Intermittent, MASSIVE FPS drop on GT780 DXR

Anyone else been having this? I'll be playing whatever game, and suddenly I'll drop to 5-9 fps for about 20-30 seconds, then it'll go back to silky smooth like nothing ever happened, even if more started happening on the screen (rather than less) since the lag started.

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out where this intermittent fps drop is coming from, but I've come up dry. The last option I see is to do a clean format (which I never did when I originally got the laptop) and reinstall window 7.

On another note, any ideas on how to get a Windows 7 disc or installation that corresponds with the windows 7 that come on my laptop?

-Thanks for reading

 

Are you sure this isnt temp related? What tests have you done so far to eliminate potential issues? Have you tried updating your video driver after doing a clean first with DriverSweeper? Have you checked your heat sinks on CPU and GPU? Used any kind of monitoring program to check your system?

I believe Ken had some digital river links which had the ISO's of various flavours of Windows 7. You could probably have a Google around or PM him.

 

Some have had issues of the PA plug receptacle coming loose from the MB, when the straight PA plug is forcibly jarred. Your FPS drop sounds like a temporary loss of AC power...... as though the PA has been momentarily unplugged. Just a thought......

WIN 7 SP/1 ISO's HERE.

Good luck!

 

Check your cpu temps and try throttlestop.

 

Good idea...... verify the unit is not throttling! (I still suspect a poor PA receptacle connection at the MB)

I suppose throttling is a possibility, but as of yet, I have not seen a single case of this in any of the stock MSI machines..... only those modded units wherein an Alienware or Sager GPU was installed.

 

If the power supply momentarily kicks out, that could switch you to battery power and that could cause some massive frame rate drops. Best to run ThrottleStop in monitoring mode and run a log file while gaming so you will have some evidence of what is going on. The log file should show if it is randomly switching to battery power as well as any CPU throttling for whatever reason.

Copy and paste a log file to http://pastebin.com/ if you want me to have a look at it and then post a link here or send it to me.

 

Sure, you can monitor with ThrottleStop, but how will this identify if an issue exist with the PA plug receptacle connection?

Again, I have seen no evidence of throttling in the MSI GT780/783 series. The only incidents of this were due to a failed PA plug receptacle connection at the MB...... so look into this too!

 

I've tested Furmark + Prime a while ago and can confirmed Throttling is not an issue on GT780DXR.

So do what Striker suggests check to see if it was the failed PA plug receptacle connection issue.

 

ThrottleStop logs whether your computer is plugged in or running on battery power. I thought that might give you a clue to what is going on and might confirm if it is a power related issue. Many high performance laptops are designed to throttle as soon as you switch to battery power to protect the battery.

 

I've had to use throttlestop to stop throttling now with my CPU. Temps max out at around 80C but it kicks it down to 800mhz for some reason. With throttlestop on I get smooth running.

It might actually be a bios issue but since I can just run TS I don't mind.

 

My hunch is the problem definitely power related, just unconvinced it's due to 'design'..... or throttling to protect the battery.

Again, I am merely suggesting the the OP check his PA plug receptacle where it connects to the MB. If this be the cause, and he has loose, cracked, or broken joints, ThrottleStop will not be a proper corrective measure.

Good luck Illuminaughty, and let us know what you discover.

 

I wasn't talking about using ThrottleStop to correct the problem. I was talking about running a ThrottleStop log file so you can diagnose the problem. If you look in the log file and you can see that your laptop is intermittently switching to battery power while gaming then I think that would be a good sign that the connection from the power adapter to the main board is faulty or perhaps the power adapter is faulty.

Built into many Dell laptops, by design, is instant throttling when you switch from AC to battery power. In some laptops, this throttling only lasts a few seconds before the laptop returns to full speed. This is a safety feature and helps protect batteries from receiving a sudden jolt in power consumption. This is about the only time when a little bit of throttling is a good thing. I am not sure if the MSI bios has a similar safety feature. If it did, brief episodes of massive throttling while gaming would be the result if the AC to motherboard connection was not 100%.

