Solved! Dell laptop and BF3 issue...

xhellionx

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Jan 9, 2008
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to preface this, i would categorize myself as fairly tech savvy and have built and owned several PC's over the years. i am fully aware that gaming on a laptop is not optimal but it made sense for me more to acquire a laptop over a desktop...

so i have this Dell recently purchased within 2 weeks:
**XPS 17**
| 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHZ
| 8GB,DDR3,2 DIMM
| 17.3in FHD WLED AG (1920x1080)
| NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M 3GB graphics with Optimus
| 1.0TB 500GB 7.2k HDD x 2
| Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
| Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2

first thing i did was do a fresh install of Windows 7 to get rid of bloatware, etc.

when i play BF3, all is well for a bit but eventually i get this weird issue where it seems like the game slows down. when i move my mouse to the right a bit, it delays then swings like a full 180 degrees. same for any direction. also, the sound cuts in and out and it just generally is unplayable and unresponsive except slow/sluggish movements. i have to restart the game to fix.

at first, i assumed overheating but i use a laptop cooler and when i check my temps, i was only around 58-59 degrees on all cores and around the same or a little cooler on the GPU. i know i have the NVIDIA GPU running the game as i set that up as default so Optimus wouldn't try and use the onboard Intel graphics. 8 gigs is plenty enough RAM so i'm at a loss. i do run my laptop to a 24" monitor via HDMI so i unplugged that and tried playing off of the 17" laptop screen to see if that was the issue...no dice. i have audio disabled on the HDMI too FYI.

i'm confused, i have my graphics on LOW in the game so this laptop should have no issues running this bitch.

ideas?
 
Solution
check your windows power settings and also check the dell's tool that is responsible for power profiles (I think it's called quickset unless it changed)
practically, unless there's some malfunctioning hardware, you should have no trouble running it on low

AntiZig

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check your windows power settings and also check the dell's tool that is responsible for power profiles (I think it's called quickset unless it changed)
practically, unless there's some malfunctioning hardware, you should have no trouble running it on low
 
Solution

xhellionx

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Jan 9, 2008
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i will check into those settings, thanks. also, someone else mentioned that my GPU in the laptop is very underpowered to run BF3, especially at 1080p, so they suggested dropping my screen res down which i will try also.
 

Chainzsaw

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Dec 31, 2002
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Yeah that mobile GPU is not very powerful.

Although the game shouldn't be lagging like you mentioned. Sounds kind of like a driver issue or somehow the CPU isn't running to it's full potential.

Do you have the lastest drivers for your sound card?

Is there anything in your BIOS that allows you to run performance/turbo mode on your CPU? I know some laptops have this (mine has).

Also maybe try turning down AA options to see if that helps. Also try turning your options for video game quality to performance instead of image quality in your NV control panel.
 

AntiZig

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yeah, if you're set to low and there's no aa/af you shouldn't have much problems running it, 555 is not that weak of a card. Try with lower res, see what happens.

also make sure you got their recommended driver 285.62