M11x R3 Stuttering

Hello,

I'm really hoping somebody can help me out here, this problem is infuriating.

I have an M11x R3 i5 that's been very well behaved up until quite recently.

It stutters and chugs whilst doing just about anything, even web browsing or watching a video.

I've disassembled the machine and cleaned the dust out of the fan and air intake having thought that low fps and stuttering whilst gaming was being caused by dust and overheating.

I also re-formatted the HDD with a clean install of Windows.

Yet the problem still persists, it's incredibly infuriating. I've owned this computer for a year and a half and it's behaved itself quite admirably but stuttering whilst playing Torchlight II is just unacceptable, especially when I could use to play Skyrim and other more demanding games without fuss. This has all changed though, even web browsing has become a bit of a chore on this computer.

Temperatures appear normal, there is no dust in the fan or intake and I've made sure the correct power settings are set whilst all drivers are up to date.

Whilst gaming the stutter seems to correlate to any activities involving sound (bashing something in Torchlight for instance) so this could mean a CPU or audio driver problem, maybe?

I'd love and suggestions though, cheers!

 

Does it still happen if you uninstall your audio drivers?

 

i assume you're on a fresh windows install? did you get all the latest intel/nvidia sound drivers etc. from manufacturer websites, not dell? if it is sound related, try uninstalling sound driver as suggested, or removing the mother board all together (im quite sure the laptop will turn on without it? as it doesn't have any vital stuff wired through it, power button etc. as asus laptops seem to) and see if that helps.

 

Thank you for your suggestions and advice, they've given me new ideas and inspiration so I very much appreciate it

I have the latest drivers installed for everything, cheers!

It would appear I was wrong with the sound! Although it's not turned out to be a sound driver issue I think the relation lies with the CPU. I'm pretty convinced now that maybe the little bugger needs re-pasting, any suggestions on a good paste to use with this machine?

It's the only explanation I can think of now given that the computer stutters only when a load is put on the CPU like opening a web browser or using skype.

 

I used this in my M15x Innovation Cooling Diamond 7 CPU Thermal Compound Paste - Tube | eBay

Worked a treat

 

ARCTIC MX-4 (4g & 20g) · Thermal Compound · Cooling · ARCTIC

thats what i use, does seem to keep the performance after a while too, nearly a year since i repasted with this, temperatures still pretty much same. also non conductive. the 4grams plenty for quite a few applications.

the diamond one sounds good too, if not better. too lazy to pull benchmarks. both seem to boast non conductivity etc. no curing all that.

i have read the diamond pastes leave scratch marks on the heatsink, haven't actually seen any proof though. arctic is a bit cheaper, anyways check the benchmarks.

 

Thank you very much guys, I really appreciate the tips!

I've one last query before I pull the computer apart again and lather it with paste... Would a sluggish HDD, one that might be on it's last legs, be cause for rubbish performance? The boot-up time for the computer is quite a substantial period of time now (up to 3 minutes!) which is strange for a clean install of Windows I find, especially as it used to be very nippy. Any thoughts?

Cheers again for the advice!

edit:- There are no mechanical noises coming from the HDD, I've heard others whining and screeching before breaking but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

I disassemble my R3 down to the last screw about once a year and give it a thorough cleaning and re-pasting. Most pastes work fine (I use generic Chinese Shen-Zhen paste) as long as you change them about once a year or so. Also good idea to re-partition from scratch and reinstall everything every 6 months or so (Windows is a fat hog). Revo Uninstaller also helps.

 

Whoa! Just pulled the little bugger apart and had a look under the heatsink for the first time... It is caked in thermal paste, this is a factory bought machine and I can't believe how much paste is on here! I'm having to scrape it away (very, very gently) with a screwdriver (at least on the copper heatsink) there's so much of it. Incredible!

I've a feeling I've found my problem...

I lived in Spain for a year so I've a feeling that perhaps the extreme differences in temperature between the UK and a Spanish climate might have had an effect?

 

Well, there's been a huge jump in performance when it comes to the graphics side of things as my FPS has gone up considerably and everything is much smoother on the whole but the stuttering still persists. Damn. -_-

 

sounds like you are good to go

 

Ambient temperature certainly make a drastic difference, good to see it's running smooth after the repaste

 

Ah you guys have misunderstood, although I could have worded my post much better...

The stuttering still persists and is as annoying as ever, though in between stutters the fps is actually higher than before so in essence I've seemingly fixed an issue I never knew I had!

I'm at my wits end with this problem now, though. I genuinely can't imagine what else the problem could be

Are there any default settings for the i5-2467m that it should be set to if I were to take a look with Throttlestop?

Cheers for all the suggestions so far, the Arctic MX4 is doing it's job at least! :thumbsup: