Need some Serious Help

Please help.....I am looking for some serious help to a problem that is seriously going to put me in a padded room. I currently own an Hp Envy 1110NR 8g 2.53 GHz Intel-i5 460 with turbo boost an integrated Intel and discrete ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 with 1 GB of memory. Now I have never had any problems playing games high end or low end, my system seemed to always be able to handle it? About a month ago I did a complete update on all my drivers as some had not been updated since I bought this back in 2011. 2 weeks ago I got a game called Rage, but I couldn’t play it for some reason with my graphics card so I used an update on amds site to be able to play rage. This updated my driver and Catalyst control center. Game worked great no lag like before, now some of my other games didn't work at all with this new update. No big deal I figured I just roll back to my previous drivers. Finished the game used the update from hp and I got my old version of catalyst control center and ati driver 8.777 something.
Now all my games are the same I can play great for about 5-10 minutes then it goes into slow motion. This is not just 1 game, all my games, dead space 3, cod black ops 2, borderlands 2, mass effect 1, 2, 3, and NFS most wanted 2013 etc. This NEVER happened before ever, I have tried lowering settings to just about bust but it makes no real difference. I have tried changing the settings on my computer to run on peak performance instead of visual quality this only gives me a little fps. When I run benchmarks on games such as just cause 2 I am averaging about 24 fps, dead space 3 40 fps, Sleeping Dogs, is weird I max out at 63, average 46-47 and have a minimum of 12 fps. There is no steady constant; I tried all the same setting for each game still no change. I could be using the lowest settings say res- 1024x768, I get 10 mins or so or great game play then slow motion like my computer is trying to catch up. I have a 150gbs of free hard drive space at all times. So it cant be space.

I have tried different versions of catalyst control downloads that didn’t work. I have put the original drivers back on in hopes that would fix the issue, nope. I went as far as taking my computer apart to clean the fans from dust and debree giving the inside a nice clean job. I used amds cleaner tool to uninstall all the old drivers then did a new fresh install of the hp graphic driver package located on there site. Just tried to play sleeping dogs and same thing slows down during play.

I am so frustrated with this can somebody please offer some help to me any suggestions would be so appreciated, this is totally ruining my games, and I am a huge gamer.
I don’t want to do a reboot to factory settings that would be a last last last resort.

Thank You

 

Did you check your Core and Memory clocks? I guess they are dropping when this fps drop hits. Check them then let us know (it may be gpu utilization too). Also pls give us some temperatures as well.

 

Thanks for getting back to me! How would I go about doing that? What program would I use to check the core and memory clock? Now as far as temp is concerned, the way I keep track of it is by use of a windows gadget. It gives me real time temp and how much each core is running, Is this what you were refering to? The gpu meter is saying that my memory clock is at 150 MHz, gpu clock 100 MHz at 40C or 104F. My cpu is reading 34C-94 F right now it jumps to about 40-50 C when I am playing. Does that help or should I post the read out as it happens? What is gpu utilization? I know how to use a computer but the technical stuff like this I am flying blind. So I apologize for my ignorance! If ths is wrong please advice me of my next step thank you again.

 

no worries mate. I use MSI afterburner for GPU and HWINFO for CPU/GPU monitoring. Get an afterburner installed, then go to on screen display from settings, there you will see it in game what is happening to your gpu (I like to check it during the game as to see what part of game is stressful). Get these going and let us know temps, clocks and usage (also in afterburner on screen display).

 

you should have 100% 99% GPU usage when you play, so play a game with Gpu-z on background (refreshing on background) and see if you got that numbers, else there is a problem with the drivers..

 

Scotty, dump the gadget for temps as they are not that reliable.

download core temps / msi afterburner / hw monitor all from my sig below.

 

The easiest way to monitor temps and utilization is through MSI Afterburner and HWINFO64. Download both, and go into Afterburner to select settings>monitoring, then click on each field you want to monitor (temp, usage, core and memory clocks, fps, memory usage, etc.) and click "show in on-screen display for each of the fields you're monitoring. This will take care of GPU monitoring. Then open HWINFO64, select "sensors only" and then "run." Now go into "configure" and select each field you want for CPU monitoring. You can select "core #0 and #1" for instance, to monitor the temps of those CPU cores. "Core max" will keep a running log of your max temp, so that's helpful as well. When you click on each field, under the Riva Tuner OSD (which Afterburner is based off of) select "show" and "label." Now when you play any games all of the info you selected with Afterburner and HWINFO64 will show at the top left hand side of the screen.

