Improving Pre-Built Laptop

[Ajwork]

Community,

Recently, I was given HP's 4t-1030us as a present for college. For those unwilling to check the link, here's the specs:

CPU: Core i5-3317U @ 1.7ghz
GPU: Intel HD 4000
RAM: 1x4gb 1333mhz
SSD: 32gb MSATA
HDD: 500gb 5200rpm

What I want to do is improve frame-rates in games without actually having to purchase a new laptop; unless there's a comparatively safe hack lying around that allows me to overclock my settings, there's no way for me to overclock my CPU or GPU any further than Power Management allows me to.

I play at the lowest resolutions, obviously, and often time switch between graphical options like anti-aliasing, shaders, etc. It'd be nice to have most, if not all, settings maxed at the lowest resolutions. Games I play include Fall Out 3 and the Dead Space series, as well as some less demanding titles that don't mandate excellence in computer components, per se.

I utilize IOBIT's Game Booster, have alot of programs ticked and even activate "game box" mode. I've even tried disabling Windows Explorer, too, but not only did it not affect game play, it turned off alot of keyboard features until I rebooted.

I've updated my drivers using DriverMax Free, though improvements, if any, are marginal at best. To be fair, DriverMax Free's two driver downloads a day has prevented me from downloading ALL the drivers at once, but I'm pretty sure I've gotten the significant ones. And I've checked windows update; nothing that improves game play.

Although my drive isn't cluttered, I have run both Windows Defragmenter and IOBIT's Smart Defrag, as well as doing some heavy drive-mopping with CCleaner. Again, improvements are marginal at best. I've also tried applying Windows 7 graphics to "maximize performance," but all that does is make my desktop look ugly (since I'm using the Game Desktop, after all).

So, my question is this: Are there any trusted programs and tweaks, free or otherwise, that improve FPS and smoothness aside from Game Booster? Will increasing my RAM from 4gb to 8gb increase performance in those games significantly? 4gb to 16gb? 1333mhz to 1600mhz?

Thanks,
A.J.

 

[ssddx]

first of all, make sure you never run defragmenter on an ssd drive. it is useless and will shorten the drives life. only hdd drives can be defragmented.

4gb of ram should be ok for older games. i've never seen my ram usage go much higher than 3.5-4 even running games like crysis or ut3 with max settings (i have 6gb total). check your system monitor to see if you are actually bordering on maximum ram usage. adding a stick could help if you are and will not help if you are not.

in general, mobile graphics (gpus in laptops) give rather poor performance in general when compared to their desktop bretheren. even models with a seperate gpu (non integrated) lack the punch desktops have.

make sure you have the latest drivers (by actually getting them from the source, who knows what some 3rd party program is giving you)

make sure you have the latest updates for the game (as sometimes they include fixes which can improve performance)

you can try disabling windows aero, this can improve performance albiet slightly.

i would not suggest trying to overclock a laptop. the bios might not support it but the main reason is that it will drain your battery fast and it will produce more heat (and laptops already can overheat!)

if you plan on gaming with a laptop it is best to have one of the gaming models or at least a model with a decent mobile gpu (non integrated). there really is not a whole lot you can do with upgrading parts.

 

[Ajwork]

first of all, make sure you never run defragmenter on an ssd drive. it is useless and will shorten the drives life. only hdd drives can be defragmented.

An MSATA Drive is just a large caching drive, much like the 8gb cache of a Momentous XT drive; I'm not defragmenting it, I'm defragmenting the HDD.

4gb of ram should be ok for older games. i've never seen my ram usage go much higher than 3.5-4 even running games like crysis or ut3 with max settings (i have 6gb total). check your system monitor to see if you are actually bordering on maximum ram usage. adding a stick could help if you are and will not help if you are not.

I'll probably have to add a stick of memory, but how do you feel about memory speed? 1333mhz vs 1600mhz probably won't make for life-altering performance, but is the ten dollar premium no big deal?

in general, mobile graphics (gpus in laptops) give rather poor performance in general when compared to their desktop bretheren. even models with a seperate gpu (non integrated) lack the punch desktops have.

Thanks for pointing that out, although we've established that I'm stuck with Intel's HD 4000 gpu. Although it's pretty good compared to some earlier 2010-2011 gpus, I'm still not getting my desired performance.

make sure you have the latest drivers (by actually getting them from the source, who knows what some 3rd party program is giving you)

Thanks for the tip, I'll check out Intel's website. But just so you know, DriverMax free is a well-regarded program by both CNET editors and its user base.

make sure you have the latest updates for the game (as sometimes they include fixes which can improve performance)

I purchase and play my PC games via the Steam client, which automatically updates games as soon as they're available. Redwood Shores/Visceral, the company the created the Dead Space series, has been under alot of pressure from EA, their publisher and contractor, to create more games instead of updating them. And if they are able to update them, it's only the console ports; the PC ports are always gimped in some comparative way. As soon as Dead Space 3 is released, I'm going to send letters and emails to Visceral entertainment telling them what I'd like to see patched in Dead Space v.1.2.

you can try disabling windows aero, this can improve performance albiet slightly.

Not really

i would not suggest trying to overclock a laptop. the bios might not support it but the main reason is that it will drain your battery fast and it will produce more heat (and laptops already can overheat!)

I only play graphically demanding titles like Dead Space when I'm at my desk, laptop plugged in and sitting on a cooling pad. My concern isn't whether I'll hurt the laptop or not so much as if it's even possible to overclock those settings in a locked BIOS?

if you plan on gaming with a laptop it is best to have one of the gaming models or at least a model with a decent mobile gpu (non integrated). there really is not a whole lot you can do with upgrading parts.

Like I said, it was a present. If I had had options, I would've picked out one of the 8-900 dollar models that produce better graphics. I do have an actual gaming desktop somewhere, but right now this ultrabook is all I have access to.