g51vx cpu and fan upgrade

I've been bothered by this laptop for a while by it's poor performance during open area in games such as Assassin's creed and mass effect (on high settings, mostly ultra high).

I know I know this maybe a lot to ask for consider i am still able to play these games smoothly on medium-high settings with about 40 fps, not to mention i got this laptop for 630 dollars refurbished.

but I am just curious, if there's a way to improve the drop frame problem?

spec for the laptop is all original, gtx 260m , 4gb ram and 2.0 ghz dual cpu.

what is the best cpu I can replace with for the g51 motherboard? and will there be a need for a new fan? if so, any suggestions?




thanks alot brothers!!!!

 

Firstly uprated fans or a CPU will not make much of a difference to your frames if any difference. The only difference you may see from a faster CPU is that when there is a lot going on, on screen is that you get less slow downs in games such as CIV or Starcraft.

To increase frames you need to upgrade your GPU but you cant in your model and the GTX 260M is GDDR3 which is not really fast enough for most modern games if you intend to game at high+ 1080p you might want to consider an upgrade in the near future to maybe the G73 or G74, or even more powerful elsewhere ie Alienware, Sager, MSI. Etc..

The CPU can be upgraded here is a post of a gent who upgraded his to the E8435. If you can pick one up on the cheap you might as well see if that makes a difference as 2ghz duel core is a little low, an SSD will speed up read/write/load times but the biggest bottleneck is going to be the GDDR3 in that card.

 

i wouldnt say its the card..
My gtx 260m and my p8700 do great in ALL modern games, yep bf2 crysis 2 etc.
However i am overclocked pretty good on both cpu and gpu. That cpu is very bad man, mine at stock is 2.53, but im overclocked to 3.1ghz. i have a g71gx though. I would say a cpu upgrade, i myself have been looking for a intel core 2 extreme but cant find any, so if you do please hit me up

 

Im sorry maybe my post is a little misleading, but this is exactly the problem that I am facing , is that whenever I run into a open field and when there are a lot going on, the frame drops drastically from 40 down to 10-20.

by " increasing the fps" i meant increasing the minimum fps that can be dropped down to.


so will a cpu upgrade fix this then? also will I need a fan upgrade?

 

yea I will let you know on here if i find a good cpu upgrade, but i think the graphic card is fine the way it is (for the price i paid)

 

Try ThrottleStop. It looks like ur cpu maybe be throttling causing you the sudden drop in fps. Also make sure you temps are not too high which may also cause throttling.

 

Im pretty sure it doesn't have to do with temp, i cleaned the fan and it's sink couple weeks ago

 

also I'd prefer getting new cpu than overclocking the ones i have

 

I didnt mean overclocking your cpu. I just said that it could be throttling. throttling doesnt mean overclocking. It means when your cpu underclocks for some reason for a short period of time which could cause drop in fps.

 

O i see...but wouldn't you agree that 2.0Hgz dual is a little low for modern games tho? im going to have to upgrade it for newer games anyway

 

so you think that it is a throttling problem?

 

Well it could be, just download throttlestop and run it. And see if you still get those sudden drop's in fps.

 

it helped with mw2 and deus ex, but no much on mass effect, i turned it to option 2 (game) and it kinda just serve as a overclocker

 

I could be wrong but isnt throttle stop made for i7 1st and 2nd gen? Core 2 duo wouldnt benefit from it as it doesnt downclock unless you put it in bettery saving mode.

Just follow the G51 optimization thread especially with update vbios and nvidiafix for GPU throttle, update new driver and maybe overclock a bit. You can also try to repaste with IC diamond and clean out the fan to help with cooling. Thats all i did with my 1 year of ownership. I didnt try modding the back panel though.

Dont try to offend you but its not a very good deal you got a refurbished one for $630. You could have find one on ebay for $2-300 less or put in 1-200 more for a ref G73JH

 

I stand by what I said, the OP said he wants to play the latest games at max settings a CPU may not change that and I doubt it will change the increase from lower by a margin worth upgrading from. GDDR3 is not enough for Ultra Settings at Full HD our GDDR5 cards in the G73 struggles with some of the latest games with these settings so the 260M will struggle also.

It is a cheap worthy upgrade because overclocking will not make much of a difference but dont expect miracles my jump from 720QM to 920XM which is a huge jump in CPU terms when unlocked did not play a big part in game performance, I would say Assassins Creed Brotherhood's problem is the GPU.

 

Yea I figure.... but I just needed a laptop back then and i couldn't wait, now the same model is only 550.....

 

I see, so you are saying a CPU upgrade wouldn't help the drop frame problem in open area/ alot of things to run area? so maybe the only solution to this would be just turn down the settings a little bit....

 

but trust me I searched all over the net (craigslist and ebay) for other g series and the g51 and g60 were the only ones that were available for around 600 at that time. maybe now they have more options

 

It might but to be honest it is going to be graphical processing in the open area's your talking about the CPU processing is pushed for instance if in Starcraft 2 you have a vast army of Aliens being attacked by a vast army of humans.

GTA4 is another game that requires CPU power because of the depth of the city and the amount going on which requires more processing. I played Brotherhood on my 720QM and 920XM (overclocked) and couldn't see a difference although I wasn't specifically checking for it.

If its cheap then why not upgrade but you could put the money towards a new rig when BF3/MW3/Skyrim starts coming out.

