The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Portal 2 struggling.

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by zackdh9, May 2, 2011.

  1. zackdh9

    zackdh9 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I just tried this out on my R2 with shaders model details etc on high. it was running (or crawling, rather) at about 8 frames per second. I lowered all settings and got 12-15.
    Ive been having some problems with the computer just crashing after around 20 minutes of gameplay on games like the sims so i updated my drivers and everything. However, obviously, performance is still ty. I have whitelisted the games. So all i have to say is... what the hell?
     
    zackdh9, May 2, 2011
    #1
  2. Relyks

    Relyks Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Portal 2 does seem to be a bit more demanding than other valve games. You can change the direct x level and it will increase your FPS.

    In the steam library: right click on portal 2 (this will bring up a list of options). Select "properties" then select "set launch options" you can then type either "-dxlevel 90" for direct x 9 or "-dxlevel 81" for direct x 8.1. (type those commands without the quotes) I'd recommend trying -dxlevel 81. To change back to 10 type "-dxlevel 10".
     
    Relyks, May 2, 2011
    #2
  3. miXwui

    miXwui Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    109
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Are you sure it's on the whitelist? Portal 2 runs perfectly fine outputted to my 1680x1050 resolution monitor, at high settings or whatnot.

    Edit: R2 i7 overclocked to 160 and gpu overclocked to 600/something/something lol
     
    miXwui, May 2, 2011
    #3
  4. some guy

    some guy Modding Addict

    Reputations:
    568
    Messages:
    1,125
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Maybe sounds like the CPU is getting too hot and downclocking its self. Have you monitored your temps? source engine games tend to beat on the CPU pretty bad but if my OCed R1can handle it im sure your R2 can as well.
     
    some guy, May 2, 2011
    #4
  5. mohaa7

    mohaa7 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    38
    Messages:
    306
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Well I have to say that this particular problem is unique to you.
    My M11x R2 i7 is able to play Portal 2 pretty much perfectly.
    I suggest you to double check whether NVIDIA GT335M is running while playing the game.
    My other suggestions are to do a thorough virus and adware scans.
    There are just too many ways that a laptop is unable to play a game properly...
     
    mohaa7, May 2, 2011
    #5
  6. zackdh9

    zackdh9 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have monitored the temps and they were running hot, around 80 degrees. When i saw this i turned off my overclock (154-156 i forget) completely. I dont know any other solutions to the heat problem. Even with this i am still running hot.
     
    zackdh9, May 2, 2011
    #6
  7. i has m11x

    i has m11x Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    173
    Messages:
    489
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    31
    80C should be fine and it should not throttle down due to that temperature. When my room is warm, my cpu runs at 81 and I don't have any throttling. I wouldn't worry about that temperature.
     
    i has m11x, May 2, 2011
    #7