Battlefield 3 lag issue (used to be fine!)

[SuperADJ]

Hi everyone,

I'm at a bit of a loss here.

I recently bought a laptop and am using it as my very first gaming computer. Up until just recently it's been great, I'm thoroughly addicted to PC gaming now and am spending every spare penny on accessories. Anyway, recently I've been unable to play Battlefield 3 multiplayer due to lag. Actually, it probably is't lag, but I'm too much of a noob to be able to describe it any other way!

I've used the renderdraw.fps command to show my fps, and where it is usually around 30-33fps it now dips to 18 or so before jumping back to 28-35fps. This pattern continues indefinitely. At first I thought it was a server issue but no-one else was having problems and it has persisted across every server I've joined for the last week or so.

In case it helps, my specs are as follows:
i5 2450M (3.1Ghz mazx)
8 GB RAM
GT540M graphics

Also, I noticed that even before these issues I would experience slowdown if I was running low on battery power. As soon as I plugged the charger in it was fine again.

I can also list my settings if need be, but it used to run fine and I've not changed anything. Except I turned the enhanced stereo sound off as I've bought a surround headset.

Looks like I'll be playing a lot more of Dragon Age I guess. That runs perfectly, incidentally.

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[Sunius]

I'd suggest checking CPU usage while you're lagging. You might have some crapware running in the background!

 

[SuperADJ]

Makes sense, I did install a few bits and bobs but I religiously turn everything off before launching Origin. How do I check my CPU usage?

Oh, I can use the G13 I picked up recently for that I think, pretty sure it has a CPU usage display. In case it doesn't work, though, are there other ways?

And if it is high, what should I be looking for in terms of processes to kill to get my old performance level back? Sorry for all the questions and thank you for the help!

 

[Sunius]

Just open your task manager performance tab before you launch the game, and when you feel you're lagging, just minimize it and check the graphs. It is your CPU usage.

If it's high, well, if you cannot find the programs yourself, you can post a screenshot of maximized processes tab of task manager when "Show processes from all users" is pressed and the list is sorted by user name.

 

[wr6133]

When the power is low it likely switches to the IGPU hence the slowdown, then on recharging/plugging in it reverts to the GPU.