybe there is something wrong with the device overall.

So strange! Does this happen with other programs or games?

The first things I'd check for at this point are throttling (viz GPU or CPU temperatures greater than 80 or so), out of RAM, and whether game is stuttering because it's running off an HDD rather than an SSD.

Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps there is something wrong. If the computer is still new and within a return period or warranty, then try to exchange it. There likely is not too much to backup, so that's easy. If you exchange through MSI, see if they can do an advanced shipment on the RMA to send you a new one before you send back this one. That way you won't be without a computer like you would be on a standard RMA, which won't ship a replacement until your laptop arrives.

Good luck!

The game is on sdd.

I took this ss while in CS:GO : http://imgur.com/a/0LLqX
Maybe it will help you understand and explain it to me?
ty

 

[Eggz]

The game is on sdd.

I took this ss while in CS:GO : http://imgur.com/a/0LLqX
Maybe it will help you understand and explain it to me?
ty

Great, based on that, I would guess that it's either (i) your CPU throttling, or (2) your RAM speed. If the CPU is at 82 C while only at 42%, then it's likely throttling while gaming because it's too hot. The max operating temperature of your CPU is 100 C, so it will throttle at around 90 C or so. That means that it will lower the frequency and overall usage in order to draw less power and thereby cool down. If it ever reaches 100 C, the computer will automatically shut off to prevent popping the CPU like a light bulb. See if you can run your game with the laptop sitting on a large fan in a cool room. If you get better frames, throttling was the issue.

As for your RAM, the screenshot says your RAM is running at 4 Ghz. That's faster than I've ever seen any RAM running before, and it could cause instability. Try the above suggestion first, and if it doesn't work, then we can work on the RAM - which is trickier. Your goal will just be to get as much cool air into the vents under your laptop as possible while running the game in order to test for CPU throttling.

 

[realredjohn]

The game is on sdd.

I took this ss while in CS:GO : http://imgur.com/a/0LLqX
Maybe it will help you understand and explain it to me?
ty

Great, based on that, I would guess that it's either (i) your CPU throttling, or (2) your RAM speed. If the CPU is at 82 C while only at 42%, then it's likely throttling while gaming because it's too hot. The max operating temperature of your CPU is 100 C, so it will throttle at around 90 C or so. That means that it will lower the frequency and overall usage in order to draw less power and thereby cool down. If it ever reaches 100 C, the computer will automatically shut off to prevent popping the CPU like a light bulb. See if you can run your game with the laptop sitting on a large fan in a cool room. If you get better frames, throttling was the issue.

As for your RAM, the screenshot says your RAM is running at 4 Ghz. That's faster than I've ever seen any RAM running before, and it could cause instability. Try the above suggestion first, and if it doesn't work, then we can work on the RAM - which is trickier. Your goal will just be to get as much cool air into the vents under your laptop as possible while running the game in order to test for CPU throttling.

I have a really large cooler with a huge fan, and the room is cool because of the air conditioner, maybe it would be better if we worked on RAM.

ss when idle: http://imgur.com/a/j1j2W just in case if it helps

ss while doing the valley benchmark: http://imgur.com/a/A35AW

did a test on UserBenchmark : http://imgur.com/a/7MrIh

update: changed ingame settings to high and resolution to 1920x1080, fps remained the same.

 

[Eggz]

did a test on UserBenchmark : http://imgur.com/a/7MrIh

update: changed ingame settings to high and resolution to 1920x1080, fps remained the same.

^
This makes me still think it's CPU throttling.

(1) The image says your particular CPU is performing in the 16th %ile for that model of CPU (i.e. worse than 84% of all i7-7700hq CPUs tested)

(2) Same performance at different resolutions means that your GPU is not the issue.

Putting those together with your previous screen shot showing the CPU at 82 C all point to throttling.

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUyuKqIfMN0"][/video]

 

[realredjohn]

did a test on UserBenchmark : http://imgur.com/a/7MrIh

update: changed ingame settings to high and resolution to 1920x1080, fps remained the same.

^
This makes me still think it's CPU throttling.

(1) The image says your particular CPU is performing in the 16th %ile for that model of CPU (i.e. worse than 84% of all i7-7700hq CPUs tested)

(2) Same performance at different resolutions means that your GPU is not the issue.

Putting those together with your previous screen shot showing the CPU at 82 C all point to throttling.

Is it normal for a powerful gaming laptop i just bought 2-3 days ago? Should i take it to the tech service?

 

[Eggz]

Is it normal for a powerful gaming laptop i just bought 2-3 days ago? Should i take it to the tech service?

Well, for a thin laptop with such powerful chips inside (i7-7700 and a desktop-grade GTX 1060), it's not surprising. If you watched that video I linked, it talks about how the cooling on thin machines is usually just equipped to handle loads that load either the GPU or the CPU, but not both. I think that CS:GO is a CPU-heavy game, and it is 3D so also uses the GPU. It would make sense that CS:GO could overwhelm the cooling. You definitely don't want to game with that laptop on anything soft (e.g. pillow, lap, bed, etc.) because it can't breath and will overheat, causing it to exhibit the behavior you're seeing now.

That's why I suggested testing it by blowing cool air directly into the the intake cooling vents under your laptop. Don't blow air into the vents on the back because those blow hot air out. Maybe you can prop up the laptop so that two blow dryers (one for each intake under the laptop) are blowing cool air directly into the air intakes on high-cool. Be sure not to set the blow driers to hot, since that will overheat your computer - use cool. If that helps, then it's just an airflow issue, and you'd want to look into getting a cooling pad for the laptop (if you want to keep it).

Here is a diagram so you can see where cool air enters (blue arrows). That's where you'll want to blow cool air while running your game or test.

Good luck!