m15x Stuttering Issues

My m15x is almost a year and a half years old now and has worked pretty well so far. However, in the past few weeks I have encountered an issue that I can not fathom.

While playing WoW on max settings with Vsync enabled, my FPS typically hovers around the cap of 60. After playing for an hour or two, my FPS drops down to a number in the single digits for about 15-30 seconds. I had no problems running WoW on max before, so something seemed whacky. This issue started occurring while I was running 32 bit Vista.

After encountering this problem, I followed the routine fixing route of malware/spyware/virus scans, updating drivers, defragging, and even cleaning all presences of dust on the inside of the m15x. The problem still happened.

Since Windows 7 was around the corner, I decided that it would be the perfect time for a reformat/clean install in hope that it would fix the problem. I even made the jump to 64 bit in hopes that an extra gig of ram and overall speed improvements would help. No dice.

So considering that I am out of ideas and out of options, is there anything else I can do? Could it be some sort of an overheating issue (As I type this, HWMonitor is showing CPU temps of 36/33 celsius, GPU temp of 82 celsius, and HDD temp of 42 celsius)? Maybe even a driver issue (I am running NVIDIA's 186.81 at the moment)? My m15x is out of warranty, so I doubt Roswell will have any desire to help. Your assistance would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

Run HWmonitor again, but this time while playing WoW. As soon as the game starts stuttering exit the game and check your max temp.

Btw, if you are running 82C on idle while just typing, this is not a good sign.

 

82C is too hot for gpu, replace the silica gel ASAP.

 

82C is okay if he's gaming. But, if he's doing nothing and it is still this hot, that's a problem.

 

Exactly, I think he should replace the silica gel, that's what I did to my cpu when it was too hot, and it works.
Also make sure there's no problem with the fan.

 

I just booted up the computer (it had a 10 hour break) and HWMonitor says that the GPU is already at 78 degrees. That does not seem right. I have never worked with silica gel before, is it something that is easy to replace? Also, where would be the best place to buy it?

On a side note, I do not use a laptop cooling pad of any sort. Would investing in one of those help as well?

 

Here is place for you to get Silica Gel:

http://www.silicagelpackets.com/


Not sure if that the kind you need or not.

 

Thanks for the help, everyone.

On a side note, I read that the x32 bios had a temperature problem. Did they fix that, or does it still occur? I am running the x32 bios at the moment, so could that be the reason why my temperatures seem so high?

 

i've noticed im having a similar issue. im running bios vX36 P3, temp of grpahics card is 68 C idle and im experiencing sporadic lag (anything for 10 to 60 secs). I have noticed that its like the system down steps as the fan normally steps up when it corrects itself. im not sure if its the CPU or the Graphics at fault here. is there anything that can be done ? possibly having the fans on max constantly and stopping it down stepping? Fallout 3 GOTY Edition is getting some serious hammering at the moment and lag is doing my nut in.

 

If you don't get such a high temperature before then you shouldn't deserve this now.

 

Please do some reading yourself before you start giving out advice. The thing you have linked to is a dessicant. These are those little packets you find with food and electronics to keep them dry. They have absolutely nothing to do with overheating problems and there is no place to put them inside a laptop even if you wanted to keep it dry.

I am sure what you are reffering to is THERMAL PASTE, which is sometimes made of silicon. This is usually applied between the GPU/CPU and the heatsink to ensure a better contact and heat transfer. I would recomend OCZ Freeze for this.

I have had similar problems with the m15x which are caused by the 186.xx series of drivers. The GPU clocks were always on full and it idled at 70 degrees, even touching 105 degrees during gaming. Somehow the 186.xx series of drivers screws up Powermizer and the GPU fan control.
Downgrade to a lower driver version. IF you do not have the 186.xx driver series then your problem might be something else

 

i have the 167.55 stock drivers installed