Game Lag

[CommanderForce7]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong section. If it is, please move it to the right section.

Alright so, I've had this issue since I got my new PC. I am having problems with games.
When I play games at high settings I get low frame rates. And the games I'm trying to play at high settings are:
GTA San Andreas, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, GTA IV. These games should be able to play at max settings, just except for GTA IV, which should be playing at medium settings. Now these games lag when I try to play at medium-high settings. For example GTA San Andreas, if I try to max it out, I will get low frame rates.

I've tried multiple AMD drivers, they didn't work, I've tried tweaks for GTA IV, they didn't help much. And btw, the current patch I'm using for GTA IV is 1.0.3.0.
And also, the BIOS setting for Switchable graphics is on ''Fixed''.

I wonder what could be the problem. Because this type of laptop should be able to handle those 3 games at max except for GTA IV at max, instead, it should handle GTA IV at medium-high settings. But it's not running the games as it supposed to. What could be the problem?

Here are the specs:
HP Pavilion dv7-6b76eo
Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM 2.20GHz
Radeon HD 6770M with switchable graphics
8 GB DDR3 RAM
17.3'' FHD 1920x1080(60HZ)

I'll be waiting for replies. Thank you.

 

[DM186]

When games sometimes lag like you have described can be linked to heat. Are you checking your temps? If so what are you using? In laptops they run hot all time. Do you have a chill mat for it?

I know when I had my other desktops the store bought dells. after playing for a while and I didn't know abut heat. My games would lag so bad I thought I was watching a movie in slow mow.

So I will link you to MSI Afterburner just in case you don't have a program to monitor temps. Also the users manual. I hope this is the problem and nothing more serious.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/images/Afterburner%20User%20Manual.pdf

 

[CommanderForce7]

When games sometimes lag like you have described can be linked to heat. Are you checking your temps? If so what are you using? In laptops they run hot all time. Do you have a chill mat for it?

I know when I had my other desktops the store bought dells. after playing for a while and I didn't know abut heat. My games would lag so bad I thought I was watching a movie in slow mow.

So I will link you to MSI Afterburner just in case you don't have a program to monitor temps. Also the users manual. I hope this is the problem and nothing more serious.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/images/Afterburner%20User%20Manual.pdf

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

My laptop do get a little hot. I do have a cooling pad, but it's in a different place right now. I have been using it many times though, but it didn't help very much, most likely only keeping the laptop abit cooler.

And by the way, I never really check my temps when running games. I will check temps when running games from now on. Do you want me to come back with results?

And also, I do have MSI Afterburner, SpeedFan, and PCWizard, and probably other monitoring softwares.

And thanks for the link to the manual.

 

[DM186]

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

My laptop do get a little hot. I do have a cooling pad, but it's in a different place right now. I have been using it many times though, but it didn't help very much, most likely only keeping the laptop abit cooler.

And by the way, I never really check my temps when running games. I will check temps when running games from now on. Do you want me to come back with results?

And also, I do have MSI Afterburner, SpeedFan, and PCWizard, and probably other monitoring softwares.

And thanks for the link to the manual.

Yes please repost your Temps from gaming. That will help to rule out high temps or not. Then we can go to step two if the heat isn't the problem. You should on all games be checking your temps and fps.

That way you can see if a problem is occuring or about to occure. MSI Afterburner can run on the screen while in a game. Either in the upper left or right hand corners.

 

[CommanderForce7]

Yes please repost your Temps from gaming. That will help to rule out high temps or not. Then we can go to step two if the heat isn't the problem. You should on all games be checking your temps and fps.

That way you can see if a problem is occuring or about to occure. MSI Afterburner can run on the screen while in a game. Either in the upper left or right hand corners.

Alright, on SpeedFan, the temps are for each of these:
HD0: 36C
Temp1: 87C
GPU: 73C
Core 0: 86C
Core 1: 86C
Core 2: 81C
Core 3: 81C


That's the status when running Call of Duty 2 at max settings.
And I get something like 50 Frames Per Second ingame at max settings.

And for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Max settings:
HD0: 36C
Temp1: 73C
GPU: 68C
Core 0: 78C
Core 1: 73C
Core 2: 77C
Core 3: 76C

And 50 FPS at max settings.


GTA IV on Auto Config:
HD0: 36C
Temp1: 84C
GPU: 70C
Core 0: 80C
Core 1: 85C
Core 2: 81C
Core 3: 78C

16-30 FPS on Auto Config


GTA San Andreas on max settings:
HD0: 36C
Temp1: 79C
GPU: 65C
Core 0: 77C
Core 1: 79C
Core 2: 79C
Core 3: 70C

25-26 with Frame Limiter on. Without: 30-100 FPS, but still lags at high settings

 

[AntiZig]

Hello, those temps are a bit high, especially the temp1. I would really recommend you grab a better tool HWmonitor, HWinfo or MSI afterburner (already mentioned). Those should detect the sensors a bit more accurately.

