Lower Frames on Games Than I Think I Should Be Getting

[constantcanadian]

This isn't really a 100% nexusmods question but I seem to be getting lower frames on games then I think I should be getting

I'm on Windows 10 Touchscreen Laptop

my specs are here: http://pastebin.com/UteyQADF

I've only been getting like 25 Fps on TES: Morrowind

and I can't run GTA 4 at all even on the lowest settings

I can barely run Goat simulator on Minimum setting

I've tried everything i could think of and it's very concerning and please don't say "upgrade your laptop" because I just got this one 3 months ago and I'm a 15 year old with no job so getting a new laptop isn't possible

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Vagrant0]

A laptop like this is just not designed for gaming. I'm sorry, but that is the harsh truth of the matter. The laptop you have is something that is designed to be a mid-range laptop for mostly office/school work and low graphics applications. Ignoring the fact that Bethesda games just don't run super well on anything...

 

The processor that is in your laptop may have a combined clock speed of 2.2ghz, but this is an 8 core processor so ~1/8 that speed will be used by applications without multithreading support (most games made before 2014, most applications made before 2020). This is why it will have trouble running even Morrowind. With office applications, this is usually a non-issue since most applications usually need very little processing and more demanding tasks usually are several applications open at once instead of being a single application.

 

Without knowing more about your videocard, I would guess that it is an integrated card. The big thing about this is that integrated cards do not behave the same way as videocards normally do since they are sharing memory and resources with the system. In the case of something like Windows 10, this usually means ~3gb memory constantly used by the OS, 1-4gb memory used by applications, and very little left for graphics data. Even on a dedicated card, graphics cards for laptops usually perform at a lower capability than desktop ones due to the size, power, and heat dissipation requirements to maintain operation at load for long periods of time. In an office situation, this is usually a non-issue since the most demanding thing you are likely to do is open up a video or do some light graphic design work. For gaming, where you are keeping the demands of the videocard near capacity for several hours at a time, this just does not work out.

 

Upgrading a laptop, in 95% of cases is not actually a thing. Laptops, atleast those which you buy from a store, generally tend to be purpose built systems with core components integrated or soldered into the motherboard. Even gaming laptops that boast about their ability to upgrade are usually very limited in terms of what components can be upgraded without spending more than the laptop is worth between shipping, components, labor, ect since these things have to usually be done by licensed shops. Even in upgrading, changing something like the videocard can have significant impact on things like battery life.

 

Affordable laptop gaming, for the most part, is still an oxymoron. A laptop capable of running the majority of games that have been released (games not yet released are usually out of the question) will cost you between $2000 and $4000 depending on what kind of performance you are looking for. A desktop will usually cost about half that amount for the same performance, but requires more space and is not mobile. A good deal of the cost of a laptop is really in the cost of the battery, display, and input elements, not the actual hardware that is used to handle applications. While this is not something that can help you now, it can help you know about how much you will need to save up to get something decent. There is no magic button that you can press to make things work better, there is no software you can install to boost performance. The best help anyone can offer you is to do more research about what a computer can handle before spending the money on it.