ASUS M51VA - Advice on Optimizing Graphics

Hello,

I am very new here (my first post!).
Seems so many people are knowledgeable and I just wanted a direct answer for my problem.
This is a long post, sorry for this, I would like to be detailed as possible.


[General]
I want to optimize my notebook for gaming.
Yes, I know it's a substandard laptop.. but still, for what its worth and how much I can push it, please help me.

[My Laptop Details]
I have a ASUS M51VA laptop, the overall spec list is here:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

I am not certain which processor I have.. but I do have these other details:
OS: Win7 Ultimate 32bit
VidCard: Ati Radeon 3650 512mb
Memory: 4gb DDR2
Windows Index Rating: 4.1

I have the latest drivers, installed using DriverGenius, Windows updates.
I have tuned it with Tuneup Utilities, Advanced System Optimizer.
Yes, I have Aero on, Indexing off. No other programs running, not much background processes. AV is Nod32..

[Specifics]
Why am I saying that it is not optimized enough for me?
You see, I frequently play these 2 games, Heroes of Newerth (HON for short) and Defense of the Ancients (Warcraft 3 mod map, DOTA for short).

On HON, the games graphics are finer, smoother... but compared to my friends Lenovo T400, you can see the difference. She has a more fluid animation, better color dynamic of the spells, and more realistic feel overall.

On DOTA, the problem is worse.. and I really dont understand why. Even my 5 yr old desktop, with lower memory, vidcard and cpu can run DOTA at a much smoother and finer display.
On my laptop, I can really note the FPS difference... the animation and movements are not fluid at all. It is playable, but a believe me, a smoother animation in these type of games can make a huge difference!

The fluidity is so different and it makes me wonder why.. my notebook is so much more powerful than my 5yr old desktop, yet it runs DOTA worse. (Yes, I have all the video settings are the same, set to HIGH).
The difference is as clear as SD and FULL HD videos, the fluidity of movement. Like SD, it is watchable, but the experience is so much better in FULL HD right? (ok, maybe debatable, but generally)

So why is my machine that I know is capable technically/spec-wise unable to do these things?
Please help. Thanks!
Just wanted to add, this is absolutely not internet related. I am sure of it.

PS:
I tried running the StreetFighter 4 Benchmark tool... It gave me a freaking average of 13 FPS on ALL HIGH SETTINGS. Setting all to LOW/OFF gives me 40FPS.

 

That doesn't sound right, ATI 3650 paired with a core2duo should do much better than what you have described here. About DOTA aka warcraft 3 TFT, even my T7200 with x1400 have absolutely no problem with it running maxed out at native resolution.

Perhaps you can do a basic 3dmark06 run and see how much you can get, download 3dmark06 here: Futuremark - Benchmarks - 3DMark06 - Download

 

Ok, tnx.
I will try that.

Your words, thats exactly how I feel also.
Note that I am not complaining about having problems running and being able to play, because I can. Its just that the fluidity between systems, there is a clear difference.

If anybody else has an idea, please tell me.
Thanks!

 

Your GPU drivers seem like the most likely culprit. I have no idea how DriverGenius determines which driver to use for your gpu and how it goes about installing them. I would suggest that you download the latest drivers available from ATi's website and Driver Sweeper. Uninstall your current GPU drivers, restart, then run Driver Sweeper, restart, and then install the ATi drivers you downloaded.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

Im pretty certain I got the latest drivers, because I ran the ATI Command control Center (or something) then did a Check for Updated version.
But in case there is no improvement, I will do a reformat, and try the 64-bit version (to maximize the 4gb mem) of Win7, as well as compare it with a WinXP OS performance.

Win 7 might be slower for games than Win XP.

 

I would still manually install the latest driver version anyway. CCC can be a bit weird with it's checking for updates, and if you haven't upgraded or updated them since you got your laptop, then you definitely should.

After you get the drivers sorted out, you could try your hand at overclocking. I have made a thread here when I was an overclocking newbie, and it may help to read through to know what to do, in the case that you do decide to, for a slight performance boost. The 3650 is a relatively cool running card, so if you already have a low load temperature (65C - 75C), you may want to consider it.

Your 3650 definitely does seem to be underperforming - test it on 3DMark06, as suggested. If possible, run it at 1280 x 1024 resolution, on an external monitor, as that is the resolution that we generally define our benchmarks at.

