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The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread

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evilbobthebob:
Your expectations are possibly a little high. I have almost exactly the same specs on my laptop (2GHz dual core, 4GB RAM, Geforce 9600M) and on Audiosurf I can't use maximum settings at 1280x800 or I get jumps. On STALKER I have to turn the settings down somewhat for smooth gameplay. Source games tend to run really well. I think the real problem is overheating. Nvidia cards tend to get hot, and in a laptop this is made worse. If I'm in a cold room I tend to get a few more FPS for longer periods; performance deteriorates as the card warms up. There's not much you can do to get better performance apart from turning down graphics settings, messing about with background processes or just getting a more powerful computer.

Chesire Cat:

--- Quote from: LTK on 03 Jan 2010, 13:35 ---On the topic of performance: Can anyone give me some tips for getting more bang out of my hardware? I've got a gaming laptop with a 2GHz Dual-core processor, a Geforce 9600 video card and 4GB of RAM, and I feel like it can do more than it does. Here's the thing, I tried that new multiplayer FPS in zero G, Shattered Horizon, and on an occasion when people on the server were gushing about their setup, I found that my average framerate on minimum settings was much lower than what the other's claimed theirs to be, namely around 15 fps, even though I believe this system to be fairly well-equipped for games. Are my expectations too high or am I doing something not entirely right?

--- End quote ---

1. Right click on the battery icon in the tray.
2. Go to "Power Icons"
3. In "High Performance" click "Change Plan Settings"
4. Click "Change Advanced Power Settings"
5. Under "Processor Power Management" make sure the Min/Max values are both 100% when plugged in

What this does is prevents your lappy from throttling back the processor power in order to conserve power when plugged in. You can actually test if this is the problem by looking at the "Resource Monitor" from the "Performance" tab in the Task Manager. If it says the CPU max frequency is anything but 100% it is being throttled artificially.

Chesire Cat:

--- Quote from: evilbobthebob on 03 Jan 2010, 14:08 ---Your expectations are possibly a little high. I have almost exactly the same specs on my laptop (2GHz dual core, 4GB RAM, Geforce 9600M) and on Audiosurf I can't use maximum settings at 1280x800 or I get jumps. On STALKER I have to turn the settings down somewhat for smooth gameplay. Source games tend to run really well. I think the real problem is overheating. Nvidia cards tend to get hot, and in a laptop this is made worse. If I'm in a cold room I tend to get a few more FPS for longer periods; performance deteriorates as the card warms up. There's not much you can do to get better performance apart from turning down graphics settings, messing about with background processes or just getting a more powerful computer.

--- End quote ---

Dont be afraid of opening up your lappy and cleaning out the dust from the fan (blow it outwards from the inside, not inwards from the outside) and make sure all airflow vents on the bottom are clear of dust.

I updated my lappy from a T5550 (1.83ghz) to a T9300 (2.5 ghz) without any additional cooling or even applying more conductive past.

My specs are pretty much the same as yours through.

Intel Core 2 Duo T9300: 2.5ghz
Nvidia 9600m
Only 3 gigs of ram though, I need to get a second 2gig stick
Running Vista Home Premium

And I am currently playing Arkham Asylum at 1366x768 with no Anti-aliasing, Ambiant Occlusion and Motion Blur, everything else is maxed. Borderlands runs even better, as does Bioshock. All 3 are Unreal engine games. Both Oblivion engine games; Oblivion and Fallout 3 run well. All Source games run spiffy, would like to give Crysis a go, I havent tried Dragon Age as Im pretty sure that will be the hardcap where my lappy cant handle it, maybe with more ram itll be alright.

evilbobthebob:
Hmm, I might try and upgrade my processor some time. The processor itself stays pretty cool; it is just the graphics card that gets hot, sometimes hot enough to make the laptop shut itself down, which worries me. I do clean it out quite often, but I probably need to open it up properly because that hasn't been done since I got it.

Chesire Cat:
What I pulled off my headsink (which is a grill blocking the fans outward airflow) it was literally a carpet. Like I was able to pull it off in one piece and toss it, not drop it, into the garbage without it falling apart. Mind you, getting at it was exceptionally difficult, though with a air duster it shouldnt be so bad since you are blowing out of your computer and not in, you shouldnt hurt and circuitry. The bottom airflow holes were just as bad too.

My computer is an Acer Aspire 9620 and has never shut down due to heat, even when I play with it on my bed.

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