 

I was able to install both the afterburner and Hwinfo. Now I have know idea how to read the data but more importantly how do I post it so you can see the data you need? The Hwinfo toolbar had a summery and save report option which I ran while I was playing a game. How do I retrieve that summery and post it to you???? This problem is making game play very very fustrating, its insane, game runs great for about 10 minutes or longer then everything goes slow motion, the computer catches up then its fine for 5 minutes or so then the cycle repeats itself. Thanks again for the help.

 

Did you set it up so you can see the info on the on-screen display adapter while you're gaming? It should be up in the top left-hand side of the screen. Just check your temps, utilization, and core/memory clocks while gaming and let us know what kind of numbers you're seeing. If your temps are hitting high 80s or 90s there could be a problem that is leading to throttling (GPU is downclocking to prevent damage.) We don't need exact numbers, just a ballpark estimate of temps, usage, and clock rates.

 

Open MSI afterburner > Settings (little button right above version number 2.3.1) > Monitoring > Graph (little tab in the middle) > Select GPU temperature (tick the left) > Tick "Show in On-screen Display" right below.

Repeat the same for Core clock, Memory clock and Framerate. Then tell us these numbers (you don't need to put a screen shot, if you want to when you are writing the message there is a little "insert image" in the toolbar above, you can attach the screenie with that)

 

to add pics dont use the quick reply at the bottom of a post but click go advanced on bottom right instead.

below the text box is a button called manage attachments. click it and it will show your picture folder and you can pick the immage you want to upload to the forum.

* i think the number of posts required to add pictures was raised so im not sure if your 12 posts will be enough. a mod can confirm this*

 

Ok Guys I think I got what you need, I am going to give you 2 examples from 2 different games.

(Just Cause 2) GPU Temp- 55-58'C, GPU usage 99%, Fan Speed 30%, Core Clock 450 MHz, Memory Clock 800 MHz, Memory usage 218 Mb, Fps 20-30,

(Far Cry 3) GPU Temp 56-58'C, GPU Usage 99%, Fan Speed 30%, Core Clock 450 MHz, Memory Clock 800 MHz, Memory Usage 213 Mb, Fps 25-30

Whats Next!!

 

are you sure that you are on AC power and all your advanced power settings are set up for maximum performance?

Also, which Catalyst driver are you using exactly?

I have the same model, never encountered any problems running RAGE at 1080p except with the very first AMD driver that was released the day of RAGE's launch. All the subsequent drivers seemed to work just fine.

I've been using Catalyst 13.2 Beta 3 since January 2013, and haven't experienced any issues with RAGE or any other games. In fact, the RAGE performance was surprisingly fast considering the high quality of the visuals. The only game that has never run very well on my laptop at 1080p is Witcher 2.

Far Cry 3 runs fine, but I had to tweak the settings a bit. Default high settings runs like a slideshow in cut scenes, but if you turn off anti aliasing, turn on HDAO and the foilage AA, can't recall the exact settings but I got it to where it looks fantastic and still runs fine at 1080p, although it is a bit laggy in cutscenes.

EDIT: sorry, I see now that I misread your post and you have the Envy 14 not the Envy 15. Which resolution are you running Far Cry 3 and RAGE at? I'm not so sure your AMD 5650 can handle these games at 1600x900, but if your display is the lower res 1366x768 version, you should probably be fine, might need to adjust the settings and turn off anti aliasing, etc.

 

I hardly ever use my laptop on just battery alone as I am always near a outlet. I always use AC on high performance, only changing it to power saver when I am on battery. I am currently using catalyst 13.1, this is what came with the ATI driver update from Hp's web site, it was sp50656 to be exact. I run most of my games at 1366x768 and had never had a problem until recently with it.

My concern is how hot my gpu runs, is it supposed to be running 131'F to 134'F this seems insanely high to me, or is this normal? When I am not gaming my gpu runs at about 42'C or 104'F, again this seems high to me. Should I be looking at this for a reason for my sudden drop in game play.Will increasing my fan speed and maybe duration help drop the gpu temp? Or like I said is this normal?

