Suprisingly Poor Game Performance from New Laptop with Radeon 7670M

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Tojara

Junior Member
Aug 24, 2012
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I've been trying to resolve this problem on Hardware Canucks. This is the thread. I recommend you read through as I've detailed some of what I've tried there.

So I just bought a new HP laptop, this is the one, and am having trouble with it. It comes with the integrated HD 7640G (Part of the A8 APU) and a dedicated 7670M chip. The chip should perform decently (read 30+ constant fps) in games at low settings rendered in 1366x768 right? If this is wrong someone please tell me. The problem is it doesn't.

In all the games I've tried (SC2, D3, Dota2) my fps regularly drops to between 10 and 20 making the game essentially unplayable. I believe this to be a problem with AMD's Switchable Graphics. I'm not sure the dedicated GPU is running. I can't find a way to see if it is in AMD's Catalyst Command Center. CPU-Z and GPU-Z report some weird information about my card and the 3DMark06 benchmark (http://www.3dmark.com/3dm06/16842880) reports "Trinity Devastator Lite Mobile(3x) as my graphics card in the title.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions to help me fix this problem? Is there a way to turn off the integrated and and make the 7670M run at all times? I think just doing that would solve most of my probelms. But I can't find a way to do it in the device manager or in the BIOS... Help me out please.
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=203b9457a133816af518c625a2ccf58cen02
 
K

kelco

Member
Aug 15, 2012
76
0
0
Tojara said:
I've been trying to resolve this problem on Hardware Canucks. This is the thread. I recommend you read through as I've detailed some of what I've tried there.

So I just bought a new HP laptop, this is the one, and am having trouble with it. It comes with the integrated HD 7640G (Part of the A8 APU) and a dedicated 7670M chip. The chip should perform decently (read 30+ constant fps) in games at low settings rendered in 1366x768 right? If this is wrong someone please tell me. The problem is it doesn't.

In all the games I've tried (SC2, D3, Dota2) my fps regularly drops to between 10 and 20 making the game essentially unplayable. I believe this to be a problem with AMD's Switchable Graphics. I'm not sure the dedicated GPU is running. I can't find a way to see if it is in AMD's Catalyst Command Center. CPU-Z and GPU-Z report some weird information about my card and the 3DMark06 benchmark (http://www.3dmark.com/3dm06/16842880) reports "Trinity Devastator Lite Mobile(3x) as my graphics card in the title.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions to help me fix this problem? Is there a way to turn off the integrated and and make the 7670M run at all times? I think just doing that would solve most of my probelms. But I can't find a way to do it in the device manager or in the BIOS... Help me out please.
Click to expand...
Are the games in the run-dedicated graphics list? A bud had this same issue, turns out he was never even using the dedicated graphics LOL
 
T

Tojara

Junior Member
Aug 24, 2012
6
0
0
kelco said:
Are the games in the run-dedicated graphics list? A bud had this same issue, turns out he was never even using the dedicated graphics LOL
Click to expand...

I wish it was that simple haha. I've set everything I want to use to dedicated GPU to "High Performance in the CCC. I wish there was a way to just turn on the dedicated for everything and never have to worry if that was my problem...
 
S

stateofmind

Senior member
Aug 24, 2012
245
2
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www.glj.io
sounds like what you've said - some problem with the switching system. D3 and Dota2 should run OK even on medium settings as far as benchmarks go.

In the Catalyst control center, can you choose which GPU to use?
can you remove the drivers and install the newest?
 
L

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
529
126
I've got a slightly older i5-450m with a mobile HD-5650 that I'm benching with 3dMark-06 right now.

It runs 05 pretty smooth but it is dipping down into the low teens on 3dMark-06 Proxycon at the default resolution.

NOTE: 3dMark06 CPU benchmarks are always in the zero to 2 FPS range, that is completely normal.

EDIT:

Okay I just got a score of 6840 3dMark-06 which is lower but in the same ballpark as your system. I paid $750 plus another $80 for a Matte screen for my laptop.

Maybe you are expecting too much?

The default resolution for 3dMark-06 is 1280 x 1024 which is a similar amount of pixels as 1366x768 so I should think it was normal for some games FPS to be dipping into the teens.

If you want a "real" gaming laptop you are going to need to spend over $1000...
 
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Tojara

Junior Member
Aug 24, 2012
6
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stateofmind said:
sounds like what you've said - some problem with the switching system. D3 and Dota2 should run OK even on medium settings as far as benchmarks go.

