AW 17r3: Graphics Amp issues: 980m MUCH faster than GTX 960 in GA - Help?!

Greetings all,

Just got my Alienware 17 r3 laptop a week ago.

my issue is the computer running without he graphics amplifier(GA) is nearly 3 times faster than when the GA is plugged in.

My set up.

Laptop =
Alienware 17
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 980M with 4GB GDDR5
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6820HK (Quad-Core, 8MB Cache, Dynamically Overclocked up to 4.4GHz)
Windows 10 Home (64bit) English
17.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-Panel Anti-Glare 300-nits Display
16GB Dual Channel DDR4 2133MHz (8GBx2)
256GB PCIe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM (Storage)

Graphics AMP has
PNY XLR8 GeForce® GTX 960 with 2GB GDDR5
3 monitors (but have also tested by disabling down to 1 monitor on while playing)

so, when I play modern games without the GA on the 980m, the run really well. But when I plug the GA, the performance goes way down.

When I play "RUST" on the 980M i get a good 62 FPS, but when running the GA, i get around 18 FPS. basic google searches returns that the cards should be comparable.

Witcher 3 runs great on the 980M (haven't tested on GA 960)

Titanfall has to be turned down mid way for good FPS on the GA 960.
----
so any help?

1) I've installed the nvidia 358.50 notebook drivers (does that matter vs non-notebook?) Is there a difference?
2) The processor only reports at 2.7 ghz in the windows system properties. The BIOS doesn't have a clear way to lock the processor at some higher Overclocked speed. Something I'm missing?
3) Any other general tips about employing the Graphics Amplifier?

 

The gtx960 is way slower than the gtx980m. thats why Games run slower with GA. Aditionaly there is currently a Bug in BIOS which causes the Amp to run slower than normal.. Should be fixed in a few weeks.

1. no diff in Performance but with GA u always have to use notebook drivers!
2. under advanced u find performance options where u can set overclocking to lvl2. Lvl3 was Reported to be unstable. If u dont find that options u have to do a bios Update. U can find it on the Dell Website under Support.
3. get a better gpu. Else its just a waste of Money for ur laptop (cause u got a gtx980m)

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the 970m is the equivalent of the desktop 960, that's why your 980m is out performing it!

 

Even the 970m outperforms a gtx960 not als much als the gtx980m but it does.
The gtx960 has only 1024 cuda cores and only 128bit gddr5 Interface.
The 970m has 1280 cuda cores and 192bit gddr5 Interface. Clocks Are a Little bit slower but that shouldnt change much.
It depends what Game u play... In the average they will be on par with a slight plus for the gtx970m

 

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

The Desktop GTX 960 and the 980M are almost the same scores in passmark.
The 970M is way below the desktop GTX 960.

 

That Chart is pretty curious.. they put the gtx970m nearly at the same Score as the gtx780m which cant be. Also the gtx880m is rated below the gtx780m which is 100% not true. If u want to compare take notebookcheck.net

 

That benchmark is crap

De 970M is almost equal to a desktop 770GTX which is a little bit faster than a 960GTX, The 980M is closer to a 970GTX than a 960GTX

Check this benchmark video for more details



TO be honest, your graphics amplifier with the 960 is useless in your case. For it to be beneificial you need at least a 980 in there.

 

So a couple more Details
My old computer (the one I am replacing) had a lesser CPU and a Radion R9 270. The GTX 960 by far a better card, yet I get worse performance than my new AW 17r3 with the 960 in the Graphics amp. So, even if the the 980m is better than the 960 (most charts say about 20% difference), I shouldn't be getting the huge difference in performance. May be 10-15 frames, but not 40-48 frames less.

I'm using the GraphicsAmp because I use a triple monitor setup, been using for a while, have the stand and 3x24 inch monitors.
Left Screen = Maps/Email/Browser
Center Screen = Game being played
Right screen = Skype with friends

Setup works beautifully on the R9 270, so I have to get this to work, else just go back to the desktop (but the mobility of the Laptop is great for my work travel, but if i can't replace my main comp, its a bust)

I knew the 960 would be a little worse, but I was ok as long as it performed better than my desktop with a R9 270.

/break

so, some ideas/ thoughts for you opinion

1) Is there something I can do to lock the CPU in an overclocked mode to compensate? (I don't have those overclocking options, perhaps a BIOS update)
2) This an Option? "something like Intel XU or Throttlestop to force Turbo Boost to be one (not sure if it's possible on XTU, but I know it is possible with Throttlestop)."
3) Its been mentioned that the BIOS may be slowing down the GA, is there a post about that I can a get a link to? Have they stated they will fix it
4) Is it possible to get 3 monitors out of the laptop (not including the laptop's screen) so I can ditch Graphics Amp? #1 is the HDMI port. can #2 and #3 come out of daisy chained USB-C multi-port adapter (USB-C => USB-C + HDM + USB 3.0)?

 

A couple more details from my side
Even if it says 20% difference in most games, it really depends on the game itself. RUST is afaik pretty bad optimized so it could be that the gtx980m is because of its raw power better than the gtx960 and it is possible that the performance drop is more than 20% in this particular game.
The other thing is (and i think this is more relevant) the GA only offers PCI-E2.0 x4 Bandwidth and it could be possible that the gtx960 suffers more from this than the r9 270 (this seems to be true. Game7a1 said that AMD GPUs suffer less from the bandwidth reduction).

1. U could turn of Turboboost and change the clockspeed and factor for the CPU in XTU. But i really dont know if thats possible. Its anyway a dumb idea its better to let the CPU clock itself down if its not needed since it will live longer and u save energy... Please read my first post. I mentioned that u need a bios update if u dont have that option inside the bios...
2. look at 1
3. look in the official GA thread here at the forum. I posted a image where frank azor said to me that they will fix it
4. two Displays is possible.. dont know if daisy chaining will work

 

Yup! Seems like a limitation of the GTX 960 due to that. I'll try to get an ETA for you all.

 

1) Tonight, i 'm going to work on upgrading the BIOS first (lol just got it on 5 OCT)

2)

Which is the limitation (A) the bios issue? (B) the capability of the GTX 960? (cause again it should be stronger than my older desktop

3) need to find out if i can chain the displays off a single USB C Port.. couldn't find anything on initial google searches

 

BTW, i got my triple monitor display working by:

Primary Screen (center) comes out of the HDMI port in the back of the laptop.

Left Screen is coming out of a USB C => USB C + HDMI + USB 3.0 adapter

Right screen is coming out of a j5 branded USB 3.0 => VGA port.

took me some time and hastle to get the screens set up withing software.

but I'm able to run games with a performance hit (55 frames down to 45 frames) in this set up. This is without the graphics amplifier. Its awesome (those 2 cables cost me $160). Going to return the Graphics Amp and GTX 960 ($500)... (will buy the setup in a couple years when its all finally worked out).

also, on my other USB ports I have hooked up: Webcam, Keyboard, Mouse, 7.1 Headset, Xbox Controller.

So, pretty happy with this all now.

 

Pretty sweet setup, mind sharing a pic?