 

so yea! i think it would be the cpu problem for mass effect since games run smoothly if there isn't a whole lot of things to load. (as the matter of fact I tried gta 4 couple days ago and it lagged like sxxt).


now i have a dual 2.0 ghz, if i upgrade it to a 2.8 or 3.0 dual do you think the performance increase will be significant?


and what will the budget be? would you recommend just upgrade the laptop i have now(g51vx had it for 4 months) or should i save the upgrading budget and sell this laptop for a new laptop for bf3 and mw3?

 

The laptop is fine if you only intend to game at medium settings but if you intend to run at high or above with 1080p you are going to need a more powerful card on the newer games coming out. Skyrim is going to be one of those games that needs a more powerful CPU because of the landscape and open spaces. Comparing a C2D 2.0ghz to 3.0ghz I dont think is worthy the price unless you go for an ES/QS but at the end of the day the GPU is going to be the bottleneck and it normally is in a laptop when its a single card.

I cant recommend to you what to do because it is your choice I can only say I dont think you will get the results you are expecting from upgrading the CPU. Putting the money towards an I7 and a GDDR5 card is your best bet.

 

sigh....I see, I guess you are right, I was fooled by the attraction of the gtx 260m graphic card at a price of 630 dollar laptop at first but now if I have to upgrade everything as you said, i might as well waited or should have bought a laptop that is cheaper but more upgradable.

I guess now the most economical decision would be just stick with what I have and sacrifice some graphics for better performance until I am more financially able. but for not I will just make the best of this laptop as it is.


thank you for taking your time to reply, saved me a lot of money!

 

Yup that is a bargain for a mid range gaming laptop though. That is like £350 here I would have bought it a year ago so dont kick yourself too much

The g73 models are going for around $1100 or will be nearing that point soon and you could probably get a very good deal on a JH if you are interested they going for around $800 at the moment. Put the money towards one in a few months time

 

haha yea i guess, thanks


is your laptop ready for bf3? much did it cost for your laptop and upgrades total?

 

Well the results from BETA say the JH runs it very well but you just cannot tell how well until it is released with full settings config. But yes I expect it to run it quite well maybe not Ultra 1080p but it should do the job.

With resale on the parts I took out and all my added extra's around $1000 but I got some bargain deals and took a few risks, the laptop itself was a refurbed refurb and was out of the refurbed warranty haha. Still the gamble paid off in the end its mint.

 

I see....

I actually have a new question, as i was playing deus ex and mass effect, the other thing that I have noticed other than the stutter in open area/lots of stuff to load is that:

everytime i turn around or turn a corner, it always freeze for like half a sec or lag fore a sec before I can see the stuff around the corner smoothly, is this the same problem as above?

 

Depends how high you have the settings on some are seeing the stuttering but it sounds as though you have a major stutter, its all about how fast the GPU can get the textures on screen if you are running and suddenly into a wide open space with tons of processing this could cause a slow down. Try turning things like DOF off as that slowed me down.

Then again it could be your CPU not being able to process fast enough your CPU is on par with the minimum requirements and recommended is a C2Q.

Minimum: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400

Recommended: Intel Core 2 Quad

 

Also I turned everything down but it is still experiencing the same problem.....I think it is the cpu, wutever im going to try and go ahead buy one of the ebay processors and see if there's any change, if not i will just return back to them

 

If you want to keep the laptop then sure go for a new CPU 2.0ghz even on 2 cores 2 threads is a little low for today's games. I noticed a big leap from my T9600 to my I7 720QM when you jump from 2 threads to 8 its major.

Also if you dont have one an SSD can really improve performance in regards to load times, reading and writing information. (It wont effect frames though)

 

actually I was thinking about purchasing a t9600 or p9700, t9600 is cheaper but i heard it will make my laptop hotter when running games, but how bad can it be really? I'm cool as long as it doesn't overheat.


and I think I won't be needing SSD but thanks, im trying to keep the budget minimal


would these fit my motherboard?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-...CPU-/330594274717?pt=CPUs&hash=item4cf8f44d9d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Intel-C...GQS-/250868994563?pt=CPUs&hash=item3a68f51203



and do you think my motherboard will support q9000 2.0 Ghz? something about having 8Ghz totaly cpu makes me happy lol

 

To be honest the only upgrade that is worth it would be something like the X9100 and get upto 3ghz. 400-500ghz increase is not really going to be noticable.

 

wut about q9000? i saw on a old thread somebody said that this system also support q9000 and it is 45W. if it is compatible, will there be a need of a cooling mod or fan upgrade?

 

was proven that q9000 etc does not work , though you could be luck and a have a1 mobo, though its untested on a1 mobo with g51vx-rxo5.

i have the a1 mobo inside mine, though no q9000 to test

you can look at the serial number inside on the ram.

mine also have the ram modules of the A1 and not the rx05, why i think they slapped in a1 mobo in mine (rx05 have green pcb, and a1 have blue pcb)

 

Get a x9100 im winning a bid right now and its only 65 so far and the views have not changed for a day. And i will go up to 120~150

but honestly i am sure its your cpu.
I have a Gtx 260 as well and the only difference is our cpus.
You have that @2.0ghz
I have a p8700 at 3.1ghz
At the very least buy a upper mid range cpu thats 2.5+ so you can overclock it.
The change will be noticeable, because you cant push a 2ghz cpu to far on a laptop until its unstable maybe 2.5 if your lucky.

Also i have all those same games(deus ex mass effect 2 etc.) and i can play them comfortably in high/very high at 900p(native res)
And alot if not most games are not cpu intensive BUT they benefit for a good cpu to a extent
For example:
At stock for me(2.53) in Sc2 i get 60ish fps and 25~ in big battles
but at 3.1ghz i get 75-80+ and 35 in big battles
So the difference is there its not HUGE but its very real.