Precision M6600 Gaming Performance Issue

I have a Dell Precision M6600 with a Radeon FirePro M8900 graphics card. I've had it for about two months and have been playing games like Starcraft 2 on maximum settings flawlessly. However, two days ago, I saw a sudden drastic decrease in performance. Games are virtually unplayable except at the lowest possible settings.

I know that the Windows Experience score is usually bunk, but my graphics score was a 7.9 and after two days ago it became a 5.8.

Steps I have already taken:

1. Uninstalled and reinstalled the latest drivers for the firepro.
2. Tried installing the driver for the HD 6970M instead.
3. Ensured a cool environment by lifting the back of the laptop about 1cm off the ground.
4. Ensured my power settings weren't on something silly like "Power Saver" that would throttle CPU.

None of those steps have worked. I cannot do a system restore on my own, as it is a work laptop and they have locked some of that functionality. However, before I give the pc to the net admins in the office, I'd rather try and fix it myself.

What could be causing the sudden decrease in performance and what are some steps I could take to troubleshoot this further?

Thanks for the help.

 

The first thing I would do is update my resume...

Sounds like it has permanently throttled down due to heat damage. Remove it from the device manager and let Windows install the drivers itself first, see if that works.

 

Also it can throttle down if it doesn't recognize the power adapter properly. Does it complain about the power adapter at all if you do a cold boot?

 

Nah, the company is great ;p

Is the machine that fragile that a little gaming could permanently damage the card? It's not like I'm playing on a pillow or anything; I just play on a desk.

Nope. And the same problem occurs when I use my docking station at work (which is using a different power brick/cable).