GTX 980M stutter problem

[phillydeese3]

So here's the problem, I just bought a new custom made gaming laptop, specs:

GTX980M 4.0GB, i7-4720HQ, 16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X RAM, 240GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2, 1TB WD SLIM HDD

I thought that this would be beasty enough to run the latest games at pretty much full settings, but something is wrong.

On loads of games I get really bad stutter/micro lag/hitching happening every 10 seconds or so, where my FPS counter drops down by 40-50fps and I get noticeable jumping on screen. It is making my games unplayable.

The games it is effecting the most are GTA V, Far Cry 4, Far Cry 3 (all the games I was looking forward to playing the most). It's worse on Far Cry 3 than 4!

The only way to remove the jumping is to turn the setting right down, and by that I mean 1600x900 and LOW quality settings. Anything above that and I get the stutter.

Surely this isnt right? I can't have spent £1500 ($2300) on a gaming laptop to play games in LOW quality??

I have tried every single fix I have found on the internet and nothing makes a difference. If anything the lag gets WORSE when I turn the quality down, when I have it cranked up to the max it seems to get a bit better. I have read that loads of people have this problem, but I've run out of things to try.

What I've tried:
All different versions of the GFX drivers.
Different versions of GeForce experience (and not having it at all)
Teaking options Geforce 3D settings (like shader cache off, performance over quality, etc.)
Uninstalling any extra software on the laptop (antivirus, keymapper, any bloatware)
Different versions of the Intel GFX drivers
Different DirectX versions in game (where available)
Moving the page file (no difference on SSD or HDD)
Increasing the size of the page file
Loading games off SSD or HDD (no difference where the game is saved)

I have run out of things to try. What's going on? What do I do?

[HunterKiller]

Very poor optimization they done for this game. It really sucks too.

[crusher-666]

have you checked the temp ? (cpu + gpu )
could be a temp prob. (cpu throttle ? )

GTX980M > TDP 122 W
i7-4720HQ > TDP 47 W

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/aw-15-cpu-thermal-throttling-at-70%C2%B0c-i7-4710hq-970m.777481/

[phillydeese3]

How can I check the temperature during gaming? Should I use XTU and GPU-Z?

[-=SOF=-WID99]

have you gone in your nvidia control panel

select manage 3d settings

under global

look for power managemnet mode
make sure thats set to Prefer maximum Performance

[crusher-666]

better use a portable version of hwinfo or hwmonitor > no installspamming

[phillydeese3]

crusher-666 you are the man!!

The thermal throttling of the CPU is causing the stutter. I found out using XTU. The GPU is barely stretching it's legs.

My next question is, what can I do with this information? I know there's a program called throttlestop, but is it stupid/dangerous for me to use it on a laptop?

[crusher-666]

1) what is the temp ? because 100°C is the themalthrottling temp and goning over it > burn baby burn ;) (and in a desktop pc temps 80/85°C for cpu makes me nervous )
2) check if all fans running cpu + gpu . temps should not go over thermaldesing.
3)bios / softwaresettings if temp is ok > max performance instead powersaving .

if there is a thermalprob. on high cpu/gpu load
contact your store or the company because thermalprobs in laptops are harder to cure than in cases > thermal paste? or in worst case wrong layout for this kind of powerhardware.

[phillydeese3]

The thermal throttling is kicking in at 60 degrees!

I tried speedfan but it didnt detect the fans. I can feel the fans though, it's like a hairdryer out the side of the laptop.

I'll try contacting the builder then... it was built by pcspecialist in the UK.

[HunterKiller]

Originally posted by phillydeese3:

How can I check the temperature during gaming? Should I use XTU and GPU-Z?

You can use this, it's Virus/MW free. I use it and have been for years.


Speccy[www.piriform.com]

This is a good tool too.

SpeedFan[www.almico.com]

[Xeno Metora]

lol...gaming on laptops

[Slow Old Man]

Originally posted by Restvival:

lol...gaming on laptops

More fun shot now fall down later.

[Lawsongames]

Originally posted by Restvival:

lol...gaming on laptops

If you have the money, why not? You can basically game in your bed like a portable gaming device except it's powerful.

[phillydeese3]

I was wondering how long it would take before someone made a 'gaming on laptops' comment. I travel a lot for work and pleasure, I am visiting 6 countries in the next two months. Lugging around a PC isn't exactly practical.

Oh and for those that are interested in the topic of this thread, I found the problem. The thermal throttling is kicking in on my cpu and causing the stutter. I've used throttlestop to prevent the turbo boost on my cpu, which keeps the temperature down and no thermal throttling. It's an i7 so there's still loads of overhead left for games, even at a lower processor frequency.

[HunterKiller]

Good going then. Glad you got some needed hwlp. I think we all learned something here now.

[phillydeese3]

*****FIXED FIXED FIXED*****

I managed to fix this problem so I thought I'd share.

I discovered that for some reason, a feature called BD PROCHOT was automatically enabled on my laptop motherboard/CPU configuration (Clevo P67SG and Intel i7 4720HQ).

"BD PROCHOT stands for bi-directional prochot. PROCHOT stands for processor hot which is the signal that is activated within the CPU when it reaches approximately 100C to 105C depending on the model number. This signal is what initiates thermal throttling so the CPU can slow down and keep from over heating. Intel included a bi-directional feature so if something else like a GPU is running too hot, it would be able to send a PROCHOT signal directly to the CPU and force it to cool down so the entire laptop cools down. Very few laptops seem to use this type of throttling. This feature was added for the Asus G51. Disabling this will allow your CPU to continue to run at full speed. Disabling this will not prevent your CPU from thermal throttling at its normal Intel set thermal throttle temperature. By default this is locked and you will need to go into the Options window to unlock it so you can toggle it on and off."

Because of BD PROCHOT, my CPU was being throttled at around 60-70 degrees and causing huge stutter in all games. For some unknown reason this did not happen when benchmarking. I do not know what component or software was triggering BD PROCHOT to activate. Both my Nvidia 980m and Intel 4600 never got above 70 degrees. Even with it disabled, the standard thermal throttling (PROCHOT) still activates at 98 degrees like it should.

I downloaded a program called ThrottleStop and simply disabled BD PROCHOT. I now get solid 60fps on Far Cry 3 on max settings, 60fps on Far Cry 4 on nearly max settings, and all other games are perfectly smooth. I haven't tried GTA V again yet.

I hope this helps others! It took me over a week of hair pulling to figure it out.