Games Suddenly Drop in Performance

[billyro]

guReMcO, on 28 Feb 2013 - 19:42, said:

Alright so just to be clear: as I understand it the lagspikes happen in more games then just Skyrim.

 

If so then something is causing it. It would be appreciated if you could run a program like Speccy http://www.piriform.com/speccy (sorry I don't know how to make proper links yet). It's really simple and shows what hardware you have and the temperatures of said hardware. Just so we can rule out temperature completely.

If temperatures are not the issue then I'm thinking somehow software is the issue.

Ok, I'll do that later. :smile:

 

EDIT: At a glance, while the laptop is idle, the CPU temp is 58°C, and the Motherboard is 28°C. I'll have a go at Skyrim now, and see what happens.

EDIT2: Skyrim runs with CPU temp 80°C, and the Motherboard remains unchanged.

bben46, on 28 Feb 2013 - 23:26, said:

This can be caused by a background process starting up and running for a few seconds the closing back down. Some of these are PM programs that check for new messages, VOIP, Skype, some antiviruses that want to check every new hard drive access, some auto defrag programs, viruses - and others can do this.

 

Here is a FREE program that will show what background processes are running at any given time.

http://www.megaleecher.net/Free_PC_Activity_Monitor

 

I recommend turning it off when not using it to track what is going on as it is a background process also.

Some programs that pop up frequently are...

• TOASTER.exe
• svchost.exe
• McSvchost.exe
• IAStorData.exe
• IAStorDataMgrSvc.exe
• FAService.exe

 

 

EDIT: Ok... I tried running Skyrim without the charger plugged in... and, it didn't have this lag problem. It loaded slower because, yeah, not plugged in, but it is still strange. Do you reckon it's a battery problem or something?

Edited March 1, 2013 by billyro

[RitualBlack]

What are your gpu temps? The graphics cards are normally much hotter than the cpu and will be what causes your laptop to stutter from thermal throttling. The fact your game starts off fine and starts stuttering after a bit of time makes me think it is probably due to to high temps. I know skyrim is more cpu dependent but here is the relation between my laptops cpu temps and my graphics cards after a unigine heaven 3.0 benchmark.

http://oi47.tinypic.com/2edrree.jpg

 

 

The important thing to check is the actual temps gpu temps, your compal sensor will record them as much lower than they actually are. 80*C isn't unreasonable for you cards to be running at while under heavy load but if it starts to get over 90*C you should be concerned and definitely consider cleaning it. I usually use computer duster to clean my laptop but once in a while I will open it up and give the fans and inside a thorough cleaning.

[guReMcO]

Yeah both CPU and GPU temps please. A CPU temp of 80c. under load isn't bad for a laptop and should not cause issues. That said it shouldn't get much hotter. The same goes for the GPU.

 

EDIT: Ok... I tried running Skyrim without the charger plugged in... and, it didn't have this lag problem. It loaded slower because, yeah, not plugged in, but it is still strange. Do you reckon it's a battery problem or something?

That's... odd. :P Does Dell supply any extra software related to power management? Maybe that's causing some issue?

 

 

• TOASTER.exe - A process from Winamp
• svchost.exe - A process from Windows itself
• McSvchost.exe - A process from McAffee
• IAStorData.exe - An Intel Rapid Storage process
• IAStorDataMgrSvc.exe - An Intel Rapid Storage process
• FAService.exe - Sensible Vision FastAccess process. Something to do with logging in via facial recognition or something.

These processes themselves aren't harmfull but if they start using lots of resources then they become a problem or are a sign that there is a problem somewhere.

[billyro]

Speccy doesn't show temps for GPU... Not that I can see.

 

I'll have to check with Dell to see about what they can do.

[guReMcO]

It doesn't seem necessary to contact Dell just yet but I can say from experience that the warranty is pretty good. A mechanic came to my house and replaced the screen, with a better quality one yay, and basically the whole lid of my Dell Studio.

 

It seems like a simple software issue to me. Oh if only I could work directly on the laptop then it would be fixed in no time. *cough* :P

[billyro]

Haha, yeah, most likely. :smile:

 

Anyway, I've noticed the problem seems to be becoming less frequent. Not sure what is happening, but yeah.

 

EDIT: No... it has come back with a vengeance.

 

EDIT 2: Hmm... I think the problem may be from it resting on my laptop case (which is probably warming it up like a blanket) and could possibly be the problem. I noticed yesterday that the problem seemed to be resolved, then today it was back again. I only just pieced it together, that I'd been gaming with it sitting on the bench and not the case yesterday. I will test further to see if this is the problem, and hopefully it is.

I dunno though, since it seems temperature wasn't the problem (according to those tests) but maybe the air vents were partially blocked or something? Whatever, as long as it works from now on...

 

EDIT 3: Yep, that was the problem. I feel like such a fool! -_-

Edited March 8, 2013 by billyro