FPS Problem for Online Game

There is fps problem for this game.

System spec:
- L502X laptop
- i7-2630qm
- 8GB Ram
- Nvidia 540m

Fps continuously drops suddenly (to below 30) and then back to normal right after that (around 30-39).
Screen continuously freezes/stops on short intervals. No lag when character is not moving.
Game cursor switches between Windows cursor and game cursor. The switches were actually happening very fast when the cursor is being moved. It should only show the game cursor.
CPU usage is unexpectedly high for this low requirement game.

It works fine playing this game in Core2Duo desktop PC without graphics card.

Here's the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2ci0WMOZHo

Driver issue? DirectX problem? CPU problem?
What could be the problem and how to solve?

Update:
What i have noticed now is that if the cursor stays still, the game runs smoothly and fine.
If cursor starts to move within game screen area, lag occurs. And CPU usage rises.
It's like for every movement of the cursor, there is a very short burst period of lag.
Are there so many processing involved for mouse movement?

Update 2, 2011-12-10:
Finally got the chance to play with this game few weeks ago and found out it was the cursor's problem. Playing this game using i7-2630QM, flicker is rapid, very sensitive to mouse movement, therefore causes significant lags. While with the old Core2Duo processor, although there are still cursor flickers but it's not much and no significant lag until unplayable.

Solution:
So I changed windows 7's cursor to the game's cursor and no more lag while playing the game.
Another method that I think should work is to remove animation on the game cursor's file. Which means, use a cursor editor software and remove animation on the cursor.


Problem solved, although not perfect.
Thanks.

 

It could be because of Optimus. If you go to your Nvidia control panel, manage 3D settings, program settings, find your game in the drop down list (if its not there find it on your comp and add it), then for the next drop down list 'Select the preferred graphics processor blahblah' choose 'High performance Nvidia processor.

Or if its a fairly new intense game it could be over heating related?

 

Are you on battery? Did you try fiddling around with power management settings? Alot of high end laptops get very bad throttling issues when on battery.

 

@osakaboyryu
I've tried to run this game in Nvidia and it's still the same. Maybe i need to change some of its default settings?
This is an old game and runs on DirectX 9c. Its max resolution is only 1024x768.

@Tsunade_Hime
I plugged out my battery and is running from the AC adapter. I chose High Performance under Power options.
is there throttling in i7-2630qm?


Could it be driver issue? DirectX problem? CPU problem?

 

Try it with your battery plugged in AND with your AC adapter plugged in. This is a known issue with the x220 where you have VERY bad throttling issues if one removed the battery even though on AC power.

 

It's still the same. It still lags.
I plugged in battery while laptop is on. Then i reboot it while Battery Charging is turned off. And fps still drops in the game.
Then i turned Battery Charging on and played the game and it's still the same.
Unless i'm doing it wrongly somewhere, e.g. i should do a reboot when Battery Charging is on.
My old Core2Duo desktop PC with integrated graphics doesn't lag like that.

I believe the problem lies in the CPU, or GPU. It might be CPU throttling as fps comes from processing. In this situation, the game was fine if the character stays still (normal fps). When i start moving it, fps starts to drop and freezes for a very short while and back to normal...and the whole problem repeats again.
As this laptop is bought a few weeks ago, I played another in game called Darksiders. It runs fine.

Another thing is, as this game runs in 1024x768 resolution, which is not a full screen game, would it be possible that this laptop is constantly switching between integrated and graphics card mode? Does this explain why the game cursor is switching between windows cursor and game cursor?
Even if it is...using this game in Integrated mode doesn't help either..

What i can observe on the cursor is that if the cursor stays still in game screen area, the cursor is using game's cursor image, which is what is supposed to be.
While moving the mouse within the game screen area, cursor switches between windows's and game's cursor image very fast.

 

hm.. this might be an uncommon problem..
i guess i'll just restore laptop to factory settings... and see how it goes.

Update:
Please see 1st post under Update section.

 

This is a long shot but Ive seen people on other forums mentioning that even if you have new Direct X version, in your case 11 i believe, when you go back to play and older Direct X games such as 9 you may not have those DirectX9 components installed, they said they installed directX 9 and it solved some issues. I have no idea if this is true as I have not experienced it, I assumed if you had the newest Direct X then it would include all previous builds etc.

Also you could try running the game under Windows compatibility mode, or try running as administrator that might help.

I was wondering what online game is it? I play Guild Wars which is a old DirectX9 game and that works ok.

Are you using the touch pad or a after market mouse? In either case just double check the drivers are up to date.

These are all stabs in the dark really but you never know it might help :]

 

so i went to microsoft site and downloaded directx_Jun2010_redist.exe. Executed it and it installed although dxdiag shows as DirectX 11 under DirectX Version. Run the game, and the problem is still there.

Tried using Windows XP SP3 compatibility, run the game, and the problem is still there.

This mouse was also used in my Core2Duo PC and it was fine in the game.
If installing Logitech mouse driver means from installing its software (SetPoint), then I've tested both the old and new driver version. and....problem is still there.

The online game is Conquer Online, private server..
Is Guild Wars a window-type game?
Did you try running game on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit?
Because of the vid, I do believe it is Home Premium's fault.

Thank you, osakaboyryu and Tsunade_Hime for responding and giving all kinds of solutions in my thread.

Unless I have a solution to this, I will put this on hold and come back later. I will also revise all the possible solutions listed in this thread. If none of these succeed, again, I'll restore laptop to factory state.

Thank you.

Admon

 

That won't do anything. Don't ever try to solve a problem through system restore (only useful when you somehow delete/heavily damage your system32)

Try the following if you haven't already

1. Force the game to run on Intel IGP
2. Google "Conquerer Online FPS unlocker." There seems to be some serious fps limiting by the game.
3. Kill all your crapware CPU/GPU/Harddrive monitoring widgets
4. Last resort, run the game in VMWare

 

Thanks. I will try.

 

Hey there again,
I looked up Conquer Online and its seems very different to Guild Wars.
I'm all out of ideas, but definitely try Bobthesnipers's suggestions!
Hope you can get it working!