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    Problem with steam?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by ctopha, Aug 1, 2011.

  1. ctopha

    ctopha Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey guys, I have an Mx14
    i7 2.0 Ghz
    Nvidia Gt555 3.0Gb
    Hi Res Screen
    6 GB RAM
    750Gb 7200 rpm Hard Drive

    I just got my laptop roughly two weeks ago, and tbh I was expecting alot more out of it. I'm used to building desktops, so the bang for my buck was much less on my new laptop. However, I'm not exactly sure what the usual specs for laptops are, so I figured I'd ask if the problems I'm having are usual or not, or whether they are caused because of the fact that both the games I've tried are DL'd straight from Impulse.

    Once I got my laptop, I bought Witcher: Assassins of Kings and Homefront. Witcher will only play smoothly if the laptop is plugged in, otherwise it is VERY choppy. Homefront, on the other hand, is choppy no matter how I play it. I haven't even really got into the gameplay, as the opening cutscene cuts in and out to badly for me to even watch it. I was wondering if this is the usual for a semi-high end laptop, or if there is something wrong that I need to correct. I've tried defragging them both from steam, and I'm about to try a disk-based game to see how they run, unfortunately all off my disk based games are from a few years back so they'll run on even a horrid comp (Age of Empires/Mythology).

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Btw:
    I've already checked every driver and they all have the newest settings (as far as the manufacturer is concerned)

    And thanks for reading all that.
     
    ctopha, Aug 1, 2011
    #1
  2. thorke

    thorke Notebook Enthusiast

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    What you could try is switching to high performance (in the windows power options).
     
    thorke, Aug 1, 2011
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  3. pokemon123

    pokemon123 Notebook Consultant

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    Did you try whitelisting the games? maybe it's using the intel integrated graphics card instead of the nvidia?
     
    pokemon123, Aug 1, 2011
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  4. ctopha

    ctopha Notebook Enthusiast

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    Already on the high performance setting, and I'll try whitelisting after I get home from work. Tell you how it goes.

    Thanks for both of the responses btw.
     
    ctopha, Aug 1, 2011
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  5. GIJoeMyGoodness

    GIJoeMyGoodness Notebook Geek

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    As the others said, whitelisting is your best bet.

    You can always right click on the .exe or the exe shortcut and make sure you highlight the graphics card you wish to use. It usually says default next to the one it loads automatically.

    Homefront doesn't have the best game engine so I know it doesn't run as smoothly compared to others.
     
    GIJoeMyGoodness, Aug 1, 2011
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  6. monobass

    monobass Newbie

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    I think that on this video there is a solution of a case like yours : VuReel HD Videos
     
    monobass, Aug 1, 2011
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  7. Hengst2404

    Hengst2404 Notebook Geek

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    Played and finished homefront on my m14x with zero performance issues or hiccups. The witcher 2 also ran awesome for me. I used 270.61 I think for my drivers, but didn't need to whitelist anything to get either game to run well.
     
    Hengst2404, Aug 1, 2011
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  8. ctopha

    ctopha Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok, now that I'm home, I do have two quick questions.

    When I was taught to build computers, it was by a local business who needed nothing more than the physical parts put together, without to much focus on the actual data. So, although I can upgrade the physical parts of my laptop, I'm not exactly good with doing things in-computer.

    So, firstly, what exactly is whitelisting and how do you do it?

    And, Secondly, I've read alot of people using 270.61, although I don't know much on the details about it.

    If anyone could fill me in on either of those it would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for turning this into a Q&A, but I'm the kind of person who likes to learn as much as possible. Especially when the word upgrade is involved.
     
    ctopha, Aug 2, 2011
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  9. ejohnson

    ejohnson Is that lemon zest?

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    ejohnson, Aug 2, 2011
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  10. ctopha

    ctopha Notebook Enthusiast

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    That worked very well, thanks. Comp runs a good bit hotter, but thats expected. When its on the cooling pad w/ the keyboard and mouse plugged in it should be all good.

    Thanks again
     
    ctopha, Aug 2, 2011
    #10