Left 4 Dead lag on Acer 6920

Hey,

http://www.xpresscanada.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=020649&cid=896.14.187

I have the above model and it seems to be performing quite nicely. However, what I've noticed on all Valve games is that after a few minutes, the frame rates drop from mid 70s-80s (low) to 10-15 regardless of whatever resolution, texture or ingame setting I change post this sudden drop. restarting the game makes the problem temporarily dissapear but is back within a few minutes. The effect is especially noticeable when there are about 30 zombies on top of you

I've tried disabling one core, reducing sound to low and have even monitored temperatures via nvidias system checker as well as speed fan. At no point does GPU/ CPU temperature exceed 60 degree celcius. Have also tried several drivers all the way from 178.x to 182.x (using modified infs) to no avail. Please share your input regarding this problem.

PS: I also accidentally uninstalled acer bioware protection and upon reinstalling cannot set it up since clicking a blinking finger on the setup menu states "Unable to select fingerprint device!"

PPS: Music sounds rather "tinny" and baseless using these inbuilt speakers. I assumed with all this dolby gee whizz, id get a sublime experience

-Cheers

 

what temp does your cpu get up to specifically.


I think the 6920 is about 15'C off on its temp readings too. Sound like cpu is getting hot to me.

 

Yeah it sounds like something overheating. Try these it helped me with similar problems. First try elevating your laptop. This fixed my problem with fps dropping. Also you could install Powermizer and turn it off for AC and see if that fixes it if it is downthrottling.

 

This is an issue that's been happening to 6920G users quite often. Undervolt or upgrade to BIOS version 1.10 (which is obviously risky) to get your CPU temps down or fix the problem.

 

Elevated the laptop by about 2 inches and it certainly lasts longer before throttling but now occurs at about 10 minutes instead of 5. I'll give updating the bios a shot after my exams. Dont want to lose any potential data tonight

 

Lose potential data? Oh no, if the BIOS update screws up, your system is BRICKED, pal.
Try undervolting first.

 

this used to happen to me, ever since i started using nvidias official drivers it stopped happening

im on BIOS v1.02 (according to CPU-z)

 

Am on v1.02 as well but reading the forums scared me away from bios update. Undervolting worked great though! Thanks guys

Now for the real devil; anyone tried undervolting AND overclocking to hit some sort of compromise sweet spot? Valve games rely on CPU so bad and the t5550 isnt upto awesome standards.

EDIT: CPUID shows 13 degrees on stock, seems incredulous considering its colder than my room
EDIT 2: 0.9500 V stable at all multipliers with orthos @ 43 degrees

 

Unfortunately, you can't overclock the CPU in the 6920G. You can, however, upgrade it. I did, and it really helped EVERYTHING on the system (faster FSB, too), not just Valve games. Look for a T8300 or T9300 on eBay, and also for my upgrade thread for tips and ideas.

As for CPUID and your core temp, that's where the issue is. Most software read the 6920G's CPU temperatures 15 degrees Celsius below actual. If you've got RMClock, you can add a manual offset.

 

Thanks TehSuigi. In hindsight, its probably a good thing considering i should be studying anyways

Any idea how to reinstall the fingerprint reader? I reinstalled the bio protection software but setup says "unable to detect fingerprint reader"

 

Not a clue - the ABIG BioProtection software should've done it.
Time to ring up Acer Support!