Alienware laptop GPU issues

[CVersa]

Alienware M17xR3
OS: Fresh factory reset of Windows 7 with full updates
CPU: Intel i7-2720QM @ 2.20Ghz
Drive: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD (installed in center bay)
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333 (XMP Profile 1)
Graphics: Radeon 6870M + Intel HD 3000


Hi all, I'd like some opinions on fixing this GPU. I'm wondering if it suffered a non-critical failure.


The laptop is from 2011. Old as hell, but the gaming performance is not nearly where it should be, as it won't even run games from the Source Engine. I can run ancient games just fine, like the original Diablo, Half-Life and Quake 3 Arena. Anything beyond that gives me a terrible framerate and stutters, regardless of settings.

This is one of those laptops with "switchable graphics", where a keypress will alternate between dedicated and integrated graphics to save battery life. I couldn't install drivers from AMD, and Dell's driver support ended in 2012. I thought this was my issue at first, but then I disabled the integrated graphics in the BIOS by switching to PEG. Now it lets me use AMD's most recent driver from 2015.
No change in performance.
Both of them run games like trash.
In fact, when I had switched to the integrated graphics, it actually gave me better frames.

It seems that programs are barely using the dedicated graphics card, a Radeon 6870M.
All testing has been done in Counter-Strike: Source / Left 4 Dead 2 / Call of Duty 4.
Performance monitored by HWMonitor + GPU-Z + MSI Afterburner. Temperatures are in celsius.


The Good:

• Ran the Alienware ePSA pre-boot diagnostics included in the BIOS, in Thorough Testing mode. Everything passed.
• Fans kick on full-power when the PC boots, so at least they work.
• Temperatures across the PC never go above 67, idling around 55.
• The clock speeds are changing, up to 675Mhz core / 1000Mhz memory, the stock maximum for this card.
• The VRAM is functioning, up to maximum.
• Changing settings in Catalyst Control Center does effect performance and visual quality, though only slightly.
• The card is recognized in all programs and there is never any hitching, artifacting or crashing; everything beyond gaming is stable.

The Bad:

• Steady 0% GPU utilization and a voltage of 1.000
• Temps are idling between 51-56 and stay there.
• Fan speed is stuck at 30% and changing it in Afterburner changes nothing.
• This computer WILL NOT let me change the SATA mode from RAID. It was set like that from the factory. When I swapped the stock HDD for this SSD, I switching the SATA mode to AHCI / Other. It will POST, then during the Starting Windows logo, it bluescreens so fast that I can't read the error. I formatted the SSD and reinstalled Windows three times to no avail. I wonder if this has any effect on the GPU, some kind of difference in power draw, perhaps causing the following:
• The card is capable of PCIe 16x 2.0, but is stuck in PCIe 1x 1.1 and does NOT change.

I have done the following, with no results:

• Updated the BIOS from A03 to the most recent, A12.
• Enabled and disabled numerous BIOS settings to rule out conflicts.
• Installed all drivers from Dell's website.
• Installed four different sets of GPU drivers, doing clean installs with DDU.
• Altered all Windows power settings to favor high performance.
• Incrementally changed every possible setting through Catalyst Control Center and in games.
• Disabled Ultra Low Power Mode in the registry just in case.

I might try these:

• Try to use Afterburner to increase voltage, see if it even responds.
• Reseat the graphics card.
• Install the custom unlocked BIOS for this machine with additional features, such as a PCIe option, which may allow me to set the PCIe speed manually.
• Declare the GPU is dead and give up.

The card is responding in some aspects, so I've got some hope that it isn't completely toast. The SATA mode being forced into RAID is very concerning, but I think the main issue is the GPU being stuck in PCIe 1x. I'm wary of flashing the BIOS to a custom one just to screw with that, but it's the option that I'm heavily considering. Been stewing on this situation for a couple days now, so I'm welcome to all advice and opinions, because it's possible I overlooked something simple.


Thanks for reading!

 

[igor_kavinski]

• Reseat the graphics card.

You can't do that on a laptop. Best you can do is take off the heatsink, clean the dried gunk off the GPU and apply fresh thermal paste.

 

[CVersa]

You can't do that on a laptop. Best you can do is take off the heatsink, clean the dried gunk off the GPU and apply fresh thermal paste.

Not sure about this... It's a MXM type of GPU, so it looks like the attached image.

I haven't removed one of these before, but from opening the case and watching videos, it seems to be installed like a desktop graphics card, except horizontally.

You could be right, but I'm still exploring my options!

 

[igor_kavinski]

I haven't removed one of these before, but from opening the case and watching videos, it seems to be installed like a desktop graphics card, except horizontally.

That's great actually. If the GPU is toast for some reason, you could chuck it out and get a used one from eBay.