Low fps in SWTOR with the G73JH

Revised version:

I didn't want to hijack this thread so I decided to share my issues here and see if anyone can suggest ways to improve performance. Buying more RAM or a new video card are not welcome solutions due to limited budget and the fact that the setup is meeting and far surpassing the requirements. BIOS is updated as suggested in a thread linked two posts down.

The issues I am having with SWTOR are connected to raids or operations as they are called in this game. With everything on low I get 10- 11 fps during boss encounters and this is just ridiculous. People with X times worse machines are running the game a lot more smoothly. Where do the issues come from? I've had thermal shutdowns in other games and in this one as well, but I run AMD GPU Clock Tool constantly to see if temperature is the problem, and in this case it is not. It is steady around 75 C and I don't see how it can be the issue.

My system is the standard 8GB RAM, 4x1.60GHz i7-720 QM CPU (Turbo to 2.80 GHz), ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB VRAM. I have BIOS 211 (flashed when solving SOD issues) and the latest graphics drivers 12.1. This covers the recommended requirements by far and it is quite surprising the laptop is having problems running it flawlessly. I can imagine it is a bit outdated, but with everything on low? Come on! I even installed TuneUp Utilities and run it in Turbo Mode constantly. Almost all background applications are disabled and special priority is given to swtor.exe None of these "fixes" seem to have helped even a bit.

I even created a RAMDrive as suggested here:

STAR WARS: The Old Republic - [HOWTO - RAMDRIVE] Increasing SWTOR System Performance

but I need further testing to be able to say for sure if it was helpful or not. Lastly, I will be testing ThrotteStop in my next raid.

tl;dr G73JH getting 10 fps in 16 man operations. Temperatures are fine, drivers are updated, settings are on low. Help needed.

P.S. Just to add, all this applies to boss fights specifically. Out of combat (ooc) I get around 30 and during encounters 10 with stutter. I know it is connected to character and boss animations, there just needs to be a way to increase fps. People get 100+ ooc and 60 on bosses with worse or on par setups and settings on high. Why can't this laptop do this as well?

 

You do not specifically mention your Video BIOS (GSOD thread). Have your flashed it via USB drive? 012.020.000.032.038352 is this your version?
Also are you running a clean install of windows 7? You mentioned thermal S/D that should only happen above 100 C.
Try running hwinfo64 HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools to get Vbios version and use logging option in sensor status windows for temps. If possible post the log when issue arises.

 

Yes, my VBIOS is version 012.020.000.032.038352 and I flashed it a bit over a year ago using the guide provided in this thread. No, I haven't reinstalled Windows 7 ever since I got the laptop.

The thermal shutdowns happened twice in Batman: Arkham Asylum a year ago and once in SWTOR more than a month ago (I believe this happens around 110 C). In all three cases the temperature in the room was extremely high and there was a considerable amount of dust clogging the fans. After normalising room temperature and cleaning the "dust bunnies" I have not experienced any issues with heat. I use AMD GPU Clock Tool when raiding to see if any spikes in temperature might be the cause, but as stated above, I dismissed this possibility, as temperatures are stable around 70- 75 C.

Should I run hwinfo in the background during my next raid to log temperatures? Is it any different than the tool I am using in terms of temperature logging?

 

I've flashed the bios and had my unit taken into an authorized service center and RMA'd it for a GPU thermal repaste. Personally handed them the tube of IC Diamond myself.

SWTOR is the first game to cause a true GPU overheat in almost two years since I had that done. And the graphics are very low quality

I love this game. But I really, really hate the game engine.

 

I didn't had issues with SWTOR when I was playing the beta. 5870 at stock clocks and i7 720 CPU.

 

Hmm. Sounds like you need to go complain to the specific game manufacturer, because it's specific to that game. In other words, it's not a problem with your computer, but a problem with that game.

 

No one had problems in beta with our setup or even worse. Issues are live only and started with early access.

Yes, I have reached the same conclusion pretty much. However, I hoped that people running my setup or similar will have found workarounds or might suggest such for even slight increase in performance.

Indeed. It seems that the engine is causing all of the problems we are seeing.

One of the most discussed fixes is creating a RAMDrive as explained in the following thread

STAR WARS: The Old Republic - [HOWTO - RAMDRIVE] Increasing SWTOR System Performance

and then applying changes to swtor_main_art_fx_1.tor as shown here

STAR WARS: The Old Republic - I think I know what's causing poor FPS for some users (no fix yet)

People are reporting significant performance gains using this fix. I will test it in my next raid to see if it helps.