Another thing to check, are you running all games at 1920x1080 resolution? If yes, I strongly recommend you go to 1280x720, as your GPU will struggle to run at that resolution.

also watch for any background processes, your CPU is running strangely hot, while the games you mention apart from GTA4 shouldn't really provide any challenge for an i7 cpu.

The bios issue you mention is most likely due to the fact that you have a dedicated GPU so the CPU IGP is locked out whether it be BIOS or mobo level. Basically as long as you see your dedicated card in hardware manager and directx diagnostic, windows is using the correct one.

 

[DM186]

^+100%
Yes your CPU temps are high and your GPU temps are close of my line that you do not cross which is 80c. I have almost the same CPU as you have and my temps never get over 60c on any game on ultra setteing.

Shogun 2 puts my Temps up high. My GPU is about 72c and my CPU is 60c on that game. Try what AntiZig is suggesting and it should help with your problem. But if it doesn't we will be here to help you.

 

[CommanderForce7]

Hello, those temps are a bit high, especially the temp1. I would really recommend you grab a better tool HWmonitor, HWinfo or MSI afterburner (already mentioned). Those should detect the sensors a bit more accurately.

Another thing to check, are you running all games at 1920x1080 resolution? If yes, I strongly recommend you go to 1280x720, as your GPU will struggle to run at that resolution.

also watch for any background processes, your CPU is running strangely hot, while the games you mention apart from GTA4 shouldn't really provide any challenge for an i7 cpu.

The bios issue you mention is most likely due to the fact that you have a dedicated GPU so the CPU IGP is locked out whether it be BIOS or mobo level. Basically as long as you see your dedicated card in hardware manager and directx diagnostic, windows is using the correct one.

Yes I was playing on 1920x1080 to see how many celcius it would take up. I normally play on 1366x768 resolution. And DXDiag does detect the dedicated card.

Anyways here are the temps from HWMonitor:

GTA San Andreas Max 1280x1024:
HP 1803(Motherboard) 61C

Intel Core i7 2670QM
Core #0 60C
Core #1 60C
Core #2 61C
Core #3 60C

TOSHIBA MK1059GSM:
Air Flow 36C

Radeon (TM) HD 6770M:
TMPIN0: 60C

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Max, 1366x768 resolution:
HP 1803(Motherboard) 74C

Intel Core i7 2670QM
Core #0 75C
Core #1 73C
Core #2 72C
Core #3 70C

TOSHIBA MK1059GSM:
Air Flow 36C

Radeon (TM) HD 6770M:
TMPIN0: 66C

Call of Duty 2 Max, 1366x768:
HP 1803(Motherboard) 81C

Intel Core i7 2670QM
Core #0 76C
Core #1 75C
Core #2 78C
Core #3 74C

TOSHIBA MK1059GSM:
Air Flow 35C

Radeon (TM) HD 6770M:
TMPIN0: 70C

GTA IV on Auto Config, 1366x768:
HP 1803(Motherboard) 75C

Intel Core i7 2670QM
Core #0 68C
Core #1 69C
Core #2 67C
Core #3 66C

TOSHIBA MK1059GSM:
Air Flow 35C

Radeon (TM) HD 6770M:
TMPIN0: 67C

 

[AntiZig]

ah ok so it's your motherboard sensor that's running hotter. well from these temps, they shouldn't cause any issues.

Are you still experiencing lagging even with decreased resolution?

if yes, go into windows power options and make sure you set it to maximum performance. Also make sure you're running from AC power.

 

[CommanderForce7]

ah ok so it's your motherboard sensor that's running hotter. well from these temps, they shouldn't cause any issues.

Are you still experiencing lagging even with decreased resolution?

if yes, go into windows power options and make sure you set it to maximum performance. Also make sure you're running from AC power.

No. I do not experience any lag from the lowest or lower resolution in games. Just except for GTA IV, if I do have settings high and resolution low, even to the lowest, it will still lag.

And I have the power options set to high performance

 

[AntiZig]

ok, so then problem solved, I guess?

GTA4 has bad performance on PCs due to the bad coding and not being optimized to run on PC at all. Look for GTA4 optimization tips on some community forum, I'm sure there's some tweaks you can do to get the game to run a bit smoother

 

[CommanderForce7]

ok, so then problem solved, I guess?

GTA4 has bad performance on PCs due to the bad coding and not being optimized to run on PC at all. Look for GTA4 optimization tips on some community forum, I'm sure there's some tweaks you can do to get the game to run a bit smoother

I've tried tweaks for GTA IV to run better, they didn't help much. And the problem still isn't solved just yet. I need to find out what could be the problem, with the help of you guys.

 

[AntiZig]

I'm not following as to what you need help with...