Area-51 m17-r1 stuttering video and audio

so i just got myself an area-51 m17-r1 to add to my collection of old alienwares, and i'm having an issue i haven't faced yet on any of my old systems; stuttering. lots of it. it happens at random. sometimes the mouse will be moving perfectly smoothly, the next it's jumping all over the place. when watching a youtube video, sometimes it's fine, other times it's a slideshow. the audio sometimes does this as well.

full specs of the m17 in case it matters:
core 2 quad extreme qx9300 2.53ghz not oc'd.
ati 3870 x2
4gb ddr3 pc3 8500
250gb hard drive with win7 home x64. all drivers installed.
running on bios b13. i've found a b14, but can't quite figure out how to update.
cpu temps top out at 70c under load (fresh thermal compound and fresh thermal pad)
gpu temps haven't gone above 70c in my short game testing (stuttering was unbearable).

command center is NOT installed because alienfusion kept using all the cpu and memory.

windows has a video driver update, but it keeps failing to install. not sure why it's trying to install in the first place, as i have 2013 gpu drivers installed, and it wants to try to install a 2009 thing.

when i first installed windows, it installed some video drivers. in device manager, the top 3870 x2 had a yellow mark, and the bottom one didn't. installing the latest drivers fixed this. not sure if it has anything to do with the stuttering, but i say the more info the better.

 

This is an old known issue with your laptop & CPU combination. People tried many things to fix it but were not able to. There is some sort of incompatibility between the m17 motherboard and the QX9300. I've read a 9100 works just fine if you can find one.

Source: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m17-qx9300-stutter-fixed-for-good.518035/

 

yea even with an ssd it's still having the stuttering. shame to hear that the only solution is to downgrade.

on a side topic, i just ordered a m5790. any major upgrades i should consider putting into it? do you know if the 512mb 4870 from the asus w90 would fit it?

edit: do you know what the modded bios does for the m17?

 

I have never laid hands on a M17 so I am not overly familiar other than which I have read over the years.

For the m5750/90 the best configuration out there is the one in my signature. I doubt the asus 4870 would work but it's certainly worth trying if it can be had cheap.

 

have you tried 8gb of memory in the 5750? the 4870 is mxm 2.1 with the he tab. i did a quick look, and it looks like the 5750/90 is missing the he tab. does that really matter?

 

I would suggest you create a new thread for m5750/90 questions before this goes way off topic.

Quickly though 8GB of memory will not work. In fact you need a particular version of the BIOS to even support 4GB. From the factory 2GB was max. An HE tab card will NOT fit. The ethernet jack motherboard connector is right in the spot where the tab would go next to the mxm connector.

 

ok. that's all the questions i have on the 5750 until i get my hands on it.

 

i've found a decent solution to the stuttering with quad core cpus in the m17-r1: ssd boot drive for os and literally everything else on second hdd/ssd. either the ssd or the fact that the read load is split to 2 drives dramatically reduced stutter on my machine. i can even game on it now without issues! maybe a raid 1 with ssd's would eliminate it completely. may test this in the future.

 

Here's a workaround. I've used it before and it definitely works.
https://windyweather.net/2011/01/26/alienfx-software-bugs-workarounds/