Lagging, then not, then lagging...a toughie

Hey everyone,

I seem to be having a problem when I play most newer games (CoH, King Kong, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, specifically). My computer will work fine for a while, but then it will slow down to arournd 1-4 fps.(I only know b/c I exited a game and immediately benmark tested.) When I run it normally, and everything works I get a score of around 5100, but when I caught it while it was lagging (or whatever it was doing) I got 1200. It is really weird b/c it will slow down for a while and then catch back up and work for a while,and then slow again. It is almost on 10 minute intervals. I have done everything I can to get rid of sypware, so I doubt that is the problem. All of my relavant drivers are updated. If anyone has any ideas on how to stop this, or why it is happening, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Mike

Specs-
Dell Laptop
Pentium M 1.6
512Mb DDR SDRAM
ATI Mobility/Radeon 9000 w/ Omega 2.6.87 Drivers
Win XP SP2

PS: I was thinking it might be a cooling problem, so I got CPUCool, but when I started running a game while it was on it would show my cpu running at full speed then flash a blue screen of death and then restart, w/out the game loading fully. (only tried it w/ Kong). Hot CPU Tester Pro also completed w/out any problems when I tested it. So, Im stumped.

 

My bro had (has) the same problem, he had 240 spyware files/programs/whatever, I thought it might have been a heat issue so I re-applied the paste but it didnt change nothing. Removing all those programs actually took 4 different programs, only Adaware SE worked first, then Hijackthis! did some more help. Afterwards Spyware Search & destroy worked and finally i installed and enabled spywareblaster.

Oh crap, I just realized you have the same exact laptop as me, I have the SAME EXACT issue, tryed everything, nothing has worked. Im thinking its a failed heating issue with fan/passive cooling. Havn't bothered to touch or play around with that laptop much since my Tecra M4.

 

hey,
I may, check it again, but I've gone through hijack this, Adware, Spybot, CWS shredder, and About Buster 5. I am only getting that there is a little bit of spyware, that doesnt seem to go away, I dont think its that, but it might be.

I asked some people at dell what the problem was, but those Botards told me the only thing I could do was check for spyware.

Mike

 

Meant to completly edit my post, check 2nd paragraph.

 

yeah, I went through Hijack, and all the other stuff and no spyware. however, would that be a favorable recomendation for the Techra? I guess, If all else fails I can get a new computer, but I like the feel of this one and Im used to it.

 

I custom built mine so it took a bit of time to configure, also I bought it with minimum ram and installed more ram myself.

Pent M 1.82ghz 2MB L2
1.25gb Kingston DDR2
60GB hdd
6600 TE (tablet edition) 128mb
Wifi
BlueTooth
yadda yadda

Beaware that a Tecra M4 is a TABLET pc, meaning you also can write onto the screen and it swivils onto the keyboard to use as a tablet to write. You can get just as good specs for a bit cheaper then what I paid, but my setup is very high powered and with a 2nd battery bay (thati also use) I get up to 5hrs.

 

Well as these guys get all technical... I won't. What settings are you playing the games on? High? Medium? Low? I don't think your particular graphics card can play the newest games on high quality... I couldn't come to terms when my old graphics card (ATi Radeon 9200) couldn't play Black and White 2 on the highest settings... So I played the game purely at about 6fps ... Try turning down the graphics and possibly turning the extra effects off aswell (shading etc.) Oh, and do you have any other applications open at the same time? this also slows down the fps and what not.

Hopefully this will solve your problem and it will save you taking your comp to pieces

 

What? our problem isnt graphical settings, its a problem with the laptop itself and its cooling system, visit their forums / tech support, theyre known for failing when it comes to taking heat.

<snipped section that is argumentative>

 

thanks for the help,

as far as I can tell I dont have any problems w/ day to day computer usage. I don't see anything lagging, just when I try and play games. I used to try and play the games on Med settings, but have been seeting it to the Lowest lately. I didnt check the temp, when the games were slowing, but I'll do that. What kind of temps should I be getting, I think, I was getting around 39deg. normal usage. As far as other programs running, I dont consistently turn them on or off and have the same kinds of problems almost consistently. Thanks for the help again. Any other advice (other than get a new computer) would be great.

Mike