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    Borderlands - Unplayable (1-2FPS)

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by DeeVu, Nov 9, 2011.

  1. DeeVu

    DeeVu That Compsci/Psych Major

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    Hey Guys -

    I am posting on behalf of my roommate who has an M14x. He is running the latest drivers and just bought Borderlands GOTY. He can't even use the start menu properly as it stutters horrendously. Any thoughts as to why? It is using the NVidia GPU and it happens when his computer is plugged and unplugged so it is not the power options.

    Please advise :)

    Thanks,
    DeeVu + DeeVu's Roommate :p
     
  2. khetik

    khetik Notebook Deity

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    Make sure the game is whitelisted through Nvidia control panel so that it uses the nvidia gpu. Is borderlands the only game he gets low fps in? Has he tried lowering graphics settings (ambient occlusion and/or dynamic shadows)? Check to make sure he is using high energy as opposed to balanced mode. Check the refresh rate (some people reported having it set as 40hz as opposed to 60hz). Also, check temps using hwmonitor to rule out a throttling issue.
     
  3. DeeVu

    DeeVu That Compsci/Psych Major

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    1) It is whitelisted.
    2) Would 40hz make it drop so drastically below 5fps?
    3) He plays BF3 without fault on high settings. I do not think its a GPU throttle issue.

    Anything else?
     
  4. smokingjam

    smokingjam Notebook Evangelist

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    make sure he has the most up to date drivers. borderlands should run brill on this laptop
     
  5. alroar

    alroar Notebook Consultant

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    some games i have to force on the nvidia (even tho they are whitelistet) thru the right mouse contextmenu to make em work correct.

    maybe u try that
     
  6. DeeVu

    DeeVu That Compsci/Psych Major

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    Yeah thats why we are confused. He has 285.xx and I've been through every possible problem with my m11x (all three models) but I do not have enough knowledge about the m14x to say what the problem could be. I've just been troubleshooting as if it was my 11x.

    I'm at a loss for words. I'll look around some more when he gets it charged up. It just died next to me in class lololol. Thanks for the input. Keep it coming if you guys have any other suggestions. It is running on the NV gpu but for some reason it looks like its running off of the integrated graphics. So I am going to check to see if there are any other files that need to be whitelisted outside of the Borderlands.exe (maybe its like GTA where you need more than one exe listed?)


    edit: @alroar - yeah maybe. Ill try that too. :p Oh the joys of being a compsci major and being the first call to all your friends issues.
     
  7. DeeVu

    DeeVu That Compsci/Psych Major

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    FIXED: I just clean installed everything. (driver wise)
     
  8. rfxcasey

    rfxcasey Newbie

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    Having the same problem with GTX 560 it. All other games BFBC2, BF3, Crysis all work great. I reverted to an earlier NV driver and that fixed it but I'm back on 285.26 now for other games and Borderlands is taking a crap again. Think its a driver bug personally. I have to clean uninstall and reinstall the darn thing again but this is a pain it the roast. If anyone else has this issue chime in please.