780m not performing well after RMA

M

maboroshi

Member
I RMA'd my Vortex IV (15 inch) not long ago due to a motherboard issue, the motherboard was replaced. since i got it back there has been a major problem with the GPU.

firstly i've been noticing that the GPU fan isn't starting on its own. the fan works fine but it doesn't spin up normally when a 3D game is started. i have to force it with the Fn + 1 shortcut.

next on games where I know performance has never been an issue (i.e Team Fortress 2, Gone Home, The Talos Principle, Firewatch) performance is nowhere near what it used to be and in most games i've checked borders on unplayable. frames get progressively worse. for example in the talos principle i turned settings to as low as possible and saw my FPS go from 60 FPS to sub 10 over a period of about 2 minutes. additionally audio goes from popping/clipping noises interspersed with actual audio which degrades to a glitchy mess. as though listening to a poorly encoded MP3.

I've looked at some hardware monitoring software to see if there is some kind of heat issue (it certainly would make sense) and i'm noticing that all of these issues are happening at around 45-55 degrees. i know from before the RMA that the GPU had no issues resting at 65-75 degrees under full load.

i should also say i use a cooling pad

is it possible i just got a dud GPU back or does this sound like something i can fix?
 
M

maboroshi

Member
CPU temps are about 50-60 degrees. the CPU performs perfectly fine. i've benchmarked it too, it performs as expected. however having banchmarked the GPU (on passmark) i've found that while other 780m's score around 4500-ish mine is getting 1200.
 
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Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
You shouldn't have to regardless of ability. From what I've seen on here PCS are good with RMA issues so I'm sure they will come through for you. I would request that they bench it prior to sending it back to you again.

Silly question no doubt.... are you sure you're running a 780m on the new motherboard?
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
A common cause of laptops underperforming is various power saving features getting in the way. I doubt it's that in this case, but if you want to check it just on the off-chance:

Windows power plan to High Performance:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/778-power-plan-settings-change.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/292971-pcie-link-state-power-management-turn-off-windows.html

Set the GPU to max performance:
http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answ...ent-mode-from-adaptive-to-maximum-performance

And make sure the applications are using the dGPU:
http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answer...ow-to-change-nvidia-optimus-graphics-settings

You could also use a program like EVGA precision X to monitor your GPU clock speeds and see whether they are upto normal levels.

Uninstalling GPU drivers with http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html and then performing a clean install of the latest drivers (and if those are no good, use DDU and try and older version like v362.00)

Have you checked CPU temps and clock speeds during gaming as well by the way? Something like HWinfo would monitor and log those for you.

I'd certainly agree with contacting PCS about the laptop. The above are just a few things you can consider trying on your own if you hadn't already.
 
M

maboroshi

Member
the power features were the first things i checked. GPU is set to max performance and the apps are definitely using the GPU.

the temperatures i've been talking about are from when the GPU is in use.

i've been using speccy primarily to check temps and clock speeds. the shader clock changes depending on what's going on, it goes up to 2500MHz when under full load. the core clock is stated to be 324 MHz.
 
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