Random Graphical Spikes Dell Inspiron 1564

[idata]

Hello Intel. I bought my dream laptop 3 4 days back. The specs are the same as the laptop here -

CPU Type Intel Core i5CPU Number 430MCPU Speed 2.26 GHzInternal Memory 3072 MBMemory Slots (Total / Free) 2 / 0Memory Type DDR3 SDRAMHard Drive Type http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pi/27-2575444/Laptop-Computers/Dell-Inspiron-1564-Intel-Core-i5-430M-2.26GHz-3GB-250GB-LED15.6-DVDRW-Win-7-Home-Premium-Product-Info The Solid State Disc is a flash memory, normally smaller than the Hard Disc Drive both in physical and storage (GB) size.HDDHard Drive Size

250 GB

Graphics Card

Integrated

Multiple GPU

No

I installed windows7 64bit and i downloaded the latest drivers from the dell support.

Yesterday I noticed the Laptop gets a Graphical lag/spike. It's completely random and more relevant to the graphics. For instance -

- I love Aero Peek, I would keep hovering my mouse over the open windows and it will run completely smooth, but Randomly it will spike(graphical freeze) for like 2 seconds almost. Even in lighter games like warcraft. The game runs on MAX settings smooth with full refresh rate - NO FPS drops - Nothing.

But one of a sudden the screen freezes, graphical lag(spike). Please notice that it isn't relevant to the processor. Because even when i get that lag/spike IN GAME, i can STILL hear the sound of the game when the screen is frozen.

+ i can have music running smoothly in the background when it spikes. OR when I run a process and get a spike, the process will still complete itself in the background.

I also tried the latest drivers from Intel's support here - with no luck -

- http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18521

If it were some millisecond spike i wouldn't bother worrying about it but, I can tell its more than 1.5 seconds.

I dont feel like replacing this laptop so please intel, Help me solve this issue. Can't wait for a reply.

I'll be grateful.

Ali

P.S>

I disabled turbo boost from BIOS to check if that's whats causing the problem but it still lags.

EDIT: I cant see any Hardware Acceleration in the display troubleshooting tab. Or does intel integrated graphics Not support hardware acceleration?

[ROBERT_U_Intel]

I am not convinced what you are seeing is driver related. Have you contacted Dell support for this issue? Your system is brand new, their support should be your first call.

[idata]

I'm glad someone replied.

Well I also posted the same issue on dell's support forum but no reply yet. I thought it's relevant to the graphics so I wanted to post the issue here aswell.

Can you please tell me more about what you think might be causing this? I can tell that when i lag/spike on the laptop, while i'm playing warcraft online, people tell me that they can see me lag for a second.

So that made me think maybe not just a graphical issue...But then i can hear background music running smoothly even when i get these spikes.

[ROBERT_U_Intel]

It is very difficult to say what is the cause without having the system to debug. The sound is probably smooth due to buffering. The "spiking" could be anything from a HW issue to malware running on your system. Do you have anti virus sw running? Is it up to date? Can you do a full system scan of all files? Do the scan in when booted into Safe Mode. That may be a good place to start.

[idata]

Thanks for the suggestion Robert.

Fact is I have tried Kaspersky fresh updated and even Avast antivirus. but I didnt find a single worm in the system.

I have to agree to the Music buffering part you mentioned. Is it like a small song is all copied to the ram? I'm asking just to somehow find out whether its software related or some hardware related issue. I'll try other graphical applications to check if it comes with load or with textures of different kind.

[idata]

Another guy on my post on the dell forum says he has the same problem - read bellow -

[quote] I think I have the same problem with an Inspiron 1764. Every once in awhile while I am moving the mouse the system will freeze for 2-4 seconds. All video/motion will freeze but sound may continue to play. The processor does not spike during this, and in fact may spike downwards (as if something is preventing it from doing it's tasks during the brief spike).

I can actually reproduce the freezing by moving my mouse repeatedly over a window in Paint.NET and the freezing will reoccur every 20 seconds or so. Note that the freezing also occurs periodically with other programs, and even once or twice while using Aero preview to switch between explorer windows, so it's not a problem with that program specifically. It doesn't matter whether I'm using a mouse or the touchpad, the freezing happens either way.

I am running Bios A06, and have downloaded updated chipset and video drivers.[/quote]

It has something to do with the FADE IN / FADE OUT. Like he says he can reproduce the freeze by hovering the mouse over a small windows inside PAINT which actually fades in and fades out with a mouse hover. Same in aero preview, and when hovering over a DOCK.

And one other thing i noticed was that the guy who has the same problem also has INTEL integrated graphical memory.

Please help.

[ROBERT_U_Intel]

I would suggest you contact Dell customer support, your system is new and has a warranty for issues such as this. There are just too many variable to trouble shoot an issue such as this and Dell may have a solution for it or may be aware of it and are working towards a solution.

[idata]

well, okay but i think i have a lead on this issue.

Hovering over RADIO buttons/CHECK boxes will cause the same freezing.

+

I installed a new game(heroes of newerth) that is heavier than warcraf (the one that freezes), and it runs completly smooth on max settings.

Now, the only different i find between these two games is that, this new game was asking for d3dx9_40.dll.

So it looks like this issue is relevant to a specific graphics engine.

that is - the windows fade-in/fade-out engine or the default graphics engine in windows7.

I wish the dell support would reply robert. They dont seem concerned and i feel its a problem with intels drivers. So I just wish you reply for the last time if you dont mind. I'm sure the above few points can make you come up with some ideas.

Thank you.

[ROBERT_U_Intel]

You can try the latest Intel Graphics Drivers available here: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2996&DwnldID=18806 http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2996&DwnldID=18806

However, if you have an OEM (Dell) customized driver on your system this driver will not overwrite it by default. That is by design to protect the OEM customizations. If you are willing to take the risk and loose any graphics customizations for your system you can install the Intel driver by using the have disk method. I would recommend saving a restore point before proceeding so you can revert back to previous settings if you are not satisfied with the results. See this technical document for additional information on this procedure. http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-022355.htm http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-022355.htm

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