Her PC is experiencing low frame rates.
Her PC is experiencing low frame rates.
My partner's laptop is struggling with frame rate. She owns an Alienware Auroa R11, and I checked some info about it—whether you can swap the case or not. I began disassembling it, but time got late. I also found out that Dell motherboards sometimes lock themselves if stolen, requiring a specific code to unlock them. Since we didn’t have a new board for her, I reassembled it and it started working properly again. We moved on to watching movies instead of playing games. Later, I went home for a while because it was far away—two states apart—and now she can barely play any games. Her FPS jumps back to normal highs (200 in some titles, 300 sometimes), but then it drops to 60-40 and keeps getting worse the longer she plays. Important notes: - I accidentally cut myself and spilled a bit of blood on one of her cables, but thought it wasn’t a big deal. - I removed the graphics card and reinserted it, but it got bent back in place. [RTX 2070 Super] i7-10700F, 16GB RAM. The Alienware model is a mystery to me. Also, this is my first time browsing forums.
Most likely it’s a background app issue, though other factors like electromagnetic or RF interference could play a role if she uses Wi-Fi—especially since many modern games function as streaming apps. A smaller chance is malware infection with the background app concealing itself. Other options include driver or CMOS problems, which might occur accidentally during troubleshooting. Alienware is a brand owned by Dell, and Dell produces office machines meant for professional use, focusing on features managers value while ignoring certain technical quirks.
The issue is clear: the CPU is throttling its performance, which affects frame rates. You’ll need to upgrade the CPU cooler to a better model. The GPU is also overheating significantly and reducing its speed. Your main concern should be the CPU since it’s driving the frame drops. I’ve tried to fix everything else—power supply and motherboard—but those are proprietary components. I recommend focusing on the CPU first. If you can get a B460 board with a 650W power supply and a new case, that would work well. Otherwise, building a custom system outside of a basic case is unlikely to succeed due to compatibility issues.
The cooler is a standard stock model and the case feels cramped. There’s no strong airflow inside, and the system ran smoothly before. After removing the cooler, I’m unsure whether reapplying thermal paste is necessary. What advice would you consider?
A new thermal paste would certainly be a solid beginning. You might also test it without the side panel on temporarily to check if temperatures drop sufficiently. In either case, I usually swap the thermal paste once the cooler or AIO is removed from the CPU, unless the paste has been applied for only a few days (depending on the type). Those temperatures are definitely problematic enough to consider replacing the case or investigating the cause—it seems unlikely the design intended such performance.