m15 R3, getting terrible FPS

Possibly a heat issue. Have you tried blowing out the fan and fan vents to ensure that air is properly circulating? Another thought is that the thermal paste is dried and not offering proper heat transfer to the cooling fan assembly. Also try running diagnostics, F12 at boot, to check for any errors. And if you want to stress test the system try Cinebench available here.

Hi @Elias Malik ,

I hope your day is going great! I see you're having performance issues with your Alienware m15 R3 Laptop and I have some tips for you to try.

- Making sure all intakes and exhausts are cleared of any dust or obstructions.

- Go to Dell.com/support and see via SupportAssist that any drivers that are missing are installed.

- Go to System Updates and download any optional updates in Windows Settings.

- Turn off any Overclocks and watch your thermals Via AWCC (Alienware Command Center)

Thankyou for your help I will try these solutions and tell you if it works 

None of these ideas have seemed to work. But when I try look for drivers it says that driver detection is not available and when I try to manually download them it just comes up with a bunch of drivers and most of them say: URGENT on them. However when I install them and restart it still says urgent.

Hi @Elias Malik ,

Could you private message me that image you're seeing? It has a Circle with a cross on it.

All of the images were rejected because they showed the private service tag. Re-create the images but crop out the private service tag.

Ok I’ll do that thanks 

I accidentally pressed accepted solution that was a mistake and I have tried to clean the air vents but the dust is so thick that my vacuum cleaner can't even clean it up.

I just wanted to post a short video of what happens on screen with what I'm talking about in my original post. This video is approx 10 mins after launching the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-nJX73r7xw 

If the vents are plugged with that amount of dust, you are going to have a problem. There are a number of videos at YouTube describing laptop cleaning. You have got to clean out that dust to make sure the system runs properly.

Hi @Elias Malik welcome to this free user to user Alienware laptop discussion forum. 

Thank you for update that dust is so thick that vacuum cleaner fails to remove from air vents. 

Please remove the base cover and then gently remove dust/debris from between fan blades. A small diameter wire with a short right-angle bend can be used to carefully hook and extract the dust/debris. Removing the base cover does not invalidate your Dell warranty. 

The wire with hook can also be used to gently remove dust/debris from external vents, especially the extraction vents at rear. 

Hi @Elias Malik ,

Thanks for sending me the images for your laptop's drivers.

I see you're describing a problem regarding how thick the dust is and how the vacuum can't suck it up,

so, I recommend you get a toothbrush with some isopropyl alcohol and it must be 91% so it evaporates quick and then scrape off the dust gently and use the vacuum to suck up the loose dust. I highly recommend you if you don't know how to open it up to take it to a shop and ask them to clean it for you.

Hey, will this toothbrush method work on the outside vents? 

These ones to be specific 

Hi @Elias Malik cold cooling air and dust enters into bottom and top vents. Hot air is pushed out of rear and both side vents, but dust collects inside laptop vents and leaves a coating of surface dust on the system board. See following image. Please remove the base cover and then gently remove dust/debris from between fan blades, vents, etc. Do not use liquid, solvents, etc. or the system board electrical circuit/parts will be damaged. Use vacuum cleaner or can of dry air to carefully remove dust/debris. A small diameter wire with a short right-angle bend can be used to carefully hook and extract thick and compacted dust/debris from internal vents and fan blades. A small dry paint brush can be used to dislodge dust from system board. Removing the base cover does not invalidate your Dell warranty. 

Dell Alienware m15 R3 air flow

Thankyou, I think I understand it better now. I have cleaned out the dust in the front intake and the bottom intake but I can't help but think that the dust is lodged under the fans so cleaning out the fan blades won't really help. I'm probably wrong as you are the expert but if you could clarify this for me that would be much appreciated.