 

The notebook does have such a feature; the GPU drops down the 2D clocks automatically on battery.

 

I would play a game in windowed mode and when your FPS drops, look at the battery icon in the systray to see if it is switching over to battery power for a second. That way, you will know your issue is power related.

 

If you can code a little .NET, then you can use SystemInformation.PowerStatus property, which will trigger an event when the power is disconnected. You could have a small app which then plays a sound when that event is triggered.

EDIT: I'm going to write this for you, stay tuned

 

If the graphics card is removed from the notebook the power plug connector on the motherboard can be viewed for broken soldered points.

If it has wiggle it broken.

 

OK here's a beta version of 'Power Detector' for you.. You just run it and it runs in the background.. It will pop up a message box on the desktop when you lose power or regain mains power. So if you're in a gaming session the message box may or may not take over the screen, but at least the notification will still be sitting there when you exit the game so you will know if you've lost power or not. I hope it helps you solve your issue.

Power Detector

EDIT: It's a little buggy on Windows XP (The message boxes come up every few seconds for some reason), but it works fine on Windows 7. You should only see a message box when you unplug/replug the laptop. If people think it's useful then I could develop it further.

 

OK,ran it and tested it.

When I pulled out my AC Power Cord on my GT780DX I got the attached popup.

mains power?

The exe file needs to be run every time the notebook is booted up.

BTW,this was on Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

 

Yeah we call AC power 'mains power' perhaps I should call it something different. But when you pull out the power cord you should only see 'the system lost mains power', click ok. When you plug back in, you should see the other dialog box.

Is that what you're seeing?

 

Wow, you guys are making this way more complicated than it needs to be.....

 

Call it "salada" power

 

I've verified that the issue is overheating.

Guess it's time to crack this thing open and clean it. Possibly reapply thermal paste on the gpu/cpu also. This thing overheats when playing relatively non-demanding games now, even with the fans running at 100%. The only way I can get it to not go above 90C ingame is to use a window fan as a laptop table.

It never used to be like this. The only thing I can think of is since spring is coming I'm no longer benefitting from the cold ambient temperature in the room. That or it's just plain clogged with dust (which it doesn't appear to be, but I won't know until I take it apart to look).

This was my first hunch too, and I checked the plug often. The screen never dimmed like it does when AC is unplugged though, so this was pretty easy to rule out.

I'm very grateful you created this to help my issue, however I am certain it is temperature after paying close attention to Everest. The massive fps drop comes when I get into the upper 80's range of Celsius, and is relentless past 90C. I'm even wondering if these temps are high enough to permanently damage my graphics card.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I wonder if I'm still covered under warranty since I never sent in my product registration.

Also, is there any way to underclock this in the meantime? The CPU isn't overheating at all really but the GPU goes bananas and the back corner of the laptop is hot to the touch as soon as I start gaming at all. Like I said, I've been playing on this for months and this is the first problem I've really had.

Nevermind, about that bit, I figured out how to underclock with the overclock tool and I'm no longer overheating.

ETA: I've downloaded throttlestop and I'm currently trying to figure out how to provide a log that may be helpful in further diagnosing my problem.

Okay, I've uploaded a throttlestop log. The first few minutes are me just idling with Google Chrome with 9 tabs open, then when the temps go up this is me running the video stress test in counter strike: source.

So what do these temps say? What is a reasonable range of temperatures to expect while gaming?

 

You are very welcome!

I would have to agree it seems your card is throttling because it's getting too hot. You should only be just peeking into the 80's whilst gaming. You definitely have an issue with your cooling setup. I've had a look at your logs, and I've only every experienced temperatures like that when using Furmark... Using Furmark I could see it go to 96 C. I've never run the CS video stress test, so I cant comment on that exactly, but my gut feel is that it would not be intensive enough to push you into the 90's like that.

You can definitely damage your card by running constantly in the 90's like that, it's very hot.

