Graphics trouble

ive been having trouble running bioshock with anything above 30fps, on my laptop. it has two 8600m GT in sli mode, and despite any changes i make i cant seem to make the game work at a consistent 30fps. I was under the impression i would be able to run the game at high or at least medum, espically with the sli installed. i downloaded the 163.67 driver, but it still runs slowly. im really at a loss here i have no idea if im doing anything wrong. Is this possiably a driver issue or am i just expecting too much from my computer? any help would be appreciated.

btw
Toshiba x205-Sli1
Core 2 Duo T7250 2.0
2 gigs ram
8600m GT sli dedicated 512mb
240HDD at 5400rpm
Vista Home Premium.

 

im inclined to believe its a driver issue.

 

What settings are you using? DX10 or DX9 mode? What resolution? Also, are you sure that there's an included SLI profile for Bioshock? If there's not, you'll want to create one.

 

Ive been running on the default resolution, with DX10 on and attempting to run it on high. as to a SLi profile im no entirely sure, there is a profile for bioshock under nvidia control pannal. (under the manage 3D settings-program settings). Is that what you mean by an sli profile, if not i appoligise for my lack on knowlage on that topic. Im admittedly relevantly new to this. if it is a driver issue does anyone have an suggestions as to which driver i should use, and where i should download it from? Thank you all for your help,sorry if im being annoying.

 

You could try the latest 169 driver, though the problem most likely is that you're simply trying to play at too high of settings. What resolution are you playing at? Getting around 20-30fps with high settings and DX10 is quite good, really.

 

Thanks for the advice, ive started playing it with some of the added graphics stuff turned off (shadows, real time reflections, etc). Ive been playing it at 1024 x 790 (if im not mistaken) and the next lower resolution (which seems to give me better performance). Also do you think I would get better performance while using DX9. if i do use it do i need to download DX9, if so where would one get it from. Also I know its a stupid question, but all of the 8600, GT cards have 256mb of mem, plus an extra 256 from the tubrocash right?

thank you

 

You can try playing in DX9 mode, I'm not sure how you force DX9 in Vista for Bioshock, perhaps ask in the Official Bioshock thread. And I don't know how much Turbocache your SLI setup uses, but you do have 256mb dedicated, yes. 8600M-GT's can come in 128, 256, or 512mb dedicated versions.