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Question

FX 9800P + RX 540 Laptop very low FPS in all games

Sep 3, 2018 7:07AM PDT

Hi. I bought an Acer A515-41G-F2SH laptop and it runs well but whenever I open up a game I can see low framerate and low CPU, GPU usage (monitoring with MSI Afterburner).

Specs:

Windows 10 64 bit with latest updates
FX 9800P Quad Core CPU up to 3.60 Ghz
RX 540 GPU 2GB GDDR5
8GB DDR4 RAM
256 GB SSD
1920*1080 resolution

I'm seeing nowhere near 100% GPU utilization yet low framerate also without 100% CPU utilization on any core. I get 25-45 FPS in non-demanding 10 year old games, also about the same in League of Legends, depending how many things are on the screen (I get 40% GPU utilization and 70% CPU on each of the 4 cores). I tried lots of fixes but no solution. My desktop i3-6100, GT 1030 2GB GDDR5, 8GB DDR4 RAM, Windows 10, 120GB SSD, 1 TB HDD has no problems in the same games: low CPU utilization but 99% GPU utilization and 3 times more frames. I hope I can find a fix as I can return it but can't afford an i5 mx150 option at the moment. Thanks in advance.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Check that GPU.
Sep 3, 2018 10:31AM PDT
http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-3655517/acer-aspire-disappointing-expected.html notes what appears to be the same model and the GPU dedicated RAM was " it seems that the stock GPU is set to be the AMD R7 512mb and not the 2gb GDDR5."

They continue on to note that if you let Windows update drivers you could get less performance. That's why for W10 I write to disable Windows Driver Updates.

The mx150 isn't much better IMO. Most folk want the 1050 Ti even in mobile systems.

This model at http://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Acer-Aspire-A515-41G/64629 shows a gamer will be very upset.

-> My advice is to return it fast and keep shopping.

Note: Edited for spelling.

Post was last edited on September 4, 2018 2:23 AM PDT

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Thanks for the reply
Sep 3, 2018 6:19PM PDT

I did the Unigine Heaven Benchmark DirectX 11 on both laptop and desktop and I got similar framerates. Seems like the only problem is with the older and esports games that use DirectX 9. I even tried installing Windows 7, DirectX 9, old AMD driver, new AMD driver, set power saving settings off. It's odd because in Asssassin's Creed 1 I'm getting 25 FPS with integrated GPU and 35 FPS with dedicated GPU, without any CPU core hitting 100%. I just can't get this laptop GPU to work according to specs and I really want to fix this as I can't spend more on an Intel, Nvidia option. I feel like I'm missing a "magic switch" or AMD drivers are really really bad. Looking forward to replies as I have about 3 weeks left time for returning it.

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Remember this is the laptop version of those GPUs and more.
Sep 4, 2018 2:25AM PDT

So the BIOS and drivers and what else can limit core speeds compared to the desktop versions.

The more I looked into this model the more I see folk complain about gaming (non) performance. Games run but at low settings to be playable.

-> I don't see you writing about pulling back the game settings.