Low FPS All of a sudden...

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

I'm wondering why my fps is low. I left my computer running when I went to work with the Game running. I remembered leaving my laptop on Balenced mode to prevent overheat.

I come back from work and noticed everything was just as I left it. I then reboot my laptop and start up my game again and my FPS is cut in half if not, lower. The maximum FPS I get in the game, Vindictus, is 60fps. now its down to 16-20 and even lower.

What I did was clean the heat sink and fans from any debris or dust that might be in it. Rebooted my laptop, problem still persist. However I did noticed the thermal paste on the heatsink was cracked and dried up. (Might need to reapply new paste??)

Second solution I tried doing a roll back on my Graphic driver. Then installed it again. And the problem is still there. I'm at a lost...

My Computer spec are

AlienWare Mx15:

Intel Core i7 CPU Q740 @1.73GHz
4.00GB (RAM)
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850

rockie_ · Oct 21, 2014

Obviuosly overheating issue . If you want lower temperature , not Balanced but Power Saver must be activated . New thermal paste for sure . Try the video driver provided by the manufacturer of the laptop .

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Thats the thing. I thought that the system might be overheating, yet I read the temps and its at a 50 degree Celsius temp. I'm sure that's not hot.

ZeusGamer · Oct 21, 2014

Is vsync turned on? If so, try turning vsync off. Might help you save some frame rates. If not, your computer might have contracted a virus when you left it on.

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Vsync would be the directX? if so then it is. As for the virus thing, I'm currently scanning for malaware using malawarebytes. so far 35 objects detected by malware.

ZeusGamer · Oct 21, 2014

Try turning off vsync, using CCleaner to clean your computer and your regsitry files, also try defragging your hard drive, these can help save some performance in your games. Specially turning vsync off.

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

I'm currently downloading CCleaner. I finished the Malaware Scan and turns out I had 50 unwanted objects but no malware detected. I'm thinking of downloading spybot to run a scan on it as well. I'm just not seeing the possibility of a virus. But I suppose its worth a shot. As for Defragging I did a defrag on my laptop less than a week ago. The status shows up as being redundant if I were to again. only 0.2% worth of frags.

ZeusGamer · Oct 21, 2014

Go in the game settings and turn vsync off. See if that helps your performance. Usually, when the performance is cut in half, vsync is to blame on this.

rockie_ · Oct 21, 2014

Are you runnung the games on Intel HD graphics instead of the dedicated GPU ?

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Its running on Radeon ATI Mobility 5850. Is there a way to tell its running on HD Intel?
As for the Vsync I tried looking for it on the game. The options doesn't show anything like that. However I turned down the 9.0+ DirectX to 8.0 hoping it would make a difference.

Sorry I found the Vertical Sync! Its off. But no diffrence. Or rather it has always been off.

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

My Computer spec are

AlienWare Mx15:

Intel Core i7 CPU Q740 @1.73GHz
4.00GB (RAM)
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850

rockie_ · Oct 21, 2014

Hm , no iGPU then .Run MSI Afterburner , GPU-Z , Real Temp , Task Manager and see the GPU and CPU load .

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Just downloaded them all. I'll provide the screen shots of the current time.

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

rockie_ · Oct 21, 2014

Then run a game and see what is happening

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

If anything....it seems to be unclocking.

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

rockie_ · Oct 21, 2014

Copy all important data from C: to D: and do a fresh install of Windows

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Not sure how I would go about doing all of that. :/

ZeusGamer · Oct 21, 2014

That isn't necessary. If I were you, I'd uninstall the GPU drivers using DDU and reinstall them again. Make sure when DDU prompts you to uninstall on safe mode, you click "yes" and it'll reboot you to safe mode. There you'd have to completely uninstall your GPU drivers.

But, before doing all this, you gotta download your latest drivers from Alienware's website.

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Downloading the DDU Guru uninstaller and attempting to uninstall the graphic card in safe mode.

Is it also worth mentioning that my fans are not spinning at a constant speed? The Fans blow on low on idle. And when I'm turning on the game it blows on average. I recall having my fans typically blowing much harder when gaming. Now its kinda like a Average rpm speed dips to low. Then back to average again. Its inconsistent.

Rocky Charles · Oct 21, 2014

Ah...I went to sleep last night decided to give the computer a break. I then woke up and decided to leave the computer on for a couple more hours before returning to it. I clicked on the game hoping it would play. And it seems to be dishing out my normal 60 fps! To be honest I believe it needed to be shut off. I admit I have been leaving my computer on for the past two days without any shut down.

Could that have caused the computer to go into a "Underclocking" phase to save power and diminish heat?

I'll keep you guys on Standby in case it drops again. I really appreciate the fast responses and responses altogether.

Cheers.

IamTimTech · Oct 21, 2014

Test your hard drive for good measure

Low FPS All of a sudden...

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