# My Alienware m17x is not performing the way it should be. PLEASE HELP



## hottfuzz22 (Aug 23, 2011)

I have recently purchased an Alienware M17x R3 from dell and it is having problems loading any game with really low fps. I downloaded Fraps the othere day and when i load minecraft i set it to far and it gets like 17-22 fps and when i switch it to tiny it gets like 30-40? i have heard from other people that this kind of machine should be getting at least 50 fps on like every game it plays. Specs:
Intel Core i7 2720Qm 2.2ghz (3.3Ghz Turbo Mode, 6mb cache)
8gb Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
1.5 GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
750 GB 7,200 RP HDD

Yeah im pretty new to computer gaming so I don't know if these specs i have are very good or not but I would like to know if there is any way i can boost my fps it would be very much appreciated. Also open opinions are welcome as to if I should just get rid of this laptop or keep it.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Are you switching GPUs by pressing _FN_ + F7?


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## hottfuzz22 (Aug 23, 2011)

Yeah whenever i click FN+F7 it displays a message that says "Your graphics solution is automatically configured for optimal performance".


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## MasterKnives (Aug 22, 2011)

Specs wise is a nice laptop. However laptops in themselves are not built well for gaming, mainly because of heat and battery issues.

You said every game gives you a low frame rate? Do you have any sprite based legacy games to test? And are you running on the latest drivers for your video card?


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## hottfuzz22 (Aug 23, 2011)

Yeah I don't know what Sprite based games to test are but I do know I have the latest drivers and that they are all updated. Also do you know if this laptop could handle battlefield 3 without lagging?


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## Timer5 (Dec 13, 2009)

Well I play minecraft all the time. I think I know what is wrong. Laptop computers have a slower RPM HDD. Due to the slower RPM speed the games is not as fast. Try to run the game on multilayer you should get more FPS because most of the work is done by the server not your computer


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

Did you buy a laptop cooler? A gaming laptop definitely needs this as they're fans are not designed to be really efficient just able to exert the enough effort to get rid of the worst of the heat.

Something like this should do.
Antec Cooling System for Notebook Computers Model Notebook Cooler 200
$60

Find something better than this beast, please do tell me.


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## hottfuzz22 (Aug 23, 2011)

Yeah i will have to look into the cooling system but I think i found out that too boost the fps you just have to right click on the desktop, select nvidia controls, open the tab, and then change all the prefrences to high-performance 460m driver. That boosted my minecraft fps from 30-45 to like 65-95 on average.


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