Morrowind low FPS and screen stuttering on laptop with Windows 7

[Blackout0219]

I am able to run Oblivion decently on medium settings with about 25-60 FPS, but Morrowind runs terribly. Here's the specs:

 

Sony VAIO

CPU Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.2Ghz

GPU Intel HD 2000 (Before anyone says anything I had an integrated graphics 3 generations older that could run Morrowind at 30-60 FPS)

RAM 4GB

Windows 7 64bit Home Premium

 

The game is the GOTY edition and I don't have any mods installed, it's the vanilla version.

 

The game runs decently inside buildings but outside runs at about 15-20 FPS, sometimes lower than 10, no matter what settings I choose (Lower settings seems to increase slightly performance but not nearly enough). I've also tried to use the FPS optimizer with no result.

 

Can anyone help me, please?

[Morrovvind]

I've got a 1.4GHz processor, Intel HD integrated graphics, 2 GB RAM, with Windows 8 on my tablet, so my specs are worse than yours. My game runs pretty good even outdoors, although oddly whenever I turn my view my FPS takes a momentary but significant dip.

 

My first unrelated suggestion is, even if you don't plan to get any mods at all, at least look into the "Morrowind Code Patch." This is a mod on the Nexus site (one of the top rated mods, too) that fixes the Morrowind executable by eliminating bugs and glitches, but it also includes various other options for improving the game. It's a must-have, in my opinion, and every option it comes with is OPTIONAL and thoroughly explained. It's an .exe file though, so I'd recommend scanning it with your favorite anti-virus, if you do use it. When you run the .exe file, it pops up a big checklist of all the options; you check the ones you want, click the "apply patch" button, and it makes a backup and then modifies the Morrowind executable.

 

My second suggestion to you is to edit the Morrowind.ini file located in your Morrowind folder (make a backup first!). This is the configuration file for your game which includes various graphical and game options, more than what you can control from in-game menus. It's a simple text file and easy to configure, although it can look somewhat confusing at first. There are many guides on the web to editing this file, so play around with it to see if you get any better performance.

 

I can't help any more than that, I'm absolutely terrible with computers, and also bad at describing things. Although, here is another topic related because the person in the topic also said they have very similar FPS issues (although they have graphics card):

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/285375-fps-issues-with-modern-hardware/

[Lougian]

Have you tried to allow Morrowind to use more RAM with the 4GB patch ? It could help you a bit, also, try to edit your Morrowind.ini by following this ini general tweak guide

Have you checked if your graphic drivers are up do date ?

Edited January 15, 2015 by Lougian

[Blackout0219]

Hey thanks for the advice to both. I'll try to see if it works (Tomorrow) - I plan on installing a few mods (if the game ever works decently), mostly to improve combat and probably some better animations, faces, bodies and so on, but I don't plan on installing MGO