Just a quick question - are you trying to play on battery? I know that when I try to play any game on battery, the framerate drops by a fair bit, probably to about half of what it should be. That can be fixed, BTW.

My overclocking newbie thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam.../456817-utilities-overclocking-my-3650-a.html

An overclocking guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...-overclocking-mobility-hd3650-mini-guide.html

Good luck with your drivers, there is a sticky on how to properly update them in this subsection.

Also, welcome to NBR.

 

Make sure you battery settings are at max performance when plugged in. Made my new Sony sluggish until I thought "duh, check the power settings!"

Oh and your SF4 score seems proper for the all high settings kinda, as I've noticed that Capcom games are generally Nvidia centric (don't get me started on Lost Planet). However, the low settings score is way to low.

 

Yeah, Im starting to feel that NVIDIA is back on top.. and Games seem to be more "compatible" with NVIDIA.

I am always plugged in to a power source, Ive set the settings to MAX PERFORMANCE.
I will check that OVERCLOCKING link.. thanks so much..
Still DLing the benchmark tool.. will post results..

Got a lot of things to try.
Thanks so much for the support. More power to you guys.

 

You could also try and use Advanced SystemCare, it defrags the entire HDD, fixes broken registries, optimizes the OS to run better, cleans junk files, removes spyware and you have a turbo boost option which closes a lot of unused background processes. I gained a lot of performance after i turbo boosted mine, and the loading time on most of my applications has shortened significantly.
I hardly recommend it.

 

Nice, and its free!
Tuneup Utilities had a similar feature, but I didnt feel any performance gain. Lets hope this one does.
BTW, I think its contradictory to say, I hardly recommend it. hehe!

 

I dont know why but 3DMark wont do any benchmark tests... it just keeps saying something about resolution not being met.

I have tried all the different presets.

I have a wide screen, it cannot set 1280x1024...

 

What's the max resolution of the screen? Try setting your test to the max resolution of the screen since that is the native resolution. If it's still not fluid, try installing win xp. I noticed that Dota runs very fluid on a measly GMA 950 under win xp but it chops on an integrated Nvida 7000 running on Vista.

Set HON to window mode if you want smoother graphics. I noticed it is very slow in refreshing during alt tab on my 9500GS card.

OT: Are you willing to pay $30 for HON? I'm still thinking if it's worth it.

 

My screen resolution is 1440x900.
I set this through a registry edit in Warcraft, since there was no other way for wide screen displays. Maybe this is part of the problem.

Perhaps your HON is set to Exclusive Mode.

OT: Im in SEA, and there we get HON for free through Garena.. I would rather pay to play in international servers because FREE means anybody can create tons of accounts and that means planted leavers, spies, stat farming.
At least it would severely be less in paid environment. But we aint got a choice and it sucks.
I regularly play the game, so 30 bucks is very much worth it. Its lifetime you know.

 

Ah ok. I think your native resolution is high for the video card. I also edited my warcraft from the registry editor. My res is only 1280x800 so it doesn't strain my card too much.

I think HON just finished open beta so I will check later if I can still play for free. I also play dota in Garena but I never read any promo of HON through Garena, or maybe I'm not reading hehe. You're from Philippines?

 

Its weird, becuz this card came with the laptop. I mean its weird to bundle the two together if the native resolution is too high for the vid card.

Thus, I cannot run 3dmark becuz I cannot set the resolution it wants.
There is, here: Heroes of Newerth

Yes, I am from the Philippines. It's a sad situation here.

 

The resolution is not too high for the video card. I gave gamed a fair bit on my external 24" monitor, which has a native resolution of 1920 x 1200, and it works alright. The 3650 has a maximum display resolution of 2560 x 1600 anyway.

So you should be fine. 1440 x 900 is a perfectly fine resolution for the card.

 

I'm from Philippines too. It's not that bad here, if not foreigners won't want to retire here.=)

You're right about exclusive mode. I disabled it and alt tab is a breeze. It will be free in our country thanks to garena.

Try an older 3DMark or the nearest resolution to the native. It should give you an idea on the performance more or less.

Display is different from gameplay. The card may display and play videos very well at high res but it may not necessarily perform well with games at high res. Try playing other games like starcraft or sims to test the fluidity of the game.