Hey,
You can download a free program called TechPowerUp GPU-Z and check out your GPU stats, Alienware tech guys used this program with me on the phone. It will log your graphics cards behaviour to file. Leave the program running & play your game, then drop down to desktop & check out the log file. You should see an increase/decrease while the game is playing/stopping. You can also do a small render test with the TechPowerUp GPU-Z program, which tests the card and forces it into performing at its best.
Its easy to use, & hopefully might answer some of your questions, (unless someone else can tell u another option)
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
•Support NVIDIA and ATI cards
•Displays adapter, GPU and display information
•Displays overclock, default clocks and 3D clocks (if available)
•Includes a GPU load test to verify PCI-Express lane configuration
•Validation of results
•No installation required
Good luck! I been down this road before on the M15x section - same card