In the Catalyst control center, can you choose which GPU to use?
can you remove the drivers and install the newest?
Click to expand...
Thats what I don't understand. No I can't find that option anywhere other then setting certain applications to 'High Performance'. I've tried to update drivers but it doesn't seem to help. I guess I'll try to uninstall and and reinstall them.


lakedude said:
I've got a slightly older i5-450m with a mobile HD-5650 that I'm benching with 3dMark-06 right now.

It runs 05 pretty smooth but it is dipping down into the low teens on 3dMark-06 Proxycon at the default resolution.

NOTE: 3dMark06 CPU benchmarks are always in the zero to 2 FPS range, that is completely normal.

EDIT:

Okay I just got a score of 6840 3dMark-06 which is lower but in the same ballpark as your system. I paid $750 plus another $80 for a Matte screen for my laptop.

Maybe you are expecting too much?

The default resolution for 3dMark-06 is 1280 x 1024 which is a similar amount of pixels as 1366x768 so I should think it was normal for some games FPS to be dipping into the teens.

If you want a "real" gaming laptop you are going to need to spend over $1000...
Click to expand...

Hm... The page you posted for the 7670M says "With these GPUs you are able to play modern and demanding games fluently at medium detail settings and HD resolution". Why then am I getting unplayable frame rates at low settings? Is my definition of playable different from everyone else's?

This link on note book check (http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7670M.69483.0.html) also reports much better frame rates then what I'm seeing in games.
 
T_Yamamoto

T_Yamamoto

Lifer
Jul 6, 2011
15,007
795
126
Playable is 30 FPS? (for me it is)

turn down details, alot

youll get used to it

I think you were expecting alot more than you are getting
 
L

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
529
126
30 FPS means 30 FPS average, not minimum FPS.

Personally I like when a review includes minimum FPS specs but this is fairly uncommon.

So when the review says 30 FPS average that generally means it is running up to perhaps 60 FPS or more on the easy parts and down to perhaps 10 FPS on the more difficult sections and after a lot of bouncing up and down the average is 30FPS.

Based on the 3dMark-06 score of 7799 is I'd say your laptop is working more or less properly and your expectations are too high, sorry man.

For what you paid that is still a nice laptop. You paid less than I did and your score is higher than mine.

If you really want to game you need a desktop or a very expensive laptop.
 
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Tojara

Junior Member
Aug 24, 2012
6
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0
Alright I keep those specs in mind. Kind of hard to find laptops with those cards at Canadian stores. Might order something online. I'll probably just stick with this machine and tough it out :p Thanks guys.

Also I never did figure out something I wanted to. Is there any way to set the dedicated GPU to run all the time. Something in the BIOS or the device manager maybe?
 
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lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
529
126
Sorry I wouldn't know about keeping your better card on. My laptop has no such BIOS options...
 
K

kelco

Member
Aug 15, 2012
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I thought it was common knowledge that all mobile ivybridge chips force you to use both with no option to disable the IGP.
 
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AlexAL

AlexAL

Senior member
Jan 23, 2008
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Having these two GPUs, 7640G (Part of the A8 APU) and a dedicated 7670M, should also allow you to run them in asynchronous Crossfire for higher performance. Your worries then would be possible incompatibility/weirdness with some games and temperatures.

I hope you can sort out your initial problems since I have been eyeing this setup, too. Like other have said, uninstall drivers and install the latest. If you have the latest, uninstall and install older..

A possibility for US$850 is Lenovo, same res as your laptop, with a Nvidia GTX 660m.
 
L

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,778
529
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kelco said:
I thought it was common knowledge that all mobile ivybridge chips force you to use both with no option to disable the IGP.
Click to expand...
Um, the laptop in question is an AMD Quad-Core A8-4500M, not an Ivy Bridge...

Maybe I missed something here?
 
T

Tojara

Junior Member
Aug 24, 2012
6
0
0
AlexAL said:
Having these two GPUs, 7640G (Part of the A8 APU) and a dedicated 7670M, should also allow you to run them in asynchronous Crossfire for higher performance. Your worries then would be possible incompatibility/weirdness with some games and temperatures.

I hope you can sort out your initial problems since I have been eyeing this setup, too. Like other have said, uninstall drivers and install the latest. If you have the latest, uninstall and install older..

A possibility for US$850 is Lenovo, same res as your laptop, with a Nvidia GTX 660m.
Click to expand...
How would I go about setting this up. AMD CCC's described using the two cards together so I'm not sure if it's actually pairing them up and using them both.

kelco said:
Nope, I missed something, lol.
Click to expand...

Haha no worries man. So if I shut out the integrated in device manager should the dedicated be running at all times then?
 
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