(HP dv8000t)Game FPS getting slowed...but by what?

steelclash

Hey guys,

I've done some very extensive testing over the past few days, so I'll run through what I've tested and see if you guys have any ideas on the issue.

First off, the problem: In about any 3D application, I will get a solid 60+ fps, then after a little bit it starts to toggle between 20-40 and back up to 60, each cycle is about 3 seconds. (It isn't a vsync issue as I've tested this with and without it). Inside the game, I find an open area where nothing is moving into my view. Three seconds it will be 60+, three seconds it will be 20-40, and I can't figure out what's causing it.

I have a geforce 7600 go, intel core 2 duo (2ghz each), 2gb of ram (good ram).

• I've tried driver updates on the video card, did some research and it looks like the 91.33 are the optimal drivers. Got those, didn't change it.
• I've defraged the hard drive. No affect.
• Then I thought it may be temperature. Got into an application, with temp meter running, waited until it started doing it, let it do it for 5 min and tabbed out to see the meter. Flat lined on 56 C, which is pretty cool.
• I've tested WoW, CS:S, and Battlefield 2, all have the same pulsing FPS problem.

The one thing I did notice was that it took it a little bit to start doing the problem again after I tabbed back in from the meter, which leads me to my next question:

Would it be possible that the hard drive is slowing down the FPS? I still have the stock 5400 rpm drive, and I do see the HD light flashing while within the game. What's odd is I have plenty of ram that it shouldn't be paging that much especially in a low demanding 3D area.

====

If anyone has had this problem or has an idea of what's causing it, please let me know. I don't wanna go out and spend money on a new hard drive on a guess =/

Sledgehammer70

The system could be dropping down into power save mode? making things run slower?

steelclash

I checked the powermizer (nvidia), and it's set to max power.

Sledgehammer70

Did you get dual drives in your system?

steelclash

Sledgehammer70 wrote:

Did you get dual drives in your system?

Nope, just the single 80g sata 5400 rpm stock drive.

I bought 2 x 1g OCZ ram chips. That's basically the only modification I'd done to it.

PS: Is it possible to upgrade the graphics GPU? I forgot to look last time I took the laptop apart.

Your-Amish-Daddy

Depends on if it has express or not.

And it's a laptop.

steelclash

Well, I finally figured it out. CPU is the culprit.

I downloaded a temperature graphing program, and after about 5 minutes into a graphical game, the CPU temp shot up to 90 celcius.

My theory is after I replaced my fan, the heat sink just isn't making good contact with the CPU, causing it to overheat.

So, back to taking it apart...again =( Gonna add some decent thermal paste and make sure it's secured for good this time.

pigflipper

I was reading the post and was going to suggest the cpu temp, but I see you already found that out. I had that problem with my 1.6 lappy (sadly it was stolen when my house at the time was broken into, 2+ years ago) and I just had to make sure it was well ventilated, but seeing as how you have messed with the HSF for the cpu, then yeah, make sure you have solid contact with a good thermal bridge and things should right themselves.

steelclash

Seems like a fresh thermal seal and some screws that press the heat sync down on the processor (that I forgot to put back) have done the trick. The processor has dropped about 10 Celsius, but still runs around 80 Celsius which seems hot to me, but my FPS is rock steady at 60+ fps all the time now.

:bigggrin:

Your-Amish-Daddy

That is still way too friggin' high, mang. Is there anything else you can do to decrease the temps?

steelclash

Your Amish Daddy wrote:

That is still way too friggin' high, mang. Is there anything else you can do to decrease the temps?

Not that I know of. I cleaned off the top of the CPU with some rubbing alcohol and a cotton swap. Then, I added some Arctic Silver thermal paste (just a dab) to the top of the processor and smoothed it out.

I believe the heat sync is making good contact, so other then that I don't really know why it's driving up that high. It may be that the thermal paste needs some time to burn into it, but I have a aluminum laptop cooler coming in the mail that may help...a little.

All I know is, the GPU has been cooled by about 5 degrees Celsius and is operating at load at 56 degrees. There may be just some underlying problem with my CPU, but it seems to be working LOADS better then before. My fps hasn't dropped below 60 fps in high settings on BF2 since.

/shrug

Do you guys have any additional cooling options that I haven't thought of?

Sledgehammer70

Is the fan you put in the system the same as the old fan? or is that fan spinning at the same speed. my DV8000T never hit temps like that.

steelclash

Sledgehammer70 wrote:

Is the fan you put in the system the same as the old fan? or is that fan spinning at the same speed. my DV8000T never hit temps like that.

The fan is the exact model replacement that HP uses. It's variable, I can hear it spinning faster on high loads. What's weird is the air being blown out the back vent (ie blown through the copper heat sync) doesn't feel all that hot and it's a good bit of air coming out, so I know it has goo circulation.

Could just be a defect in my chip

primesuspect

Are you sure you made good contact with the chip, and did you properly apply thermal paste? That's way too hot..

steelclash

primesuspect wrote:

Are you sure you made good contact with the chip, and did you properly apply thermal paste? That's way too hot..

As far as I'm concerned, it is making a good connection. I even cleaned the stock gunk that they put on the sync initially so it would be flush with the chip. The sync itself has screw holes at the corners so that is directly lined up with the chip based on the screw holes on the motherboard. Even if the original placement of the sync is not exactly where it was, I cleaned it off to be flat throughout, and the screws on the corners are tight. Contact is definitely being made, because it is consistently cooler then it was prior to this operation.

I applied a little dot of the thermal paste and rotated the sync onto it to spread it out into a film.

IndigoRed

Could be that the paste is on too thick still. Anything more than just enough acts more as an insulator than a conductor. It should be applied over the whole surface of the hs and then "trowelled off" only leaving a thin film, and then spin it back and forth on the cpu to seal as you intall it. The way you describe it, I would suggest it's still too thick.

pigflipper

It could also be the sensor on the motherboard just reporting an incorrect temperature. I know my old laptop used to say that, at idle, in a freezing cold room, it was running @ 58c and it would go up to 85c during normal use on a normal day. But I also didn't have any problems with slowdowns or other heat related issues, which is why I mentioned this.