Low iGPU Usage on Dell XPS 13 9343

[Phoenix864]

Hi all,

While traveling, I decided to try some light gaming on my XPS 13 (9343, i7-5500U, Intel HD 5500). I had previously used it for light gaming, and had gotten decent framerates (50-60) on 720p low/mid. However, lately the framerate hovers around 20-40 at 720p ultra low (using a FPS boost config). Upon firing up MSI Afterburner, I found that the iGPU was not being fully utilized (hovering between 40-60 percent). Windows Power Plan is set to High Performance, with the Intel Graphics Settings being set to Maximum Performance. I have reinstalled the graphics driver, tried different power plans, and tweaked settings in the Intel Graphics control panel to no avail. (Totally unrelated, does anyone know how to directly embed a picture into a post so that it does not use a link?)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Lutfij]

About images, upload the image you want to show on an image hosting site like Imgur and use the link inside image tags, like this [img ][ /img]. * remove the spaces.

Mind sharing what game(s) you were playing? Have you made sure your laptop's BIOS is up to date?

 

[Phoenix864]

Thanks for the info on images. I have tried playing Insurgency, Red Orchestra 2, Dirty Bomb, and Unturned. My BIOS is 1 revision behind the latest (current: A09, latest and only one listed: A12). However, A12's only listed update is the patch for the CVE-2017-5689 / INTEL-SA-00075 vulnerabilities. The 5500U is not vulnerable to the exploits, so updating has not been high on my priority list. I would prefer to not update the BIOS now, as I do not want to risk bricking the only computer I currently have access to.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Phoenix864]

I forgot to mention, the laptop is not thermal throttling. Temperatures max out at 91c, with the TJmax being 105c.

 

[Jie___]

Hello,

I also have an XPS 9343 i7 4k infinity display, and I do some gaming on it (league of legends, world of warcraft). I have recently noticed that the laptop is getting hot for no reason, and battery life has gotten much worse than what it used to be. In league of legends I used to get 160+ FPS but now it is locked at 60, despite all the settings being the same.

It was/is (Windows automatically updated again) the new windows 10 creators update that enables Xbox DVR in-game control panel (Windows + G). When I rolled back to the previous windows I got much much better FPS again. Games are honestly unplayable on the 9343 with the new update.

Also, I just contacted dell support about the heat/fan/battery issue and they said to update to the latest BIOS.
I will do when I get home (no AC adapter) and see what happens.

Does anybody know if it's possible to add more than 8 GB ram?

Edit: Task manager says I have an i7-5600U

 

[Jie___]

currently typing with on screen keyboard because the update broke the keyboard drivers entirely

edit: after upgrading back to the anniversary update with the new BIOS fixed the keyboard and it seems to be performing as it used to - league runs at 160-200 fps, the battery is estimating 4 hours (86%) with 3 chrome tabs, skype and league launcher open, the fan is silent and the heat is almost nothing. I'm happy!

Xbox game DVR still disabled - try that if your frames are capped.