Game Performance Issues

I browse these forums every now and again in case I am in need of knowledge or am looking for a solution to a problem with my laptop, but I can't seem to find an answer this time. I have an Alienware M11xR2, i5. I'm not too tech-savvy so I don't know what to do. Every game that I've tried to play recently (Left4Dead2, Dragon Age, The Sims) is extremely laggy and super slow and I don't know what to do, and it's frustrating because they used to run as smooth as ice. It's been recommended to me that I try reinstalling my drivers, and I have (the ones at Dell's website though) and no luck. I've also tried messing with the global stats on the Nvidia Control Panel and nothing. I'm at a loss. Any advice?

 

1. Update to the latest nvidia drivers
2. whitelist the games that lag in the nvidia control panel
3. install throttlestop

 

Games that used to perform well, but now don't, are likely suffering from one of the following issues:

1) computer overheating, forcing hardware to slow down. Feel the bottom of your laptop. If it's really warm, it's even hotter inside. Make sure air can circulate under your laptop.

2) too many background programs. This can range from shareware and viruses, to windows services, to antivirus programs and updating software. Ctrl-shift-delete to select task manager and see if it looks like a lot of stuff is running you don't need. Some services can be disabled. You can also remove programs in control panel.

3) Settings have been changed. You should check that you haven't recently set your games to run with intel graphics. Did you increase the resolution recently? A bad program update can reset hard work, so when you update drivers, always check your settings.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

My suggestion was under the assumption that the games never ran appropriately to begin with. If they did, then go through grungolah's to-do list before mine, especially #1, which is probably the most common reason (and easiest to rectify).

 

Alan, as Rox mentioned and I think this may be a factor - since you recently reinstalled the drivers, be sure to go in and whitelist the game's .exe properly in the NV 3D Profiles section of the control panel. Be sure the following are done:

1. Open the NV Control Panel
2. Under the "Select a Task..." sidebar (left side of the CP), click on 'Adjust Image Settings with Preview'. Be sure the middle radial button is selected (Use the Advanced 3D Image Settings) - if you have to change it, be sure to click Apply.
3. Next, click on 'Manage 3D Settings' (again, left side of CP). Global settings should be set to Integrated Graphics.
4. Next, click on the Program Settings tab. This is where you whitelist a game's .exe.

See this video for an overview in the event this is unfamilliar.

YouTube - Nvidia Optimus Feature on the Alienware M11x- R2

 

The first thing I did to try and fix my problem with everyone's given advice was to update the video driver from the Nvidia website. When I tried to play, the framerate was a lot better, but still laggy. I then checked the Nvidia Control Panel and saw that everything was running under Integrated Graphics. So I paired my games with the High-performance Nvidia Processor and I think everything is fine now.. games run well.

Er, the overheating thing actually peaked my interest. How do I know when hot is too hot? I think that's why my last M11x died. It would get insanely hot and eventually I traded it in for the R2.

 

Get a software that measures ur temperature, can't remember one off my head, if its not 90C then its 'fine' personally I have a lift for my comp that just gets it off the table keeps it alot cooler