 

I hardly ever use my laptop on just battery alone as I am always near a outlet. I always use AC on high performance, only changing it to power saver when I am on battery. I am currently using catalyst 13.1, this is what came with the ATI driver update from Hp's web site, it was sp50656 to be exact. I run most of my games at 1366x768 and had never had a problem until recently with it.

My concern is how hot my gpu runs, is it supposed to be running 131'F to 134'F this seems insanely high to me, or is this normal? When I am not gaming my gpu runs at about 42'C or 104'F, again this seems high to me. Should I be looking at this for a reason for my sudden drop in game play.Will increasing my fan speed and maybe duration help drop the gpu temp? Or like I said is this normal?

 

Is there a maximum amount of post one can make??? I'm just curious as to why know one has responded back to me? I got the info that was requested yet I have not heard back from anyone. THe issue has not been resolved actually it has gotten worse, please let me know what else I can do. Thank you

 

Your temps are fine (stellar actually). Can you roll back your drivers? Or install 13.2? Also let us know what are these statistics exactly when the fps drop hits. You can get those numbers from the chart in afterburner.

 

Not sure about the Envy 14, but I'd say my Envy 15 runs extremely hot. I don't run games on it unless I'm using a laptop cooler. Tried a few and this cooler works like a charm!

 

Does your PC heat up when it happens ?

Considering the time it took for this problems to start maybe it is obstructed radiators, leading to overheating.

 

Yes, its does heat up when it happens thats why I thought it was a over heating thing but my gpu depending on which game is anywhere from as low as 42'C to as high as 62'C. Although I took my laptop apart a few weeks ago and cleaned out some dust but It wasn't as bad as I thought it should be. It's really bizzar and its always the same I'll be playing a game and about 10 or 15 minutes into it my fps drop down to single digests. Game goes all slow, it catches up fps go up and cycle continues. I have done everything I could think off, updated drivers when that didn't work rolled them back, still nothing. I am just about to give up on this issue, it is slowly driving me mad. My next step would be a factor reset but I am not there just yet.
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I swear I am losing my mind with this graphics issue thing! OK so I tried this a second time, I uninstalled my drivers again. Then went to Hp's website and downloaded the latest official release, I installed that. I then installed the latest mobility radeon release suggested by someone else, installed that. This is what is confusing to me, I opened a game I have Sleeping Dogs, it has a option to run a benchmark to see what settings you can handle. With settings on 1366x768 it gave me a score of a max 64 fps, average 39 fps and minimum of 16 fps, but in the spot that says what type of graphics card you have it said amd radeon hd 6500m 5600/5700 series.

Now I thought I maybe downloaded the wrong release so I went into my device manager opened my graphics card box checked update driver and it changed it back to the one I downloaded from hp's website. What the hell, I then ran the benchmark again from the same game, settings 1366x768 and got max 58, average 34, and minimum of 23, but the type of graphics card it indicated was ati mobility radeon 5650. Wow, now I'm really confused, which one is correct? Do I use the one from Hp or the one from ati, not that it mattered because they both did the slow down thing again after 10-15 minutes of play time. I know those scores are not really too accurate, so I used the Mis afterburner program and got basically some of the same results. GRRRRRR I am really starting to lose my patience with this whole thing...
As a side note, could my BIOS in anyway have anything to do with my issues. I noticed that the version I have has not been updated at all. In fact I am 2 updates behind, I have F,13 08-27-2010 right now but the one on hps website is F,26 12-16-2011. Should I update this or leave it be? Any thoughts?

 

I would use AMD's website to get your graphics driver, not HP's website.

I've been using Catalyst 13.2 for a few months with no issues - are you now using the latest AMD driver (Catalyst 13.3 Beta 3)? Download Page for AMD Catalyst 13.3 Beta 3

As for your graphics card, your Envy 14 shipped with the AMD 5650m (which is part of the 5600 series)

 

Well, our 5650m's in the first-gen Envy 14 don't always play nice with newer drivers, especially for switchable graphics. The OP should check out this thread for what should be the most up-to-date info on GPU drivers for the Envy 14. The most recent HP package that's known to work with no problems (not on HP's support page for the Envy 14-1xxx) is in justinkw1's driver thread here - the driver is from January 2012 and gets you problem-free switchable graphics with decently up-to-date drivers.

Note also that you have to download the standalone driver package from AMD to install on the Envy 14 - those download links aren't always very easy to find. What you typically find on the AMD site is that stupid installer that reads for compatibility and dismisses a lot of cards out of hand.