FINAL EDIT: Turns out heat was the issue! Slapped on (properly) some new thermal paste on the CPU and GPU tonight and the idle temp is now topped out at 44 or 45C. Did some heavier Borderlands 2 gaming and the FPS stayed at a very cool, very calm 35+ the entire time! It dipped to 31 once during a heavy scene right after using the menus (FPS does drop with the menu system, for some reason), but outside of that the lowest it got even in heavy action was about 35. Most of the time it averaged 40+! I even turned the last two settings to high and still maintained it The operating temp ended up leveling at 75C, which is average from what I've read. So I'd say I'm in the clear again!
EDIT: I should mention that this isn't the "throttling" problem normally listed with these computers. Once the FPS drops it doesn't seem to come back.
When I first got this computer not quite two years ago, it was working great. I ran games like Borderlands on full without issue (I know, not a high intensity game. You'll understand why in a minute.), and could run things like Battlefield 3 on adjusted settings at a smooth framerate. But about 6 months ago, I noticed that my framerate was suddenly dropping. Even Borderlands has issues now.
Finally, I recently picked up Borderlands 2 on sale, cranked it to mostly high, and started playing. Ran beautifully, thought I was home free. But after about 20 minutes, it started to lag pretty badly. Playable, but only because I've had practice, haha. I ran some cleaners and such, no issues. I also tried out GameBooster 3.5 (before Razer) to suppress other programs and monitor FPS and such. I found that when I first started Borderlands 2, I was running a very consistent and clean 37-45 FPS, easily, even on places that were dogging when I stopped last time. So I got into it a bit to see what would happen. After about 10 minutes, it was dropping consistently and bottomed out to about 20-26 average. It stayed there, no matter how desolate the area. I checked temperature on the CPU through GameBooster and it read 67C! Pretty sure that's high...
What do you guys think? Am I overheating already, after less than two years? It's not like I've had good luck with Lenovo so far, but this seems extreme. I've thrown thermal paste on a CPU before (not this one, a friend's Asus) and it helped his. Maybe that's what I need. But if there are other options first, I'd appreciate it!
EDIT: I should mention that this isn't the "throttling" problem normally listed with these computers. Once the FPS drops it doesn't seem to come back.
When I first got this computer not quite two years ago, it was working great. I ran games like Borderlands on full without issue (I know, not a high intensity game. You'll understand why in a minute.), and could run things like Battlefield 3 on adjusted settings at a smooth framerate. But about 6 months ago, I noticed that my framerate was suddenly dropping. Even Borderlands has issues now.
Finally, I recently picked up Borderlands 2 on sale, cranked it to mostly high, and started playing. Ran beautifully, thought I was home free. But after about 20 minutes, it started to lag pretty badly. Playable, but only because I've had practice, haha. I ran some cleaners and such, no issues. I also tried out GameBooster 3.5 (before Razer) to suppress other programs and monitor FPS and such. I found that when I first started Borderlands 2, I was running a very consistent and clean 37-45 FPS, easily, even on places that were dogging when I stopped last time. So I got into it a bit to see what would happen. After about 10 minutes, it was dropping consistently and bottomed out to about 20-26 average. It stayed there, no matter how desolate the area. I checked temperature on the CPU through GameBooster and it read 67C! Pretty sure that's high...
What do you guys think? Am I overheating already, after less than two years? It's not like I've had good luck with Lenovo so far, but this seems extreme. I've thrown thermal paste on a CPU before (not this one, a friend's Asus) and it helped his. Maybe that's what I need. But if there are other options first, I'd appreciate it!