If I were you, I'd pull the whole thing apart. I wasn't aware however that the GT780 would throttle like that, I thought the throttle issue on GPU's was for cards that were taken from Dell's etc and installed in MSI's. But someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I say this because my 580m has hit those temperatures, but never throttled. And I don't run any software to stop throttling.

Grab yourself some IC Diamond, some 0.5mm 5.0w/mk thermal pads, and clean your GPU and heatsink with isopropyl alchocol, and then reapply paste and some decent pads. Check everything has a good connection by attaching the heat sink whilst your card is out of the laptop, very important that your heatsink is sitting perfectly flush with your GPU and you have a think layer of thermal paste inbetween, dont over do it.

I think so long as you do that, and you have verified that your fan is also working well, there would be no reason to blame the cooling system, which should account for 99% of these issues, provided your ambient temperatures are reasonable i.e. in the low 20's.

Good luck and please let us all know how you go.

 

Is Arctic Silver comparable to IC Diamond?

 

Thermal Compound Roundup - February 2012 | Hardware Secrets
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New Synaptics Touchpad Driver v16.0.2.0:

Synaptics drivers

 

Nica article, WhatsThePoint. +rep

 

So Arctic Silver is better than IC Diamond, interesting.

Is there a video tutorial of disasesmbly of this laptop, specifically to reapply thermal paste to the GPU/CPU? If not is there a downloadable manual? Also, is the stock thermal compound pretty ty?

 

There's a disassembly video in post #1 of the GT780/Gt783 forum.

I use the surface spread method of reappling TC after removing the old TC with Tuniq TR-1.

I've been very happy with AS5 and lately Tuniq TX-3 but my supply of the discontinued TX-3 is exhausted.I hope to have a tube of ICD soon to give it a try for the 1st time.

The best heat transfer between the chip and heatsink comes when metal to metal surfaces make the maxium contact.This is why some lap the surfaces.

The only purpose of the TC is to replace the air,that's a poor heat conductor,in the pores of the metal or trapped due to unflat surfaces.

The factory applied MX-2 is a good quality TC but there's usually too much applied that hinders obtaining the best results.

 

Hello, Sorry for boosting this old topic up but I am expiercing the same problem. Exact the same and I also monitored my VGA and its hitting 91C when gaming on Counter-Strike Global Offensive, So alot of fps drops.

The problem is I cant clean it out becouse there is a warranty sticker on it. So I cannot open the back of my laptop without harming the warranty.
What should I do becouse I have 1 year left on warranty.

I have also a MSI GT780DXR

 

Have you at least cleaned the fan vents using cans of compressed air?

If overheating is happening, and it wasn't happening at first, its 99% a dirty/clogged laptop that needs to be clean. People quickly go to repasting but the thing is, if it was properly done, the amount of times you need to repaste is so small, it's usually not the first thing to even consider.

Try cleaning outside. Also contact MSI or your reseller because most of the time the sticker itself means nothing regarding warranty, as long as you don't damage the hardware when opening it up, the sticker is basically meaningless.

 

When did you get the machine, is it still in warranty?

As said, compressed air is likely your best option.

 

If your notebook is a US model then don't worry about breaking the sticker.The Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act covers US consumers in that a warranty cannot be voided on the whole product only on parts damaged by the consumer doing replacements and repairs.

Outside the US model it's best to check with MSI in your region and consumer protection laws.

The sticker is easy to peel off and replace when needed.

The vents need to be blown out from the inside and the fan cleaned with a small brush.

There's lots of info on these forums on how to repaste the CPU and GPU.Also check the thermal compound maker's site for instructions.

Proper application is more important than the quality TC brand.

 

Hello All,
In my MSI GT780DXR I've recently installed a Dell GTX580m. Flashed the vBios to MSI and installed the drivers fine. Bought some quality thermal paste, applied it correctly (after lots of research and reapplications).
However, when playing the latest game I have (Wildstar), the card heads toward 75 degrees celcius then reboots the computer. After experimenting with various thermal paste applications, it can stay under for a couple of minutes with the fan at full, but always restarts.
My previous video card died playing this game...
Thoughts or theories, anyone?
Regards,
Jah